by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
With St. Valentines Day being the biggest (and longest) day for florists around the country, virtually every local florist had their vases full all day.
Forget your loved one? You weren’t alone Monday. Jim Hartley, owner of Hartley the Florist in San Marco, said he brought seven additional workers in to help his usual staff of four, many of whom were delivery drivers. Hartley said he had 300 to 400 additional deliveries.
“On a usual day, I will send out between 100 to 150 roses,” he said. “Today, I will send out more than 2,500.”
While Hartley’s working day lasted well into Monday night, he said he wouldn’t be able to take any time off after Valentine’s Day due to a large amount of forgetful customers that will want flowers delivered today.
“The day after is also very busy but not as busy as Valentine’s Day,” he said.
Greg Franza worked all day selling roses and gifts on the side of Main Street in Springfield. He said one of his busiest times during the day was at lunch but most of his customers will show up right after they get off work.
“There are a lot of last-minute shoppers,” he said. “They are all trying to save a buck. I guess their old lady ain’t worth it.”
The florists at La Mee The Florist in Independent Square said while they get their fair share of last minute shoppers on Valentine’s Day, they also get a lot of early birds.
When Jerri Ann Bisset and Norma Frame opened the shop at 7 a.m., they already had a few customers waiting.
Bisset said the Independent Square flower shop had been preparing for the day for more than a month.
“We have been looking back at our records to see what we ordered last year,” Bisset said.
The downtown La Mee sold more than 40 dozen roses and, by midday, the shop had stopped accepting deliveries unless they were to go to offices inside the building or in buildings directly across the street.
Flowers, however, weren’t the only hot selling item Monday. Most of the Peterbrooke Chocolatier locations were packed all day with people looking to buy sweets for their sweet. During the lunch rush yesterday, there were more than 30 customers standing in line at the San Marco store, some buying as much as $30 or $40 worth of chocolate goodies.