Wire Service's Quality Assurance Programs

[Tom Carlson]

I will state first, that when I have non-productive design payroll, I appreciate getting discounted orders [wire orders]. So I am not knocking the wire services with this post.

And I believe that florists have to find every way possible to make flowers more affordable at the local level when we have competition from grocer-florists. But I don't think "affordibility" can be accomplished on the wire service side of the business. But that is where it appears to be happening.

But here is my gripe. Making flowers afordable on the wire service side of our business is not the place to do it. Making flowers affordable should be done on the local-order side of the business.

Example: A wire service with $29.99 specials is good for the wire service because they can collect an additional $15 service fee plus the 20% the filling florist gives them, for a total of $21 gross profit. We collect $24 for $30 worth of flowers & delivery service. The consumer is getting only $30 worth of flowers/service for $45.

And then the wire service tacks on additional fees under the guise of "making customers happier" with their Quality Assurance Program.
It amazes me that the wire services do not understand that the filling florist has to be profitable. They do the discounting to the consumer on their end, offer expensive containers to the florist on the other end, and then add on fees that eat into the profit needed to fill their orders plus they take a 20% commission out of the order.

Making flowers more affordable should be done at the local level, not the wire service side of our business. Maybe we can't compete with the mega grocer, but I don't think we can survive without trying everything possible. We have to try it at the local side of our business, not the wire service side of our business.

Tom Carlson

 

[sfox]

First, let me state that the wire services and their " Quality Assurance Programs " are a complete success. The only problem is that the only "Quality" be assured is the wire services revenue because all those fees that are being collected are being used to filled their coffers and have nothing to do with the consumers satisfaction.

Second, let me state that the wire services are all about the wire services. They could care less about filling florists. They make their money when orders are sent, not when they are filled.

 

[BOSS]

Example: A wire service with $29.99 specials is good for the wire service because they can collect an additional $15 service fee plus the 20% the filling florist gives them, for a total of $21 gross profit. We collect $24 for $30 worth of flowers & delivery service. The consumer is getting only $30 worth of flowers/service for $45.

The very reason consumers think flowers are expensive. And the reason most florists are not operating profitably. Also it's the reason consumers think **we** are the problem, when in reality we are not, except for the fact that we continue to help perpetuate the deception.

 

[JoycesFlowersKC]

I emailed my TF rep a while back and asked her if 1) From You Flowers has to pay the "Quality Assurance Fee" and 2) how well they fared when tested. She never wrote me back. Go figure.

 

[BOSS]

I emailed my TF rep a while back and asked her if 1) From You Flowers has to pay the "Quality Assurance Fee" and 2) how well they fared when tested. She never wrote me back. Go figure.

They probably do not have to pay it, and I doubt they pay the FTD Marketing Advance either. As to testing... what are you going to test? They do not handle flowers, they don't design flowers, and they don't deliver flowers.

 

[Flowerchatter03]

In another thread, I gave a senario of a complaint I received from a new customer regarding a filling shop. Although TF agreed to give my customer their money back (after several calls and I had to get rude), they never addressed the lack of quality in the order. I specifically asked about why we are paying that fee when nothing will be done and I got a cryptic answer that any investigation that MIGHT be done, is confidential. I asked if that shop will get paid for the order and the rep would not answer me. That shop also advertises on the Dove "satisfaction guaranteed". These are just words with no meaning if no one is enforcing anything.

 

[JoycesFlowersKC]

As to testing... what are you going to test? They do not handle flowers, they don't design flowers, and they don't deliver flowers.

That's exactly what my point was. More of a rhetorical question really. Kind of like when I asked my rep how From You Flowers rated on their shop evaluation....and she totally avoided that one too. Bleepity bleep bleep bleeps.

