Sending Smiles ~

Earlier today, home from work at a reasonable hour, I decided it would be nice to take a hot bath. The next few days leading up to Christmas will be long and crazy working at the flower shops so relaxing for an hour, soaking in a tub, soothing my tired feet, sounded like heaven. As my husband prepared to relax and watch some football, I mentioned my idea to take a bath and catch up on some magazines, including the latest issue of Fortune Small Business. He was quick to say, "make sure you read something fun" as I peddled off upstairs. I laughed to myself at his comment because to me reading Small Business Fortune is relaxing compared to the Floral Management, Retail Florist, Florist Review, Flowers& and Floral Finance magazines that I read monthly. Compared to how work related those are, Small Business is as down right non-work related as it can get. Anyway, I had been wanting to read the cover story in the December/January issue titled "Make Fear Your Friend" b...

Just the other day a woman called the shop asking if we had foil, you know, the kind you use to wrap the bottom of a plant, in this case, a few poinsettias that she had. Believe it or not, we do use foil but not as often as you might think and so I told her that although I did not have a whole roll I could sell her, I'd be happy to have some sheets cut for her to pick up. When she asked me how much that would cost, I did my usual "I don't need any money, just remember us the next time time you need flowers". I've been doing that kind of thing for so many years, that I sometimes forget the response it gives people. I usually notice the affects when a new employee says, "You don't want me to charge for that"? They seem so surprised but I do this quite often, whenever a customer needs something that's just plain simple or small. I mean, if I have to charge for 12" of curling ribbon or a block of oasis when someone runs into the shop in a bind,...

So, what is up with this new trend of weddings in March? Back in the day (well, a few years back, at least) we might have one wedding during the whole month of March and this year we have 5 already I am expecting more! I'm not complaining, I love it but what gives? For that matter, I have quite a few in January and also in February as well. This new trend is wonderful. My designers are doing little floral happy dances because apparently there will not be the usual void of "No Weddings" from January to March again this year. I suspect it's the economy and reception sites giving nice deals. To be truthful, I think these winter weddings turn out nicely. The weather where we are in New Jersey and Pennsylvania rarely has a glut of snowfall so having a nice winter wedding is a wonderful idea. Brides and grooms that pick locations that can easily accommodate their ceremony and reception along with overnight rooms for guests seems to be a great choice! Some of our January loc...

Honestly, I'm not much of a contest person myself but when it comes to doing fun things to get your business noticed, especially during these economic times, there's nothing like a contest to shake things up. I've been told that there are people out there that will join a contest like they cheer for their favorite sports teams and that seems to be true! Anyway, our designer Dena came up with an idea to have a contest asking people to submit pictures that show their holiday spirit. There are three different categories in all and each one has it's own prize. It's still early in the game but the most popular category by far is the "Dress Your Pet for the Holidays". I'm not surprised that this category has the most pictures flooding in because quite frankly, it's still early enough in December that people don't quite have their homes decorated but by golly, they can dress up Fido in a flash!! These adorable pets have been melting our hearts and ma...