Florists Expect Last-Minute Valentine Rush

If you’ve waited until the last minute to prepare for Valentine’s Day, you’re not alone. Local flower shops say they have been busy in the days leading up to the holiday, but expect the biggest rush to come on Monday.

Joy Kruger at A Petal Pusher said she was exhausted from working 14 or 15-hour days to prepare for the rush. The shop had been preparing by ordering flowers ahead of time to meet the demand. “It depends on how much we can handle,” she said. “You just take what you can swallow.”

Johnna Ayres of The Flower Box said that before the weekend was the “calm before the storm.” Normally, Ayres said, the day before Valentine’s Day would be the biggest rush, but she said weekends are bad and this year Monday would see a lot of deliveries.

Valentine’s Day spending seems to have been tempered somewhat by the economy in recent years. Kruger said her business has been down by about 30 percent in recent years compared to before the recession, and she doesn’t believe reports that the economy is improving just yet. “Not yet,” she said. “I don’t believe what the news says.”

Ayres said the recession had affected people’s willingness to spend big on Valentine’s Day. “Some people just don’t want to spend for a dozen,” she said. But she said she had adjusted by dropping prices and that last year was a good year for her shop.

Both Kruger and Ayres expect a big day on Monday as procrastinators get their last-minute flowers and gifts for loved ones.