Abnormal Valentine’s Day ahead for floral industry in limbo

In a normal year, B/A Florist in East Lansing would be producing 10 times as many products ahead of Valentine’s Day, the biggest day of the year for the business and the floral industry as a whole.

But not in 2021. 

This year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — and Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday — has cut down on production of floral designs and orders from customers. 

For instance, there will only be up to 10 “Yours Truly” floral designs that feature red and pink roses, down from the usual 25, according to owner Laurie VanArk. The same can be said for nearly all of the company’s floral designs, as the business is being conservative with the number of designs it makes this year, she said. 

“I really don’t know what this year’s going to be like,” VanArk said. 

The pandemic has brought both positives and negatives to the business, VanArk said. She’s worked full time at B/A Florist since 1984 with her mother, who opened the business. 

On one hand, B/A Florist — and the industry itself — is already set up to do deliveries, which it was doing before the pandemic made them mandatory and contactless. 

On the other hand, customers often browse the shop to find other items such as cards and candy that they want to add to their flower order. 

“We’ve totally lost all that. The inventory is not rotating like it normally would,” VanArk said. 

But in place of people browsing the shop in person, the company’s website has been a go-to for customers.

“Our website has really exploded in growth,” VanArk said. 

Haslett resident Steve Shine said he usually gets good suggestions from floral shops including B/A Florist about what to buy his wife, Melinda, for holidays, including Valentine’s Day. 

“The florists do a great job. With a little bit of something, they can put together a nice bouquet,” Shine said. “Michigan has a pretty strong floral industry, on the west side of the state especially.” 

The number of sales from last-minute shoppers has decreased as much as 20% for the week of Valentine’s Day from the previous year, said Maher Mahmoud, owner of Smith Floral and Greenhouses.

Orders by customers, and sales in the supply chain from plant growers that sell to shops — not to mention transporters and other entities that get flowers from point A to point B — has caused the multi-billion dollar, worldwide industry to slow growth considerably, according to industry website Floraldaily.com. 

The website indicates retail florist sales dropped to $7.2 billion worldwide in 2020, down from $7.7 billion in 2019.  

Last year, weddings, homecomings, graduations, proms and other events that would have been decorated with floral arrangements were canceled. Much of that is happening again in 2021 as the pandemic continues. 

Since the start of the pandemic, Smith Floral and Greenhouses has shifted to having limited in-store hours and curbside pickup for orders.

Another floral business owned by Mahmoud is Petra Flowers in East Lansing, which is only taking online orders for delivery.

Mahmoud said the upcoming holiday is one people are looking forward to. 

“People are looking for some kind of routine,” he said. 

The shop is preparing a special arrangement package for sale consisting of roses, a stuffed animal and chocolates. 

Laura Nicols, floral designer at Smith Floral and Greenhouses, creates six designs per hour or more, especially as it gets closer to busy holidays such as Valentine’s Day. 

She said an impact on the business has been some delays in flower distributors’ getting flowers to them on time since the start of the pandemic due to certain travel restrictions.

Another, more positive impact has been that people who have ordered online have left large tips, up to 65% of their order.
Nichols said she feels good about the future of the floral industry since it pays great attention to detail for floral designs. 

“You’re not going to be able to duplicate what we do in a cash-and-carry environment,” Nicols said. “It’s still a lot of fun to create something beautiful that somebody’s going to like.”

Florists interviewed for this story:

Smith Floral and Greenhouses

1124 E. Mt. Hope Ave., Lansing

Open for walk-ins

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Call (517) 484-5327 or visit smithfloral.com for more info

B/A Florist

1424 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing

Pickups and delivery only

Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday for delivery orders

Call (517) 351-4484 or visit bafloristonline.com for more info

Petra Flowers

315 W. Grand River Ave., East Lansing

Call (517) 336-6991 or visit petraflowers.com for more info