On a side note, I don't think that the Quality Assurance Program is worth a crap. I got tested once on a Uniquely Chic, had it almost exact...replaced lily grass with bear grass (big whoop), and there were most definitely orange roses in it. My letter stated that I passed, but noted that there were no orange roses in the arrangement. You could clearly see one staring you right in the face from the middle of the picture. But whatever. I digress. )

I've heard other florists say that with a bit of strong-arming, it is possible to get that fee removed. I've tried. I've tried hard, and I've tried a lot. To no avail.

Is the SAF fee mandatory? I don't really see that much value in it, other than a newsletter...but I haven't done much homework on that front. I'm just focusing my energy on other actions that will allow me to drop TF.....ASAP.

 

[Doug Munro]

The very reason consumers think flowers are expensive. And the reason most florists are not operating profitably. Also it's the reason consumers think **we** are the problem, when in reality we are not, except for the fact that we continue to help perpetuate the deception.

I will probably be accused of defending the wires services here but......

The reality is that most consumers use the services of a "wire service" a lot less that they purchase flowers locally, so I suspect that their opinion on the value of flowers is based on local purchases (I know, this statement does nothing to "demonize" the WS's) .

I would suggest that most consumers do not think that "flowers are expensive" in general just that many "flower shops" are!

Lets face it when a consumer day in and day out sees a dozen roses in their local Publix, Safeway, Walmart, or Costco for under $ 15.00 per dozen then sees similar product in their local florist for 2-4 times the price what conclusion would you expect tem to draw.

Trust me, I know all the arguments about margins and what a small shop needs to survive but put on your" consumer hat" for just a moment and change the product we are discussing.

When you decide to buy milk, vegies, meat, do you shop at the Supermarket, Costco, Walmart, or the independent mom & pop grocery who is 15 - 20% more than the big boys and lacks the selection?

The sad part of it is that virtually any retailler of flowers can sell a cash & carry dozen roses for under $15.00 and still make a 60% gross. Particularly in the USA where many weeks of the year roses are available for under $0.30 per stem.

Funny enough I note that the Tom started this post and staed that he was not "knocking the wire services" yet it almost immediately went in that direction.

 

[goldfish]

The reality is that most consumers use the services of a "wire service" a lot less that they purchase flowers locally, so I suspect that their opinion on the value of flowers is based on local purchases (I know, this statement does nothing to "demonize" the WS's) .

I would suggest that most consumers do not think that "flowers are expensive" in general just that many "flower shops" are!

I agree. Basically we are seen analogous to a restaurant selling a cheese burger for $20. yes, our cheeseburger may be in a (supposedly) better quality; yes, we "have to" charge this much to pay our fixed expenses. You know what? At the end of the day, consumers don't care how much *we* should charge in order to survive. They only care how much they pay for a cheeseburger.

Lets face it when a consumer day in and day out sees a dozen roses in their local Publix, Safeway, Walmart, or Costco for under $ 15.00 per dozen then sees similar product in their local florist for 2-4 times the price what conclusion would you expect tem to draw.

I think it all boils down to this. The traditional florist's biz mode relies on the profit from the manual labor (flower arranging), but the perceived value of that labor has decreased.

If consumers see a dozen roses for $15 in supermarkets and a florist's arranged roses for $60, they make a mental calculation of $45 being the charge for the labor plus greens and fillers.

They conclude $45 is too much for that. I think most consumers might accept $10-$15 extra. So if the price of arranged roses was somewhere around $25-30, they might start buying more from us.

Problem is,mot of us can't survive with that kind of margin; that's precisely where the problem is. I think that's the biggest dilemma facing us today. Time is running out, and I really do not think we have time to b*tch about evil OGs or WS's.

 

[Doug Munro]

I agree. Basically we are seen analogous to a restaurant selling a cheese burger for $20. yes, our cheeseburger may be in a (supposedly) better quality; yes, we "have to" charge this much to pay our fixed expenses. You know what? At the end of the day, consumers don't care how much *we* should charge in order to survive. They only care how much they pay for a cheeseburger.



I think it all boils down to this. The traditional florist's biz mode relies on the profit from the manual labor (flower arranging), but the perceived value of that labor has decreased.

