chron.com/EU-Digest: Cut Flower Sales - Economy may deflect Cupid’s arrow on Valentine's Day

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Cut Flower Sales - Economy may deflect Cupid’s arrow on Valentine's Day

Vases filled with red roses, baby’s breath and greenery fill the coolers at Fannin Flowers. But they’re not flying off the shelves as quickly as Lolies Holleman would like. “I think it’s because of the recession,” said Holleman, after waiting on a customer who ordered a delivery of flowers and chocolate. “It’s a little slow.” Sales are down about 10 percent compared to last year, one reason the company only opened two of its three Fannin Street flower shops, she said. During peak seasons like Valentine’s Day, the business typically opens all three of its locations.

Note EU-Digest: Christmas sales were one of the worst we've seen in years," said Boylen, the third-generation owner of Martin Flowers, which dates back to 1927. "It's a trend happening across the country. From FTD orders we get from other states, quantity is down significantly for Valentine's Day." Media Youngblood, who has owned Mable's Flower Shop in Bessemer for 14 years, said her sales are half of what they were a year ago. 1-800-Flowers.com reported last month that it expects revenues to decline as much as 10 percent this year. Flower shipments from Ecuador to the United States are down 23 percent so far this year in what is normally peak season, said Gonzalo Luzuriaga, president of Expoflores, the country's main growers' association."And the quality has also slipped," Markowski said. Ecuador sold $523 million in flowers from January to November 2008, but its central bank predicts sales will drop by $150 million this year. The country produces 17 percent of cut flowers imported into the United States. Importers in South Florida, the cut-flower capital of the United States, are also feeling the pain. Roughly two-thirds of all cut flowers sold nationwide come through Miami International Airport, mostly farmed in Colombia, Ecuador and other Latin American nations. A few South American farms have folded. As prices for fertilizers and jet fuel soared last year, some found their profits so squeezed they could not cover higher costs. Banks have been tightening credit to growers too, stung by the U.S. financial meltdown.