How many of you are open Christmas Eve?

Status
Not open for further replies.
joanne

joanne

New Member
Oct 31, 2002
380
208
0
71
dunnville ontario canada
www.heathertonsflorist.com
State / Prov
ont
I have made a decision not to be open this year, had thought about it but Family is more important. I lost my aunt this Sept, so that leaves my Uncle alone. But then i found out this will be my Mom's last Christmas with us. So i will cook my dinner here Xmas eve have mt uncle and Mother in law and kids etc, then head north xmas morning to spend the day with my Mom. We have known she isnt well and things havent turned around liked we had hoped for. Its so dam hard to get in a happy festive feeling when something like this comes crashing down on you. Many of you will remember i lost my dad in Jan of 96, that also was a year xas eve was on a sunday and he was coming home from hospital that day and wild horses wouldnt have got me to open , so this year it will be the same. We must all learn to "Remember Family" because if you dont ,then before you know its to late. My sister and i were up 2 weeks ago and it was so hard to leave to come back home but we knew we had to.Just pray the weather that day will be good travelling to Utterson!!!!! Joanne:(
 
Joanne, I've long believed that family and friends supercede $'s. Go and be with your family... the time with them is all to short in the grand scheme of things.

The memories you make have no prices attached.

Merry Christmas and safe journey.

V
 
We are always open Christmas Eve! Our hours are from 9AM-3PM. We start the day with breakfast at 8AM and exchange gifts. Of course, the breakfast is paid for by the flower shop! Everyone always loves the breakfast and it gets us going for the day to finish off Christmas in a merry way! It's never too crazy on Christmas Eve, lots of pick ups and we make sure every delivery gets out before we close. We are always closed 12/25 and 12/26!

Joanne-if I were in your shoes, I would be with my family and not give another thought to opening the shop. I hope you will find some joy in the season and peace in your heart. My prayers are with you.
 
Ditto Dianne. We are open, same hours, same small party, just helping last minute customers and being sure all our deliveries are out on time.

If I were in your shoes, Joanne, I wouldn't think twice about closing, and would put a big sign on our letterboard - "Closed for Family Time". Try to rejoice in the time you have, and not think ahead too far. Your customers will understand.

thoughts and wishes for a safe journey,
tracy
 
Closed!!

We will be closed!

Time with family has become more important to me than money, and helping others make their Christmas, over ours.

For years we were open every Sunday between TG and Christmas until last year when we decided to give it a try not being open. Honestly, we actually made a better net each week, even minus the incremental Sunday sales, by saving the huge overtime payroll.

This year, we have had many customers ask about Sundays, and especially Christmas Eve, and after explaining that we are open 57.5 hours a week totaling over 455.5 man hours each week that we too DESERVE a day to rest, relax, attend church and spend time with our families, they all understand, and most say GOOD FOR YOU!
 
We'll close Christmas Eve because we always close on Sunday. We'll also close Christmas Day and the 26th. The 26th is a bit iffy still because we'll open if we have funeral work to do.

Joanne, you are right to spend every moment that you can with your mom and the rest of your family. We both know that there's no getting back any time to spend with our dads. This will be our first without Dad, and it was a favorite holiday of his with his mock grumblings, sneaking to open his presents early, and his other jokes and laughter. My prayers are with you, Joanne.
 
We will be closed Christmas Eve.

I play in a handbell choir and we have three performances that day, being that it's Sunday. We also will be with family.

Amen, Boss, being open extended hours and working our feet off - we deserve some family time too!

Seriously thinking about being closed on the 26th also.
 
We are also always closed on Sunday so we will not be open on Christmas Eve or the 26th. I like to try to give my employees an extra day off at Christmas and since they would normally be off on Sunday anyway, I didn't think it would be fair to not to give them the 26th also.
 
We'll Be Open, But---

only long enough to get all the undelivered stuff done before it gets too late!
Then we'll have a party for all the employees and send them home with full tummies and exchanged gifts. (We drew names last month!) Closed Christmas day, and the 26th unless there are funerals, births, or accidents. (They empty out the hospital for the holidays if they can!):musical:
 
We will be open 9 - 3pm, which is about how long it will take to get the remaining orders done and delivered. According to our notes from 2000, when C-mas was last on a Monday, we did a good walk-in biz with the greenhouse. Most staff left at 12 noon or 1 and "the family" (i.e. me) closed the shop at 3pm..

I tell ya' - being open is a hard thing. But, so many of my customers depend on us being there. Not fair to US as a family, I know, but it's the nature of the biz around here. I have two small children at home, and would love NOTHING MORE than to be home with them. But, I know we will do well on C-mas eve day so we'll be open.

