The countdown has begun! With less than one week to go, Florabundance is busy gathering the flowers and foliages that will be used to welcome the stars for this year’s Oscar Awards!
The attendees this year will be surrounded with flowers from the time they step out of their limousine to the time they enter the Kodak Theater. Transforming Hollywood Blvd. and Hollywood and Highland complex into one of the most photographed backgrounds is no simple task.
The staff of Charisma Design is no stranger to this venue. For the past 17 years, the design team of 10 AIFD designers descends on Hollywood for an intense week of designing and staging the beautiful floral components. Unlike many venues, this area is open to the public throughout most of the week; often are created off site and then installed at the last minute prior to the stars arrival. Many areas are transformed where cameras are not allowed to reveal the creative expressions until right before show time. The statement is often heard that we do not see many of the flowers. The reason for this is that the flowers serve as background and are not in competition with the stars. Florals are kept below the knee level of the Oscar statue so that there are no flowers protruding from behind the people in photographs. No one wants to see Ginger antennae!
This year’s look will be a clean architectural display featuring the colors of red yellow and white. The look and color harmony are determined by the Art Director and then given to Charisma’s Floral directors to interpret. Rich Salvaggio AIFD and Tom Bowling AIFD spend hours and hours coming up with creative solutions that not only look great for the evening of the Awards Ceremony, but also must be long lasting, easy to transport, and of course be executed within budget parameters set by the Academy.
From the time they step foot on the Red Carpet, the members of the Academy will be greeted with red Roses, yellow Roses, Bells of Ireland, Snapdragons, and Lilies to name a few. Vibrant Forsythia will give strong impact of color as will Oncidium Orchids. The dressing rooms will also have floral stylings to greet the presenters while they prepare for stage.
Everyone will be dazzled by the floral displays with the flowers and foliages from Florabundance! Be sure and watch the pre-show and magazines in the weeks to come to see one of California’s finest floral suppliers in action.
No Comments
As winter still has its grips on much of the country,this is the time of year when everyone is getting anxious for spring to arrive. Why not make it happen for your customers a little early and welcome them in with a spring open house or Make It – Take It workshop? There are many ways to get customers in your shop and having special events makes customers feel special and is a great way to share what is happening in your store for the upcoming season. You will want to make sure you have any future holiday offerings made up and well displayed for customers to see and enjoy.
Now that the red holidays are behind us, adding vibrant splashes of color will create excitement and let people know spring is just around the corner. Vases of blooming branches, cut tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils herald springs arrival. Accompany these with potted plants and other spring accessories for a strong visual impact!
Make – It, Take – It workshops are a fun way to let people experience what you get to do on a daily basis. Usually for a flat fee that includes container, flowers and foliage’s, the participants get to create a “planned” floral styling. After a short demonstration, the class gets to experience the art of floral design. With all the DIY programs that are out there, this gives them a new appreciation of what you do everyday. It should not be a project that is too complicated so everyone has a good rate of success. You can however show variations on the idea and/or larger interpretations of the idea that you are teaching. Make extra flowers and foliage’s available for purchase along with accessories and any gift ware that might be compatible for a discount that evening. Church organizations, Chamber of Commerce, extended care centers, and larger businesses are great places to market you talents. Perhaps extending a discount card to those who participate is an excellent way to encourage repeat business and build customer loyalty for future purchases.
Get you, your shop, and your customers ready for Spring by hosting a SPRING FLING!
No Comments
After the last of the red roses have been sold and Cupid has left the shop for another year, one of the most valuable activities you can do is a post holiday inventory.
What is does is allows you to compile all the invoices of both fresh and hard goods that were purchased specifically for Valentines and to compare that to what is left. Hard goods that have post holiday usage do not have to be included as they can be absorbed into daily business. What this activity will show you are areas of deficit and areas of overage. While it is impossible to hit it exactly even, a 10% swing one way or the other is good. More than that starts cutting into your profit margin especially if you have a large amount of fresh product remaining that was purchased at holiday pricing.
Areas of consideration also include did specific items sell out too early and perhaps additional stock might have been beneficial? This can have a negative effect on your profit margin the same way having too much left over inventory can. Gather input from your sales staff as to what missed sales opportunities they experienced. Was pricing a positive or negative factor in customers decision making process? How did your web site preform? Did it give enough selections and price point variations or was it too lasered and target specific without much room for financial movement? Were there enough pre-made bouquets and floral stylings for customers to have an adequate selection when they came in to shop?
Check in with design staff as well to make sure they had what they needed to produce efficiently for the holiday. Was the selection the best it could have been or was there room for improvement? What about the rotation? Was fresh product supplied several times throughout holiday production? Any quality issues? Any specialty orders that came through such as parties or sympathy work that should not be counted as holiday business as it will not repeat next year?
