- Nov 10, 2002
- 9,206
- 3,792
- 113
- 72
- State / Prov
- Ontario
amongst everything else, Sandie and I have been entrusted to send out the registartion packages for The Ontario Florists Conference 2003, and are TRYING very hard, to alter and update our mailing lists, and cannot keep up!!
The return rate, as of yesterday, is 0.7 for every 10 we send out, in other words, for every 100 we send out , 7 come back as undeliverable, because, in the majority of cases, the shop has gone out of business!!
I've spent countless hours, cross referencing WS listings, and YP business listings, trying to update the mailing lists, and I LITERALLY cannot keep up.
So far, even the YP listings are proving incorrect, as they list shops, addresses,and locations, that since last printing, have disappeared, and the logistics are frightening.
It appears, that the flower biz "shakedown" continues, as the consumer continues to turn to the big box, multi function multi stores and food centres.
Even my own customers, have openly admitted impulse buying at many places other than MY shop, and though not any kind of surprise to us, this trend is driving undercapitalized florist/gift shops out of business!!
Toronto is hard hit...but, not alone,SARS obviously a big contributor, a lot of shops are taking major hits, and are now on the endangered species list....based on my mailings....
Mike
The return rate, as of yesterday, is 0.7 for every 10 we send out, in other words, for every 100 we send out , 7 come back as undeliverable, because, in the majority of cases, the shop has gone out of business!!
I've spent countless hours, cross referencing WS listings, and YP business listings, trying to update the mailing lists, and I LITERALLY cannot keep up.
So far, even the YP listings are proving incorrect, as they list shops, addresses,and locations, that since last printing, have disappeared, and the logistics are frightening.
It appears, that the flower biz "shakedown" continues, as the consumer continues to turn to the big box, multi function multi stores and food centres.
Even my own customers, have openly admitted impulse buying at many places other than MY shop, and though not any kind of surprise to us, this trend is driving undercapitalized florist/gift shops out of business!!
Toronto is hard hit...but, not alone,SARS obviously a big contributor, a lot of shops are taking major hits, and are now on the endangered species list....based on my mailings....
Mike
