Are flower shops business or art?

The flower business is considered one of the most unprofitable - not only in our country, but also abroad. Add to this the fact that in St. Petersburg the competition to flower shops, which number about 50, is made up of numerous stalls, pavilions, open retail outlets and pensioners selling flowers near the metro in summer and autumn. So it turns out that it is wiser for an entrepreneur to close his establishment tomorrow and urgently invest in a more promising business. However, the owners of our flower shops are not giving up their positions. They took a different path - improving their business and mastering the secrets of successful retail trade in this capricious and short-lived product. The flower business is considered one of the most unprofitable - not only in our country, but also abroad. Add to this the fact that in St. Petersburg the competition to flower shops, which number about 50, is made up of numerous stalls, pavilions, open retail outlets and pensioners selling flowers near the metro in summer and autumn. So it turns out that it is wiser for an entrepreneur to close his establishment tomorrow and urgently invest in a more promising business. However, the owners of our flower shops are not giving up their positions. They took a different path - improving their business and mastering the secrets of successful retail trade in this capricious and short-lived product. From cutting to selling design 
 In Russia, it turns out, the flower trade received a real impetus for development only in the perestroika times. Until then, the monopoly belonged to the Tsvettorg chain, which included 48 stores in the city. The cut was mainly supplied from Bulgaria and Poland. Bouquets and compositions were not presented in retail at all: the plan could be made on a piece goods. In 1982, the Bulgarian Rose pavilion, specially built for holding flower exhibitions, was even opened. Once a year, a sales exhibition was held here, where representatives of suppliers came to study consumer demand. 
 
 In the 90s, when private shops and salons appeared, it became clear: you do not need to be a skilled entrepreneur to sell cut. Moreover, you won't earn much on this. Selling design is another matter: that is, bouquets and compositions. The florist became the main person in the flower business. By the way, according to entrepreneurs working in this area, it is very difficult to find a specialist who knows how to work with floral material today. That is why so often good florists are lured from store to store. 
 
 As for the selection of sellers, opinions are divided. Some believe that a professional floristry or botany should be invited to this position, who knows the product like the back of his hand and can competently explain all the nuances of caring for a particular plant. There is also another approach. 
 “We try to hire people who have no experience in trade,” says Boris PLOTNIKOV, director of the Korona salon. “It’s easier to teach such people to communicate with customers in such a way that the latter have extremely positive emotions from visiting our store. The seller who has come to work for us must have all the information on the flowers and plants available in the assortment. Every three months, all personnel confirm their qualifications by passing an exam. Anyone who answers all 4 questions on the ticket without hesitation gets a bonus. 
 
 Flowers and gifts

Almost all shops in the city are not limited to retail sales. The range of services includes the preparation of bouquets and compositions to order, delivery of goods around the city, assistance in the design of home and office interiors. The "Flora" salon, which has its own greenhouse, even takes plants for treatment or maintenance for the owner's vacation for a small fee. An unusual service was offered by the Korona salon: its specialists are ready to answer any question related to the peculiarities of caring for plants purchased in the store on-line. True, so far, as it turned out, flower growers prefer to find out such things by phone or during a personal visit.  Many stores focus on related products, trying to present the gift theme as much as possible. Going for flowers, a person can immediately purchase expensive perfumery, alcohol, chocolate, a toy or some funny trinket. In one of the Bouquet stores, for example, a room adjacent to the flower room was rented by a company offering paintings. There is a shop in the city, which is called “Salon of flowers and gifts”. However, according to research, related products rarely bring more than 15% of the profit.

The assortment of flower shops is mainly from Dutch flower auctions. There are flowers and plants supplied from Spain, Colombia, United Arab Emirates. Experts highly appreciate the Baltic products. In the summer, many shops cooperate with domestic producers (meaning small entrepreneurs who grow flowers in their summer cottages). If we talk about demand, buyers still prefer the "classics": roses, carnations. At the same time, there are those who favor less traditional plants.

“Recently, exotic bouquets with anthuriums, orchids, Indian lotus, South African Protea have become fashionable,” says Vlad KULESHOV, director of the Flora salon. - On the other hand, people more often turn to their native nature, choosing a field bouquet, which often includes chamomile, bell, tansy, and yarrow. This bouquet embodies simplicity, independence, sincerity. He does not seem to oblige the person who receives such a gift to anything. Bouquets like this were very popular in the Silver Age.

How to equip a flower shop

Curiously, there is no standard "dry" equipment for flower shops. Maybe this is good, because in this case, the imagination of the store owner or the designer he hired is practically unlimited. Many stores use podiums to draw the attention of visitors to expensive bouquets and exquisite potted plants. You can often see shelves with a mirror surface and huge mirrors on the walls, visually expanding the room. Wrought-iron furniture will be used in two new flower shops, which will open soon. Due to its invisibility, it does not distract attention from the product. Equally important is the ease of maintenance of such equipment. The most important thing is that the furniture itself does not cause a feeling of dissonance in the buyer. For example, in one of the St. Petersburg shops there is a rather roughly knocked down wooden furniture in a fair style. This option is good for selling seeds, seedlings and fertilizers, but bouquets do not fit into such an interior. Cut flowers are best kept at a temperature of +8 - + 10C. To preserve the goods longer, the stores are building a camera in one of the back rooms. There are also special refrigerated flower display cases for the sales area. Sometimes, instead of them, cupboards for drinks are used. The owners of some stores build cameras with insulated glass walls right in the sales area, and the split system is hidden outside of it. If the store owner does not want to install display cases in the sales area, a good air conditioner is required. It maintains the temperature in the hall at + 18C; in this case, some of the flowers may not be placed in a special chamber overnight. Since general lighting is usually not enough for plants, phytolamps should be used. They are located above the most light-loving plants, creating "islands" of summer. In flower shops, as nowhere else, fragrances will work well. In summer, for example, fruit aromas create a good mood, and in winter, on the eve of Christmas, the aroma of cinnamon. If calm, unobtrusive music sounds in the salon, the likelihood that the buyer - even if he does not purchase anything, then at least - wants to come to the flower salon again will be quite high. Sales can be accompanied by birdsong or rain music so that the buyer can at least mentally get out of the noisy dusty city into nature. At the entrance to the flower shop, it makes sense to place vestibule products in order to minimize the risk of the buyer bringing insect larvae or bacteria on their feet. Well, regular dry and wet cleaning in the sales area is not so much about creating a store's “face” as maintaining favorable climate for “living goods”. By the way, even pots need to be washed with water and bleach or, for example, the same Fairy.

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Перевод:Назаров.А.