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May 12, 2008 |
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GROWING YOUR BUSINESS TOGETHER |
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contents
Test Order Time for Mother's Day Flowers
Local florists wins against the big guys in this years testing
Flower Delivery Costs Up
Just in time for Mother's Day
Pre-booking for Mother's Day
Fresh and hard goods - 2008 vs. 2007
Positive Power of Flowers
The benefits of flowers continue and make it to late night
1-800-Flowers Acquires Gift Basket Company
$36 million dollars worth
Dianthus 'Deep Purple'
Carnations, making a come back
Cut Flower Market Success
Anthurium Spice helps increase demand
Flowers Canada Retail School of Floral Design
Starts May 26th - Last week to register!
Upcoming Events
May 23-25 ATLANTIC Region Spring Conference
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test order time for mother's day flowers
It's that time of year again: pre-holiday test order stories abound, just in time for Mother's Day. One such television news story that aired in the Washington, D.C. market could give a shot in the arm to local florists.
NBC affiliate consumer reporter Liz Crenshaw put spring bouquets to the test to determine whether they're (in her words) "beautiful buds or duds." The reporter bought five spring bouquets from ProFlowers, 1-800-Flowers.com, Organic Bouquet, FTD and one randomly picked local florist, Greenworks.
She conducted the bouquet test at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, VA., where mall shoppers were asked to choose their favorite arrangement (they were labeled only by multiple choice "a" through "e"). A total of 35 shoppers judged the five bouquets on two factors: which one they liked most and which they would send to their mothers.
"The bouquet with the most bounce for the ounce, the clear crowd-pleaser," Crenshaw says, was the Washington, D.C.-based florist's $58 arrangement. The bouquet received 19 votes, and the shoppers said they liked the Greenworks creation because it was the most colorful and because of its simplicity and shape.
FTD's $56 bouquet followed with eight votes, then 1-800-Flowers' $47 bouquet with 5 votes, Organic Bouquet's $66 bouquet with 2 votes and ProFlowers' $54 bouquet received one vote.
Crenshaw added that though the judges' reactions varied, they agreed that the bouquets for their moms ought to fit their personalities. "If you want to please mom, tell the florist exactly what you expect," Crenshaw told viewers.
During the past several years, there have been numerous "test order" stories during major holidays where reporters pose as consumers ordering flowers and do a story picturing the arrangements they received, along with precise details on the cost and how their order was handled (courteousness of salespeople, accuracy of message card, timeliness of delivery, etc.). For some florists such stories have resulted in positive coverage; for others, not so good.
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flower delivery costs up - just in time for mother's day
Gas prices are at a new national record.
They jumped nearly three cents since Wednesday.
The new national record is almost $ 3.65 a gallon.
That's from a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
As for oil prices -- they reached a new record of near $124 a barrel Wednesday.
Mother's day is this Sunday and gas prices may have an effect on one of the most popular gifts, flowers.
The workers at Nosegay Florist have only two days left before mother's day.
And they are working fast to get the roses cut, the bouquets together and the baskets looking great.
“Everybody has a mother and if they don't, they have an adoptive mom and everyone likes to send flowers for mother’s day,” says owner Shawnesse Benton.
Mother's day is the third busiest holiday for this flower shop.
They've been preparing for the rush for three weeks.
But if you're going to tell mom you love her by sending some of these- you better get ready to spend more.
Because of the high costs of gas, it will cost you more to send flowers to your mom on mother’s day, in fact $4 more than last month alone.
Nosegay Florist has to pay more to get the flowers because it costs more to deliver them to the shop.
Plus, add in the fact that the cost of the flowers themselves has gone up slightly.
That in turn will cost you.
If you want those flowers delivered, you'll have to pay almost double for those delivery fees.
“It’s terrible to have to increase the costs, but everyone has been very nice and understandable,” says Benton.
Everyone knows mom still deserves her flowers and her recognition, even if it will cost you a little more to say thank you.
Benton says even after raising the cost, the business has not slowed down.
She says people are still buying flowers but a lot of people are deciding to pick them up instead of get them delivered.
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pre-booking of fresh product and Hardgoods remain relatively the same
Close to 54 percent of respondents to last week's e-poll indicated they were pre-booking about the same amount of fresh product and hardgoods for Mother's Day 2008 as compared to last year. Only slightly less than 9 percent are ordering more in anticipation of this Sunday's holiday. Almost 38 percent have actually ordered less fresh product and hardgoods than last year.
