Mother’s Day balloon program generates more retail floral sales
It’s not as big as Valentine’s Day but for those of us selling balloons, it’s the second best single sales day of the year. For the last 20years, I’ve spent time touring supermarket floral departments and helping to execute planned balloon programs. This time at retail is the most effective way to understand the challenges and watch the execution of balloons during one of the busiest balloon holidays of the year. As you know, the best-laid plans for merchandising and execution can be foiled by labor shorts, inexperienced staff, or staff not following directions.
Mother’s Day hardgoods trends are mix of items from yesterday and today
In our industry, many trends are cyclical and find their way back into the mainstream and this has certainly been the case with hobnail jars. These items are a throwback to yesteryear, but have made a strong re-entry into the market. Available in many shapes and sizes, they are very versatile and can be used to arrange a number of different floral stems.
Merchandising key to Mother’s Day floral sales
Last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s Mother’s Day Survey, consumers spent $2.4 billion on flowers for Mother’s Day and this number has increased annually since 2008. Since merchandising is key to floral sales, be sure to build eye-catching displays that entice customers to come to the floral department. Here are some other tips:
North Carolina iris grower focuses on supermarket floral departments
Castle Hayne Farms in Castle Hayne, NC, has been growing iris for three generations. “We have nine acres of greenhouses and about 25 acres of outdoor production,” Mark Hommes, owner at Castle Hayne Farms, told The Produce News. “We grow about five million stems of iris each year. During our production season, we plant a quarter of a million bulbs per week.”
The charm of the iris
Three flowers truly signal the arrival of spring — first the yellow daffodils push up, often through the icy remnants of winter; followed by the bold color of tulips, competing with the flowering branches of cherry and peach blossoms for attention; then, especially in April, we are graced with the most elegant and shapely flower of spring, the mighty iris.
Iris remains a favorite with designers, consumers
The iris is an exotic bloom with graceful petals that unfold in jewel tones of blue, amethyst, yellow and white. Because of the intense colors and the elegant shape of its flowers and foliage, irises are in considerable demand as cut flowers.
Women’s Day 2016 celebrated across U.S. by floral industry members
Here’s a roundup of how some industry members promoted and commemorated Women’s Day this year, according to the Society of American Florists and others:
• At the Philadelphia Flower Show, the country’s largest and longest-running horticultural event, FTD gave away 10,000 tulip and iris bouquets. The bouquets were donated by Sun Valley and wrapped in a sleeve promoting Women’s Day and FTD’s #ILookToHer campaign.
April 24-30 is Administrative Professionals Week
Administrative Professionals Week is a time to recognize support staff for their contributions to the success of any business. Formerly known as Secretaries Week, the last full week of April is celebrated worldwide as a way to formally reinforce the value of administrative professionals.
“It is a significant holiday,” Liane Mast, marketing and floral director at Stater Bros. in California, told The Produce News. “It’s close to Mother’s Day, so it gets a good sell through and it’s a warm-up for Mother’s Day.
It’s that garden seed time of year again in supermarket floral departments
It’s that wonderful time of the year when there is an abundance of garden seeds on display in supermarket floral departments. And how convenient and amazing it is for your shoppers to make their seed selection in your department, take this dry-looking little thing home, and once they plant it in the ground it knows exactly what to do — grow!
True to its name, World Floral Expo offers international array of flowers
LOS ANGELES — When I entered the World Floral Expo, here, I was struck by the truly international display of flowers. Exhibitors represented every section of the United States and more than ten additional countries. The number of flower varieties on display was countless, with blooms grown on six of the seven continents of the world.