Transportation Engineers are an excellent source of information as well. Were the routes organized in efficient areas? Any challenges with a specific floral styling? Weather an issue? What could have made their job more easily accomplished?
By asking these and more questions, it sends the message that you value input from your staff and want to make each holiday better. Everyone feels they have something to contribute and by asking people to share what they would do if they were in charge empowers people to want to preform better. By removing these obstacles , hurdles and objections, more work can be accomplished with the same amount of staffing.
Each holiday is an opportunity to learn what worked well for your customers as well as what worked well for your shop operation. Take the good and make it better and take the not as good as it could have been and make it good for the next holiday. Remember, the definition of insanity is repeating the same action but expecting different results!
No Comments
During major floral holidays, when the phone rings one of the first questions out of the mouth of the customer generally starts off with, “How much is….” This is especially true for Valentine’s Day when customers are price shopping via the phone. We all know that no one wins when price is where you are competing. While price is very important to consumers in this tighter economy, it is important to share a comfortable amount of information with the customer as possible without overwhelming them with too many details before talking price.
Working with price ranges versus one fixed cost is a way to let customer choose a price point that is financially comfortable for them. A response such as,” We have the finest fresh roses available from $$ to $$$ with many choices of colors and styles of presentation. You can view these on our website if you like, or we can place your order today.” This approach gives most customers the baseline information they are looking for, but allows you to interface with the customer to pursue either additional inquires or to place the order. Keep in mind that it may be the 38Th time you have answered the same question, but for the customer it is their fist time for asking.
While red roses may be the most requested, don’t hesitate to offer additional color choices. Many people are aware of just a few narrow colors of roses and may welcome an additional choice of colors. Also, be prepared with options if roses are not hitting the mark and you sense hesitation. Florabundance has a myriad of flower choices that consumers will gladly embrace given the option. Keep your floral menu available and up to date on your website for customers to place their order at their own convenience.
If there is ever a time for extreme customer service, now is the time. When customers are ready to place their order, no matter how last minute you may think it is, the worse thing in the world for your business is to have them not be able to get in touch with you. Phones off the hook, web sites suspended, locked doors are all sending a very harmful message to the consumer. While you may think it is saying, ‘Next time order early’, what it is really saying is, ‘I do not want your business; please spend your dollars elsewhere’. Not a good message to be sending. Even if you are sold out of a particular product, or cannot accept any more deliveries, at least give the customer the option of another selection or to be able to pick up their flowers versus having them delivered.
Be ready for good things to happen and they will. Preparedness is the key to success. It is a team effort to make the success happen. Florabundance is on your team to make great things happen this Valentines Day!
No Comments
Valentine’s Day and Christmas have a lot in common. Both are a ‘red holidays’ that fall in a period of the year when sunshine is not as prevalent or abundant. Secondly, cooler or cold weather have a direct effect on production of the product as well as its delivery to the customer. Thirdly, both holidays bring us customers to our shops or to our website that may only use our services once or twice a year and always at the busiest times! We all know how hard it is to attract those new customers and how easy it is to loose them. So as the next red is just around the corner, it’s time to step back and take a good look and listen to what your customers are seeing and hearing.
What makes a lasting impression when a customer opens the door of your shop or clicks on your web page to see what your shop is featuring for the holiday? Are there still tell-tale signs of the past red holiday hanging around or is the new red reved and ready? One simple way to brighten up the shop and make a big impression is to place large clear cylinders of fresh blooming branches such as cherry, quince, plum, and apricot in several locations throughout the sales floor. Not only do they make a great visual impact, they also provide a fresh spring-like fragrance that customers will remember long after they have left your store. These can be left out of the cooler and used for everyday stylings or sold by the branch for customers to enjoy at home or the office. Surround these vases with additional vases or buckets of other by the stem spring products such as hydrangea, lilies, and fragrant stock. Smaller vases of cut Hyacinth, paper whites and lilac make for a very European experience of choosing their own flowers for a one of a kind bouquet. Don’t forget the simplicity of stemmed Cymbidium orchids, Phalenoposis , or Oncidium orchids for the true WOW factor! This is a great way to interact with your customers and share additional suggestions for rounding out the bouquet, adding the right foliage’s or suggesting a beautiful vase to accompany the floral selection. Also, this is the perfect time to share some basic care and handling tips for continued and prolonged shelf life.This personalized service is what most of the big box shops are sadly missing, so take advantage of the one on one service opportunity.