Source: Zoomerang Survey
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the positive power of flowers makes it to late night
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From The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to Ladies' Home Journal, the positive power of flowers has been making big news.
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On May 1, Jay Leno used the Power of Giving Flowers Study as fodder for his comedic monologue. "According to a survey by Rutgers University, women who give flowers are more appreciative of beauty and nature," said Leno, "They also found, in general, men who give flowers are really, really sorry they got caught cheating, and they will never do it again." The inclusion of the study in his monologue generated more than 5.1 million consumer impressions.
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In addition, the following three magazine articles showcase the Home Ecology of Flowers Study, conducted at Harvard University.
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The April 2008 issue of Ladies' Home Journal proclaims: "Indulging yourself with a BOUQUET OF FRESH FLOWERS may be well worth the price tag." The magazine has generated more than 12.5 million consumer impressions.
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Woman's World magazine informs its readers in the May 12 issue that "Just stepping inside a florist shop for a few minutes can help!" The magazine explains that flowers can provide a significant "mood boost." It has generated more than 4.9 million consumer impressions.
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An article in the May 2008 edition of Natural Health magazine says "people who had fresh flowers in their home felt less worried and had fewer periods of anxiety or depression." The piece then goes on to discuss the strengthening power of floral extracts for your skin. The article ends by telling readers to "bring some floral extracts into your life and enjoy flowers year-round." The consumer impressions generated by this article are more than 1.1 million.
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1-800-Flowers Acquires Gift Basket Company
Expanding its offerings, 1-800-Flowers.com announced it has acquired DesignPac Gifts, LLC., a designer and assembler of gourmet gift baskets, gourmet food, gift towers and gift sets.
The acquisition will bring "tremendous capabilities and experience in design, sourcing, production and distribution of gift baskets and gift sets, as well as strong relationships with many of the leading retailers throughout the country," says Jim McCann, CEO of 1-800-Flowers, in a release. The purchase cost approximately $36 million and was closed on April 30.
The senior management at DesignPac will remain on staff and the company's headquarters in Melrose Park, Ill., will also stay in place, say officials. The gift company, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of 1-800-Flowers, is said to have generated revenues of more than $50 million in 2007.
DesignPac will join with 1-800-Flowers.com's other gift offerings, which include Fannie May Confections, The Popcorn Factory and Cheryl&Co.
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dianthus ' deep purple'
 Carnations are undergoing a revival, a fact that owes a great deal to the breeders. In recent years they have developed a growing number of carnations with strong colours. The introduction of ‘Deep Purple’ is a perfect example of this.
As the name suggests, this standard carnation is an almost fluorescent, deep purple and has the added bonus of a good vase life of at least two weeks. This carnation is also extremely resistant to fusarium, a fungal infection greatly feared by carnation growers.
Dianthus ‘Deep Purple’ (vbn code 28262) has a stem length of up to 65 cm and a diameter of 9 cm max; an excellent size for use in medium and smaller bouquets. The flower will be auctioned at Aalsmeer up to the end of October. From October onwards supplies will start via FloraHolland (Naaldwijk and possibly Rijnsburg
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cut flower market success: Anthurium andreanum grp spice
 In just a year the enormous, brightly coloured flowers of Anthurium Spice have created a major increase in demand for this trendy exotic bloom.
It goes without saying that the bright red, heart shaped spathe with its green tips and purple-red spadix guarantees a ‘spicy’ bouquet or arrangement. Added to this, the flower has an XXL format of 15 to 22 cm. So it comes as no surprise that Spice is storming the Anthurium hit charts. In just a year 175,000 stems were sold at an average price of 1.28 euro each at the Dutch auctions. This was more than double the average price achieved by cut Anthurium at the auctions in the whole of 2006.
Anthurium Spice (vbn code 26513) is not only hot in terms of colour, it also guarantees long enjoyment. It has a vase life of no less than 30 days. Throughout its vase life the stem remains firm and strong enough to carry the heavy flower with pride. In response to the huge interest from buyers Spice will be supplied in greater numbers this year. The flower is available all year round from FloraHolland and the Aalsmeer Flower Auction.
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Flowers Canada Retail represents all segments of the Canadian Retail Floral Industry.
Our goal is helping you reach yours.
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ph 1.800.447.5147 fax 1.866.671.8091
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