Florists in Canada do Baby Baskets?

Of course florists do flowers...but baby baskets for delivery in Canada?

Here is an email from the baby's father, forwarded to me by the sender (copied here with the sender's permission).


Subject: Prince Henry says Thanks for the basket of goodies...

Weighing in at 52.4 lbs, the gift basket is approximately 7.90 times Prince Henry's weight, rounded to one decimal place.

Due to his lack of teeth, the prince has decided to allow his subjects to partake in its deliciousness.  In particular, one subject who indirectly provides him food is supposed to be given preference ;=).

The prince has informed us he would love to come to Toronto someday in person to thank you properly.  He is still learning how to travel via car seat and stroller, but looks forward to using an airplane.

Thanks again for such a lovely gift. 

I attached a couple of photos for scale (ha ha).

The plush rabbit is larger than the baby...

 

...and the basket itself weighed over 52 lbs.!

Thank you for ordering from Simon Says Roses Florists & Gifts

Do Florists in Canada Still Need a Retail Location?

Boy, times have sure changed over the past 20 years.

Successful retail flower shops depended on location, location, location.

But location for many Canadian florists is now on the internet.

It's all about where you show up in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Today our customers order online, or go on our website and then order by phone.

Walking into a shop located in an enclosed mall or strip mall hardly ever happens.

So remind me again why a prime retail location is critical to success?

Flood Affects on Flowers in Canada

It can happen any where...at any time.

Sometimes with little or no warning.

Torrential rains, like what happened yesterday in Toronto (courtesy of the Globe and Mail) or earlier in the month flooding the Stampede grounds in Calgary (courtesy of thestar.com).

So what happens with flower deliveries in Canada, when entire sections of major metro areas are impassible?

A florist friend in Toronto was driving back from the airport to his home yesterday. An hour trip took him 5 hours!

Deliveries take longer...sometimes much longer than usual.


Flower availability is scarce, or even non-existent. We had an order to be delivered to a rural area outside of Okotoks last week. The order was placed on Friday for delivery that day.

But there were no flowers to be had. Not in Okotoks. Not in Nanton, or Claresholm, or High River.

There were no flowers to be had until the following Tuesday, at the earliest.

Because there were problems getting flowers into Calgary by the wholesalers.

So if the wholesaler can't get flowers, neither can the retail florists.

This same problem is likely happening today in the GTA.

So please be patient...we florists in Canada are doing the best we can...but it times like these, it just takes a little longer!

Cheap Flowers, Labour Not So Much...

It might seem strange, but steaks are a lot like flowers.

A local flyer had steak at around $6.88/lb, or $3.44 for 8 oz.

But when I go to a restaurant, that same steak (with a potato & a few veggies) is suddenly $28.99.

Why the difference? It's the time to marinate, age, cook, and present the steak.

It's all about labour.

Flowers are the same as a steak. If a florist in Canada doesn't have to pay for a lot of design time, there are more flowers in the arrangement.

Let me walk you through some examples.

This is what we call a "cut & plop". Flowers are not arranged, but rather simply cut down to fit the vase. Next to no labour, so more flowers. This item sells for $37.99 on the Simon Says Roses website.

Next, there is the "presentation style" bouquet. There is some labour time in structuring the bouquet, to make the flowers look presentable. This item sells for $49.99 on our website.

Taking another step up is the formal vase arrangement. Each & ever flower is strategically placed one at a time to give the best look to the flowers. That takes time. One of most popular flower vase arrangements sells for $69.99 to $89.99 at Simon Says Roses.

But the REALLY time consuming floral arrangements are often found when constructing sympathy designs. This sympathy casket floral arrangement is packed with exquisite high value flowers like Calla lilies, dendrobium orchids, ginger, & more. Each stem must be inserted into floral foam, ensuring that not one bit of foam can be seen when the design is completed. Time consuming to say the least!
This item sells for $799.99.

The dedication, time & skill of a trained floral designer is not much different than your favourite chef. It takes time to get it right!

Making Lemonade Out of Plants?

Sometimes we have to fix mistakes.

Things that are out of our control.

Things that aren't our fault...but we make it right.

Things like a plant basket that left the greenhouse in great shape, but something happened in the home of the recipient.

We received the following email from a dissatisfied customer:

From: "Bev B"
Cc: simonsaysroses@shaw.ca
Sent: Thursday, 23 May, 2013 10:58:07 AM
Subject: Mother's Day Delivery

The weekend of May 4/5 I had a 4 plant basket delivered to my Mother.
As I live in Calgary, I did not actually see what was delivered. I recently learned that the basket was infested with small flies and that the plants were sub-par.
Unfortunately I will not be using your companies for any future business.
Thank you.
Bev. B

 Aphids spreading from other plants in the home, nesting on our arrangement!

WOW! Not good! We're not even given the chance to fix the problem (*sigh*).

This is the first we heard of any problem. We know that if there was a "bug problem", it would have infested the entire greenhouse, and that wasn't the case. It sure looked like the bugs came from within the home.

It would be so easy to "write this one off" and lose the customer forever, based on the tone of the email.

But good florists in Canada don't do that, however. It's not in our nature.

We fight to retain every customer, no matter how hard it might be. My reply:

From: FRANK SIMON [mailto:simonsaysroses@shaw.ca]
Sent: May-24-13 9:30 AM
To: Bev B
Subject: Re: Mother's Day Delivery

Thank you for comments, Bev.
We have spoken with the delivering shop and the owner knows Margaret personally. She will be speaking with your Mother to determine the problem with the order.
Thank you for letting us know.

Frank Simon
Simon Says Roses Florists & Gifts
Local, national, & worldwide flower & gift delivery Winner of 2012 award for Community Business Integrity at http://twitter.yfrog.com/h6kvfjqj
FTD Top 10 Canadian florists since 2003
1-800-705-ROSE(7673).
Website: http://www.simonsaysroses.com

And the customer's response?

"Thank you for looking into this matter.  I appreciate it. Bev."

That's all it takes sometimes. An acknowledgement of the problem. A promise that we will follow up. And sometimes replacements are sent out (with some education to check for bugs on other plants before the problem happens again).

Such is the life of a florist!

This Balloon Order Almost Blew-up in My Face!

It happened at my first retail flower shop in Canada, about 20 years ago, but I've never forgotten it.

A young Navy fellow had come in to buy a small bouquet of flowers and a Happy Birthday ballloon for his sweetheart.

The problem happened a couple of days later.

The fellow comes back to the shop, looking somewhat like the guy above.

"I'd like my money for the balloon back...her birthday's over now!"

So what are you supposed to do?

Tell him to forget about it?

I had to think quick on this one.

There was no way that I was going to make any money on this sale. It's not like I could re-sell the balloon, as it had already started to deflate.

But the issue was important enough that he came back to the shop. The money was obviously very important to him.

All over a $4.99 balloon.

But if I sent him away, he'd never be back.

He'd probably go back to the Navy Base and tell all his friends what a jerk I was.

I had to remember that it's the long-term relationship with customers that counts. That's what Simon Says Roses depends on to build our customer base.

So yes, I refunded his money...and yes he came back for Valentine's Day (I know he did, as I'll never forget him!)

Short term pain...long term gain...such is the life of a florist in Canada.