Make it a daily responsibility to maintain the water and product as no one likes to shop in an unkempt or dirty environment. Displays that are on the sales floor do take more maintenance than normal, but the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Perhaps a wrapping station on the sales floor would be a consideration for Valentine’s Day if space permits.
Remember as busy as it may be, these are the customers that may only come to visit you once or twice a year. Make the experience one to remember for them and you may be surprised to see them more often in the future.
No Comments
In most areas of the country at this time of year we are spending more time indoors than outside. Often times the environmental factors are being controlled for us such as how much light, what temperature and the recycled air we breath. When possible, we all try to enjoy those all too few moments of outdoor freshness to clear the cobwebs and take a few deep breaths of freshness before heading back indoors.
Bringing that fresh moment indoors is a great way to help market one of the features and benefits of having fresh flowers either at home or in the professional environment. One of the features of some fresh flowers is the fragrance factor. Often when someone encounters a fresh floral presentation, the first action ( after smiling) is place their nose to a bloom and take a deep breath. “WOW, doesn’t that smell great” is a classic response. We as florists are scratching our heads and wondering what they are smelling that we do not. Keep in mind that because we encounter fragrance on a daily basis, we may not be as sensitive to the impact as others who do not. Remember that different people react to fragrance in a different manner.
Stronger fragrant flowers such as Oriental Lilies, Freesia, Garden Roses, and Paper Whites can fill a small room very quickly with concentrated fragrance. This can be good if you are working with a larger area such as an office atrium or outdoor tented event. However, having that same contribution may be overpowering if placed in a smaller hospital room or mortuary viewing area.
How many times have we heard a customer come into a flower shop where the flowers are displayed outside the cooler and say,”It smells like a funeral home in here”! I like to think of it the other way around that the funeral home smells like a flower shop! Certain smells remind us of times and places both pleasant and unpleasant in our lives. Because funeral homes are one of the few places people encounter a mass display of flowers, they often have this reaction.
Foliage’s can be used as well to contribute to the fragrance factor. Eucalyptus, Geranium foliage, Rosemary, and Pittosporum all have a slightly stronger fragrance. Remember that it is the touch that activates the oils to send the fragrance air born.
What a great feature to have Natures Air Freshener as a part of our daily experience! Spread the word that not all air fresheners are found in a can or dangling from a car mirror!
No Comments
We post interesting and informative videos on our YouTube Channel. You can find this channel at www.youtube.com/FlorabundanceFlowers. As you will see, we have posted some footage from our growers, our involvement in the Tournament of Roses parade, and our flower packaging. Please let us know if there are other videos that you would like to see by inserting a comment under this post. We value your input, and look forward to communicating with you in many ways.
In addition to following us on YouTube, you can also follow us on both Facebook and Twitter.
No Comments
While in the middle of packing away Christmas and plotting your strategy for Valentines Day sales, it is important to remember the daily business opportunities that are happening all around.
Typically many engagements are announced at Christmas. No matter if a date is set, the level of ‘Bridal Excitement’ is in the air. Many future brides start searching for services far in advance of their wedding date. Now is a good time to review your web site to make sure it is attractive and heralds the latest looks in flowers and accessories you offer. With more working professional brides to be in the market, this virtual shopping often occurs during traditional working hours, at lunch and in the evening from the comfort of home. Often decisions are made without ever darkening the flower shop door or talking to a staff person as to what companies will be pursued.
Not a bad investment to order in some of the most beautiful fresh flowers and create some stylish bouquets to be featured on your web site. In most cases, after the bouquets have been photographed, they can be disassembled and re-styled in a vase for continued enjoyment or for sale. Showcasing beautiful mono-botanical bouquets of orchids, roses, hydrangea, or tulips is still very popular with today’s brides.
While reviewing your web site, take a moment to review your sympathy stylings as well. With customs changing constantly from area to area, it is important that your offerings have a distinctive and personal look. Gone are the days of cookie cutter arrangements. With consumers being more dollar conscious getting a personalized look is what more people are willing to pay for. Many areas are seeing a rise in home deliveries versus the traditional mortuary to grave site designs of yesteryear. Innovative designs, keepsakes and personalization are three of the biggest considerations for customers sending sympathy tributes. Make sure your web site offerings reflect your commitment to the sympathy expression business in your area. Ask yourself, “Would I be motivated to buy something from this web site if I were a customer”?
There is so much business that is passing the retail market over due to the lack of effective and aggressive marketing. Make 2010 a year to work in tandem with your local bridal stores, ceremony locations, and reception venues for future wedding referrals and mortuaries, places of worship and funeral homes for those ever important referrals. Remember to include your Account Manager at Florabundance and refer to our new designer showcase for new idea’s or inspiration in the equation for a successful 2010!
