With Spring’s holidays – Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day – behind us this year, a new challenge emerges: how do flower shops keep essential revenue flowing during the gap season? Florists’ Review asked businesses about their strategies for driving sales during the slower summer months.
Maintain Visibility
- Teneka Williams at Royal Petals ATL in Atlanta, Georgia, connects with potential clients by appearing on their social media feeds. This approach allows them to see what she does while they’re more receptive to design inspiration, and easily share it with others.
- Mercedes Anderson at Mercedes Flowers in Austin, Texas, offers incentives to regular customers for referrals to expand her reach. She also visits potential high-volume clientele in person with a small gift to ensure that her shop stays top of mind.
- Lily Ciccarelli at Edgewood Flowers in Orlando, Florida, turns downtime into productivity by promoting sympathy work and reaches out for new corporate accounts and standing orders.
Create Unique Experiences
- Pop-Ups: Farmers markets are a natural place to hold a pop-up, as Valeria Varela at Bloomers Florist in Las Vegas, Nevada, has discovered. Appearing at a well-established location with guaranteed exposure eliminates guesswork and generates cash flow.
- Workshops: Kids and teenagers are always up for engaging indoor activities. Michelle Jones at Flowers by Michelle in Las Vegas, Nevada, centers sessions around tasty treats for younger children and provides teens with a chance to learn about the floral business. She also partners up with a local restaurant to include hors d’oeuvres for adult workshops.
- Plant Bingo: Marie Pauly of Wild Orchid Custom Floral Designs in Elburn, Illinois, draws in a lively crowd once a month for a game night that rewards in plants. Players learn the names of houseplants and how to care for them, and winners go home with a new plant.
- Too Good To Go: Russ Dietz at Bloom Flowers & Gifts in Bentonville, Arkansas, uses this popular app to recoup on some costs of flowers that would otherwise get thrown away. The flowers in “Surprise Bags” don’t go to waste, the buyer gets a bargain, and people once unfamiliar with his shop leave with a lasting impression.
- Flower Bars: Share a piece of your shop at events of all sorts. Cory Parolin says the new expansion of Irene’s Floral Design in St. Louis, Missouri, will host private events with a flower bar. Guests will either choose flowers for a design or build their own bouquet. The available stem and filler options are endless, and a new customer base is priceless.
If you find yourself with more time than usual, take another page from Taneka Williams and stay productive by updating your website, designing new floral creations and creating future marketing campaigns. Bonita Gibson at Flower Lady in Virginia Beach, Virginia, suggests catching up on online queries while you can; the next season will be in full swing before you know it!
Melissa Greer
Melissa Greer combines 25 years of floral industry experience with a passion for writing to cover topics that help florists grow their creativity, businesses, and careers.
