Easter Week 2016

This week has been a very busy one for us at Fuller's Floral & Gift Shoppe. Easter is coming up and we are reminded of the loss and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately our week has been filled with the loss of several good friends, parents of good friends, and even siblings of good friends.  At times like this it is hard to be a florist. Guiding those families through the maze of grief is such a hard thing to do.  Feeling the loss of others is just a part of being a GOOD florist. Sometimes it is impossible to make the floral arrangements without tears springing to your eyes.Then you realize that a family out there is counting on you and you have a job to finish. They depend on you to make the best of a very bad situation, just a little easier to bear. And flowers are an expression of the love they have for their person. Flowers put a bright spot in an otherwise somber occasion. They remind all of the people gathered to say their final farewells that there will be better days ahead. So to all those designers out there, I say BRAVO and Thank You for bringing sunshine into a cloudy day.

Successful Valentine's Day - even on a Sunday!

To quote an old saying there seemed to be "much ado about nothing" when it came to the fact that Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year. So many old timers in the business were saying that according to their records, anytime Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday, there was MUCH less business out there. It seems they rationalized that Saturday night was date night and many people would just splurge there instead of opting for flowers. They advised to order less than our normal amount to prepare for the decrease in business. Well, folks I am here to tell you that in our area, at least, they were WRONG! Not only did business boom over the entire week before Valentine's Day, it INCREASED to the point where we were sold out on Friday night, and if you hadn't PRE ORDERED your bouquet, you were left out in the cold. 

There was one segment of our normal Valentine's business that did decrease and that was our Amish trade. As we all know, the Amish do not conduct business of any sort on Sunday, so many Amish wives went flowerless for this holiday. Those lucky ladies whose husbands realized this and DID preorder were able to receive their bouquets on Saturday.

One nice thing about the holiday was that the orders seemed to be spread out over the entire week, so we were busy ALL week long with those who wanted their orders to go to the office. It was actually a nice break from the usual chaos of the one day holiday work. 

That being said, we were still bone tired by the end of it all and just happy to be looking forward to getting back to "regular" business this week.

We saw many new faces in our shop which is a good sign that we are expanding our reach. I attribute this to our Facebook presence and our membership in Gap Area Small Business Association. In days gone by, we were used mostly by "friends" or family. A new wave of customers looking for different types of arrangements have come our way. Bigger, more lavish arrangements are what the customers want now. They don't mind paying a premium price for exquisite work - and our designers don't disappoint! 

Well back to work now...after all - Easter is just around the corner!!

End of the Year Business Changes

Here we are at the end of a year and ready to jump into a new one. There are so many things to think about as a business owner when end of the year approaches. My accountant keeps me up to date on the reality of how my business is actually doing and what we may need to tweak in the upcoming year. Many of you are in the same boat I am sure. I'd like to take a moment to list a few of the things that we need to reconsider or revamp as we start into our 8th year of business here at Fuller's Floral & Gift Shoppe.

1. Our website - www.fullersfloral.net is where people go to order from our shop online. We love our site, but have decided to concentrate on bringing our own pictures onto the site instead of using the stock photos that came with the site. This is very time consuming, so we will be adding them a few at a time. This should give our customers a more realistic view of our work and how we can customize our designs to fit their needs.

2. Our business hours - we have traditionally been off on Mondays, however we are always available to take calls and/or orders that need to go out. We use Monday to get the shop back in order after a crazy weekend where we are actually working, but do not have shop hours.  Lately our Mondays have become so busy that we are considering being OPEN for shop hours. Although this sounds great as far as our bottom line goes...we all need some "down time" or we will get burnt out. For us, Mondays have always been a lifeboat in the sea of  the life of the overworked florist. This is one that we will have to think through thoroughly and weigh both the pros and cons before coming to a definite decision.

3. Our donations - like all florists, we are the first place people go to when they need or want a donation of any sort. Whether it be centerpieces or a piece to raffle off or just a goodwill gesture, these "donations" are only FREE for those recipients. They still cost the flower shop the price of the flowers, the mechanics of the arrangement (ie. the oasis, the tapes, etc.) the picks that are used, the cardettes, the card and envelopes, the containers...these are ALL part of that donation. Now you may ask, then why do we do them?? Well there are several reasons - one is to spread goodwill throughout the community, to show support for charities or businesses that we support, and also to get a little PR for our shop, which hopefully will entice customers to order from us in the future. And much to the dismay of my accountant, we, at Fuller's Floral, are ALWAYS doing donation pieces! Many times we are asked for donations by people who are not even our customers or have never ever been in our shop. There is no win/win situation there. CUSTOMERS will get consideration FIRST!  According to our accountant this practice has got to come to a HALT!!! Accountants are looking at the ROI  (Return On Investment) and unless our donations can be paired with actual sales that were generated by those donations, we will no longer be able to do them.