We are also open AS OF NOW on the 26th. No doubt there will be a many funerals that day and Wednesday - given the "long" weekend. Also, so much of our fresh standing order product comes in on Mondays, that being pushed back to Wed. (if not open the 26th) would cause an overflow of product.
But...we'll see about the 26th...already getting some "static" about being open....

- H.
 
We are normally closed on Sunday's and this year's Christmas Eve will be no different.

With that said, I will be hanging around the shop anyway in the morning catching up on unfinished business.
 
We are always open on the 24th of December as most of our customers pick up their centerpieces and party flowers that day. The tradition in the french community is the "reveillon" on the 24th and the english community seem to celebrate more on Christmas day (lunch, dinner). We also always open on the 26th to accommodate families that need funeral flowers and we tend to be quite busy with last minute gift for the inlaws and so on...
We close January 1 & 2 because that's when we celebrate our Christmas (my sister in law is also a florist and my brother is a workaholic). By celebrating on the 1st at least we can have have drink and not have to worry about having to go in to work the next day (always a party killer).
We are open on Sundays from November to the last Sunday of May as the seasonal market that "steals" all of our customers is closed. It's great to have our customers back, I wish I could convince them to stay in the summer....
 
Inka said:
We will be closed Christmas Eve.

I play in a handbell choir and we have three performances that day, being that it's Sunday. We also will be with family.

Amen, Boss, being open extended hours and working our feet off - we deserve some family time too!

Seriously thinking about being closed on the 26th also.
Click to expand...

I know I need new glasses or sleep Inka... my eyes saw "I play in a HARDBALL choir..."!

Time to go home. :)

V
 
We are CLOSED...same with us, family is more important.
 
It seems like lots of shop are closed on Sunday, Christmas Eve, and most of you stated that "family was more important." My family is the most important thing in my life. I am open because my business is a florist. While I would prefer nothing more than to close the shop and be with my family for the day, I realize that flowers are a last minute shopping item. We always have lots of customers picking up their centerpieces on the 24th, and I believe in getting EVERY delivery ordered out before Christmas. How many times does Christmas Eve fall on a Sunday? It's just the nature of the floral business...when the holiday falls close to a Sunday we have to be open for our customers. I wonder...how many of you would close on Sunday if it were Valentine's Day or the day prior to Valentine's Day? Do you only close on Sundays if it's Christmastime?
 
NavyBrat said:
It seems like lots of shop are closed on Sunday, Christmas Eve, and most of you stated that "family was more important." My family is the most important thing in my life. I am open because my business is a florist. While I would prefer nothing more than to close the shop and be with my family for the day, I realize that flowers are a last minute shopping item. We always have lots of customers picking up their centerpieces on the 24th, and I believe in getting EVERY delivery ordered out before Christmas. How many times does Christmas Eve fall on a Sunday? It's just the nature of the floral business...when the holiday falls close to a Sunday we have to be open for our customers. I wonder...how many of you would close on Sunday if it were Valentine's Day or the day prior to Valentine's Day? Do you only close on Sundays if it's Christmastime?
Click to expand...

We are always closed Sundays.........over 35 years and it's never hurt us one bit!!!!!
FD's have our home # in case of funeral work and that's it.

If I can't make it being open 6 days a week it's time to find another occupation!!! FAMILY COMES FIRST
 
While it is a choice everyone makes for themselves, based on their business, I prefer to not be open Christmas Eve... especially when my family was little.

Now I'm just plain exhausted by the end of the season, I appreciate being awake to spend the Eve with my beloved daugther!

Family and friends don't pay the bills, but they do feed my soul.

V
 
You're absolutely right, Dianne. We would be open on Sunday if it was Valentine's Day. I would probably open on Christmas Day if I thought the market was there, especially since my family actually gets together during the evening rather than during the day. This year some of us will probably go to Mom's a bit earlier than usual simply to be with her and help her through this holiday. If a customer called and asked to pick up an arrangement on Christmas day, I'd find a way to be at the shop for him. That's an advantage of living very close to the shop.
 
We are normally closed on Sundays but will be open and delivering on Christmas Eve. Like Herb, our notes from the last Monday Christmas show a good Sunday business that quieted down at around 3 pm.

We also decorate several Catholic and Episcopal churches. Since the 24th is the last Sunday of Advent, the Christmas flowers, garlands, etc. can't be delivered until after the last morning Mass/service (ending at around 1 pm) and everything will need to be in place by 4 pm.

We will be open the 26th, mostly for clean-up and wedding appointments.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back