Flower Industry: Cut Flower sales down - Local florists find more competition for fewer consumers - by Kim Mikus
A slow economy and competition from big floral brands have forced many area florists to cut back on their fresh-cut flower orders leading up to Mother's Day. The florists don't want to be left with extras that they may not be able to sell next week. "Times are tough. I've scaled back my orders to the wholesaler by 40 percent over last year. We have to be slim and trim. It's a bad economy," said Christy Dugo-Rudie, owner of Joseph's floral and gift shop in Libertyville.
Flowers in the US account for about $2 billion in sales in the two-week window leading up to Mother's Day. This is twice as much as for Valentine's Day, which also saw drooping flower sales. Florist Don Robbins has trimmed his flower orders for Sunday by nearly 20 percent." I think sales are going to be down," said Robbins, the owner of Robbins Flowers in St. Charles and Batavia.
NRF 2009 Mother's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey shows the following Year Spending decline (in $ billions) : 2007 $2.3 - 2008 $2.0 - estimated 2009* $1.9
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