4. Our FREE DELIVERY policy - Don't panic we will still be delivering to our Gap, PA customers FREE OF CHARGE! These people are our neighbors and friends and they are the ones we want to serve! However, we also used to deliver FREE to all the funeral homes in our area. That practice will end on December 31, 2015. Since the Funeral Homes no longer allow families to choose the florist they want to handle the floral tributes and also direct grieving families to insist on charitable donations instead of floral tributes, as well as ONLY call upon "certain" florists, we can no longer support them. Much work goes into floral tributes and the florist has to arrive early so that the funeral directors can place the arrangements and have them ready for viewing before the family begins to arrive. These timed delivery parameters usually fall outside of regular business hours and employees must be paid for coming in early and setting up. The delivery fee will help to offset these costs.

As you can see I have touched on only a FEW of the many items that come up at year end when you are in business...we will talk about a few others in my next blog.

Today I'd like to talk about funeral flowers and what's happening there.  One of my biggest pet peeves in the floral industry is that for about the past 2 decades Funeral Directors have been publishing "in lieu of flowers" in the obituaries of our dearly departed loved ones.  This statement gives the impression that the family doesn't WANT flowers, which is just not true. For years there was a "flower car" which followed the hearse to the grave site from the Funeral Home.  That car was filled with gorgeous arrangements sent from loved ones and also those who could not personally be present for the services. These flowers were sent to show respect and love for the deceased. I always felt that the flowers helped to comfort the grieving family and provided a bright spot in what otherwise would be a rather dismal occasion. That entire scenario is only a memory. There are no more "flower cars". I think my age is showing...But don't you wonder WHY??
Skip forward to today - where Funeral Directors actually try to deter the bereaved families from ordering flowers from their local florist because they now control an interest in the floral industry. (check out their websites). These websites are provided to the Funeral Homes FREE from major Wire Services such as Teleflora and FTD, so that all orders are sent through them.  Flowers present a job that the FD's must handle. Therefore they want only to handle "their" flowers from "their" websites. Floral tributes have been cut to a minimum. Usually the family has a total of 3 pieces- chosen from the website collection. We have seen this happen in our own very small local community as well as those in the big cities. Unless you absolutely insist that you want your local florist to handle the flowers, you will be caught up in this self serving plot.
So what is left to do??? Sending flowers to the home is a great option.  Many people are sending plants, dish gardens, planters, and other floral tributes to the homes of those families who have suffered a loss. It allows the sender to choose when they want to send their memorial without the constraints of having to get the piece to the funeral home in time for the service.This is a good alternative and allows the grief stricken family to enjoy the flowers at a less emotional time. At Fuller's Floral we always incorporate fresh cut flowers in among the greenery of the plants. Many times we will add a tasteful bow or include an angel statue, depending on what the sender would like. This always seems to bring a smile to the face of those receiving the living plant in memory of their loved ones.
In conclusion I would like to note that sending flowers of any type is a wonderful way of saying that you cared for the deceased and they will be missed in your life. And to those who are publishing "in lieu of..." please consider my suggestion. It is just as easy to write an obituary stating that floral memorials and/or donations to their charity may be made in honor of the deceased party. Just those two words - and/or - will give people the choice to make this decision for themselves.

What's happening at Fuller's Floral? I just read a statement that blogging helps increase your SEO and I had forgotten all about this blog until then! So I am going to try to keep up with at least one blog a month from now until the end of the year...Let's see how I do.

Today at the shop we have lots to do! We are running a SUPER SPECIAL today - a dozen roses for only $10...We could never normally run a great special like this, but we have been testing roses for our new business venture and have them available to us. We like to spread the sunshine around, so hopefully some of our customers will take advantage of this deal!

Another great deal when you order from Fuller's Floral is that we DELIVER FREE to our residents with a Gap, PA address. This can save you from $7.00 - $10.00 which is a fabulous deal that no other florist in our area provides.  Many times when the customer finds out we have FREE delivery in the Gap area, they will add that amount to the flowers they are getting - which allows them to send an even bigger bouquet for the same money!

Ok folks! Well I hope you have enjoyed my first blog in a long time...but definitely NOT my last!

August 29, 2013
Hello there fellow blog readers!  Here we are at the end of the summer and that means only a few things in my book. Back to school, my Anniversary, and MY BIRTHDAY!!! Now it doesn't get much better than that, does it? This year we are doing something very different. We are going to go camping in the motorhome all by ourselves...First time in 44 years that we will be going by ourselves. I'm not sure how that is going to go...but it is an adventure for sure! Kelly will be busy at the flower shop on Saturday doing the many orders that seems to happen any time I am planning on going away. I think everyone WANTS me to feel especially guilty! LOL!  She will be fine. Big plans to just relax and enjoy the sunshine at poolside for a change.  Everyone have a great Labor Day enjoy the day off and we will see you on Tuesday morning when we have to get back to work! Don't forget if you need a nice fruit basket give us a call at 717-442-3158. They are always appreciated by families!

Back to School Special!

Fullers Floral - Prices for every Pocketbook!
www.fullersfloral.net
Keep your eyes open next week as we post our Back to School Specials!
What better way to start back to school than by giving your new teacher a small gift? How about a bud vase with a Rose, Baby's Breath, and greens for only $8.00???  Is it worth $8.00 to have a smile come to your teachers face? It just might set the tone for the entire year.