If consumers see a dozen roses for $15 in supermarkets and a florist's arranged roses for $60, they make a mental calculation of $45 being the charge for the labor plus greens and fillers.

They conclude $45 is too much for that. I think most consumers might accept $10-$15 extra. So if the price of arranged roses was somewhere around $25-30, they might start buying more from us.

Problem is,mot of us can't survive with that kind of margin; that's precisely where the problem is. I think that's the biggest dilemma facing us today. Time is running out, and I really do not think we have time to b*tch about evil OGs or WS's.

I believe that the biggest dilemma is that no one likes change, and to resolve the issues that face us as an industry will require a lot of chang by thge traditional flower shop that has become very comfortable in their historic way of doing business.

What we are witnessing at the OG, WS, and mass marketer level is the evolution of our industry, and like any "species" if you don't evolve to meet the threats, yous imply don't survive in the long run. The reality is that everyday the consumer is making their flower buying choices based on their perception of value. not ours!

 

[goldfish]

The word "change," for all the practical reasons, means swallowing lots of pride and doing something you never wanted to do. If each of us is looking for a solution that is comfortable with us, that's tinkering of status quo, not a real change.

Let's look at what is preventing consumers from buying roses from us. A big factor, perhaps the biggest factor, is the price.

Let me put this way. I will give you $60. Which products/services would you buy as a consumer?

1) Arranged roses from a local florist, or
2) $15 rose bunch from a local supermarket (very good quality these days) PLUS a cheeseburger/fries combo ($8) PLUS two DVD rentals ($2) PLUS a brand new video game ($35).

I would choose 2), so do most consumers. Whom should we blame? What good would that do? Let's remember that we are no longer just competing with other rose sellers; we are competing with all kinds of retailers and service providers (video games, DVD rentals, fancy cell phones) all going after the SAME consumer's pocket.

No consumer has a set budget for flowers. If they decide to buy a new video game, they now have less money to buy flowers.

Value of flower arrangements, therefore, must now compete with the values of, say, video games. They are improving in value, we are not.

To be consistent with the perceived value of flowers by average consumers, I think florists may have to adapt to a completely new model in which the margin is lot lower than before.

Simply discounting the prices will almost certainly not work, because, as long as the fixed expenses remain the same, the gross profit would become so thin that the business will belly up rather quickly. Rather, we have to find a way to reduce the fixed expenses, particularly labor cost per arrangement. Production labor per arrangement may have to come down to as little as ~5% of the price. Yes, this may virtually eliminate "custom" arrangements. Didn't I say above that we have to do something we don't want to? This is one of them.

At the same time, we have to somehow increase the sales count per square footage in a shop. The reason is quite simple. If the fixed expenses is $10,000 a month and you have only 300 sales, you would have to make $33 / sale. To reduce this number to, say, $20/sale, your sales count must go up to 500.

So in brief, I think we have to 1) reduce the labor cost / arr and 2) increase the customer/sales count. Please don't ask me how, because if I knew how to do it, I wouldn't be eating ramen noodles every day.

 

[JoycesFlowersKC]

*****They conclude $45 is too much for that. I think most consumers might accept $10-$15 extra. So if the price of arranged roses was somewhere around $25-30, they might start buying more from us.

Problem is,mot of us can't survive with that kind of margin; that's precisely where the problem is. I think that's the biggest dilemma facing us today. *****

I know that we have gotten entirely off the topic of Quality Assurance Programs....well sort of anyway....

IMHO you have to PROVE to your customers why your flowers are worth more than they are at the grocery store. At V-Day, I always trott my little butt up to the grocery store, buy one of their dozen roses arranged. Then when I get a guy in my shop huffing and puffing about $85 for a dozen...I bring out the grocery store arrangement, receipt and all, and set it next to my arrangement. 100% of the time, they have whipped their wallet out and paid up. Most of the time, they thank me for showing them and explaining to them the difference, AND said that they never had any idea whatsoever that one rose was any different from another.

