Valentine’s Day and flowers go together like turkey and Thanksgiving.
Because of that, florists like Main Street Floral Company in Battle Ground are doing what they can to prepare for a busy week as people buy gifts for their loved ones.
Owner Marilyn Moeser said it gets hectic each year as Valentine’s Day nears.
“(It gets) crazy,” said Moeser. “Each day we could easily fill close to 100 orders. We see about an 80% increase in business that week.”
Since Feb. 14 falls on a Monday this year, the busiest days, according to Moeser, will be the days leading up to it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while Valentine’s Day itself will also be a busy day. Although the store is usually closed on weekends, Main Street Floral will be open to accommodate shoppers for the holiday.
When shopping for floral arrangements, the type of flower is not necessarily what people seek out most, according to Moeser.
“It’s not so much the flowers that are in demand as much as it is the color,” she said. “This year, with supply chain issues and such, people are pretty much happy to get whatever they can get. Of course, red roses are popular, but we will also get just as many people asking for mixed bouquets with a Valentine’s Day theme.”
With the bouquets, Moeser said she dresses the color scheme in pinks, reds and whites. Some people choose other colors, but “90% of what we do are usually in that color combination,” she said. The bouquets can also include a variety of flowers like lilies, hydrangeas, tulips, carnations and orchids.
Moeser said most of the flowers the shop uses come from trusted farms in Ecuador, while others originate in Canada and California.
“It’s mostly Ecuador because we like the product. We have a really good broker that takes care of us there so things that we can’t source locally, we typically source through them,” Moeser said. “(The flowers) are from awesome farms that are very renowned in the industry and ones that grow on a commercial level that can take care of massive quantities. We’re particular because like anything, there are some farms that produce poorer quality and others that produce better quality, so that’s why we deal with the broker we deal with, because he’s strict about the farms he deals with.”
She said the floral industry can be competitive around Valentine’s Day because “people who normally aren’t in the floral industry suddenly are.” Since it’s the number one holiday for florists, Moeser said she sees a lot of “pop-up shops” as the holiday approaches. The shops don’t regularly sell flowers throughout the year, but shift gears when Valentine’s Day approaches, making it more competitive for consistent florists. She said Main Street Floral Company doesn’t see much of an impact from those shops because of its strong recurring customer base.
“We’ve spent a lot of time in the years we’ve been in business earning people’s trust and gaining their business,” Moeser said. “Once you find loyal customers, whether you have competition or not, those customers come back to us for quality, they come back for the customer service, they come back because of the style we’re known for. We just do our own thing.”
Main Street Floral Company is located at 717 W. Main St., Unit 118, in Battle Ground.