No Comments
As the new year begins, it is a good time to spend a few minutes to see what categories in your overall sales are doing well and which areas need some additional attention. Post holiday analysis can be as beneficial as all the pre planning for a holiday. If executed properly, the post report tells the entire story.
One of the most important executions to be performed is a post holiday inventory prior to any discounted sales. This is one of those key pieces of information to gage your buying and selling success. If there were large numbers of a particular item or component left over, a red flag should go up and questions asked as to why. Were there too many of an item purchased? Did customers not embrace a color or component? Did designers shun a component due to personal dislikes? All of these answers will give you a total picture and help eliminate a future mistake. On the flip side, it is important to know if you ran out of an item or component too early in the holiday season. Ask the same questions. Were not enough ordered? Did customers fall in love with a color or did the design and sales staff really enjoy selling and using a particular item? Were they priced to move? How many more might I have sold if I had them available? These are all viable questions to complete your post holiday analysis.
Coming up in 5 weeks is one of the most challenging holidays. Valentines Day can be very profitable if managed and marketed properly. Historically when it falls on a Sunday, it presents a slightly different set of variables for consideration. Generally, more advertising will need to be done to make customers aware that you are open and ready for business. Consider staffing needs such as sales, delivery and design. How much will you need and what days will need the most attention for extra help.
One of the most important considerations you can work on now is prototyping your Valentines Day selections. This will allow you to photograph your stylings and post them to your web site so your customers can place their orders early. You might even think about offering a special incentive for those customers who place their order by February 1st and a slightly different incentive for those who place their order by February 7Th.
Another advantage of prototyping now is it allows you to figure how how many components you will need and place your order with your Account Manager in a timely fashion.
Having a plan that works and working your plan helps ensure a successful holiday. Be cautious of those fly by night suppliers that market to you only during the holidays.Teaming with a quality supplier like Florabundance is most important. Why would you risk your reputation that you have worked so hard to establish on a supplier that you have never dealt with in the past and have no history with for the sake of a few pennies? Isn’t your reputation and peace of mind worth more than a few pennies? Put your trust in those you know and who will be here to help you through this and many more holidays to come.
Take a look at post Christmas analysis to ensure more successful Valentines Day sales. Learn from both the good and the bad to strengthen the operation for future success.
Get ready, get set, and GO with Florabundance for a winning Valentines Day!
No Comments
During the holidays many customers order floral centerpieces. Some have candles, some have figurines, and many times they represent a theme or a celebration. But what happens when you and objects that move, wheels and a driver? The answer is it becomes a float! This year, Florabundance was the source for several entries in the Pasadena Rose Parade. Their product was the first floral that many people saw as it adorned the City of Pasadena Police motorcycles that opened the parade and welcomed millions of viewers world wide to the exciting parade to follow. The giant rose that flanked the famous Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena featured over 5,700 red and white carnations from Florabundance.
The largest float that featured floral product from Florabundance was the “Tuskegee Airman, A Cut Above” from the city of West Covina. Constructed and decorated by Charisma Floats , it featured the flowers and foliage’s from world wide recourse’s. Hundreds of red and yellow roses, yellow gerbera, red ginger, blue iris, red anthurium and yellow oncidium orchids were flanked by 8 floragraphs of the original Tuskegee Airmen. The floragraghs were constructed from sesame seeds, rice, onion seeds, flax, rape and millet.
The float also featured a shield of red and white carnations and a field of blue iris on which 5 stars covered in twice ground sweet rice were placed. Soaring above the shield were two 1/3 scale Mustang airplanes that the airmen flew in WW II. The planes were covered in poppy seeds and thousands of individual red carnation petals applied one at a time by hundreds of volunteers.
On the rear of the float a giant eagle was constructed out of papyrus grass, blended yellow straw flower aspidistra foliage and thousands of magnolia leaves. All the leaves were covered in cocoa mulch that had been pounded, ground, and sifted to get multiple textures of material to apply to each leaf. The tips of the leaves were covered in shiny flax seeds to capture the New Year’s Day morning sun light and the judges eye. The legs were covered in more ground yellow straw flower and top dressed with grapefruit rind to give the appearance of scales. Giant pinecone scales were applied one at a time to make his talons appear life-like. The eagle was flanked on each side by 17′ American flags made from red carnations, white rice, ground purple statice and sweet rice stars.
The team of 3 judges awarded Charisma the Mayors Trophy for their entry this year! Congratulations to Charisma Floats and Florabundance for producing an award winning combination! This is definitely not your average holiday centerpiece!
No Comments