I have people that will glady pay $5 for a gerb, because they know that the ones coming from my shop are going to last at least two weeks....and they have gotten the grocery store ones that hold up for one day. When people have the time to listen, I explain it to them from both perspectives (as I was a grocery employee for 9 years, and indie for 6)

Just like I expect that if I buy a $5 shirt at Old Navy...chances are it's only going to survive about 10 washings. But if I buy a $30 shirt at Macy's, it'll last for a few years. Each person has to figure out what is important to them in the long run. People that care about QUALITY are the ones that shop at a flower shop. People that care about VALUE are the ones that don't.

Just my .02 worth. )

 

[goldfish]

IMHO you have to PROVE to your customers why your flowers are worth more than they are at the grocery store.

I think the question of whether or not florists' roses are "worth" more than they are at the grocery store, has already been answered by consumers. Their verdict: grocery store's roses offer a better value than florists' roses. They voted overwhelmingly by their pocket.

It really doesn't matter whether we agree/disagree with their verdict, or even whether they got it right or not.

All we have to admit is the fact that verdict has been reached and it is against us. Massmarketer floral departments' share have been increasing and mom&pop florists' share has been decreasing. That's the fact. Perhaps in a few years, they will be selling more flowers than all the independent florists combined.

Sure, we might be able to come up with millions of excuses for the situation, other than flatly admitting that florists' flowers offer lower values than supermarkets flowers. I've heard people saying perhaps we have to "educate" consumers etc. I think that's a total waste of time. Are we trying to "prove" consumers wrong/stupid/whatever?

I buy my breads at a supermarket. If a local baker comes up to me, tells me that I'm making a mistake, and explain why, you know what I will say to him? "Thanks for the info, but please mind your own business."

What I find most frustrating is that majority of florists are NOT willing to admit our defeat. Why? Pride? Fear? Lack of courage? All of the above?

Supermarkets won because they did what consumers wanted, while we florists kept complaining (and are still complaining) about why consumers weren't buying the things they "should" be buying. So naturally, they won and we lost.

Here's an interesting story I can share...

Almost twenty years ago, in MacWorld expo, Steve Jobs (back then, the new interim CEO) came up to the stage and announced a new agreement with Microsoft. MS invest $100 mil on Apple and promise to keep producing Office products to the Mac platform. It saved Apple, which was almost dead at that point.

Mac enthusiasts in the hall booed him loudly, especially when Bill Gates showed up in the teleconferencing screen. Mac people think Microsoft is an evil and any deal with MS was considered a treason.

Steve Jobs said "We fought Microsoft in the past. They won and we lost. Please get a life." That was twenty years ago. Still true.

 

[JoycesFlowersKC]

I buy my breads at a supermarket. If a local baker comes up to me, tells me that I'm making a mistake, and explain why, you know what I will say to him? "Thanks for the info, but please mind your own business."

If I want a plain ol' loaf of white bread, I go to the grocery store and pay $1.49
If I want a fancy asiago cheese 7 grain loaf of fresh baked bread, I go to Panera and pay considerably more.
I appreciate the fancy loaf, and am willing to pay double, maybe tripple what I would for a loaf at the grocery.
Grocery stores have us beat in the conveinence department, but they sure as hell don't have me beat in the quality department. Actual value, or perceived value, vary greatly from one person to the next.

I don't believe that florists have been DEFEATED. I believe that this is a very difficult business to be in, and you get out of it exactly what you put in. If one has the attitutute that they are the loser, then how can you possibly succeed?

Figure out what works for YOU and have a go at it! If that means selling crap roses at $12.99 a dozen, then by all means, do it. If that means admiting defeat and becoming a bus driver, then do it. If that means finding a way to consistently sell the best quality and prettiest arrangements in town, then do it. )

 

[Doug Munro]

*****They conclude $45 is too much for that. I think most consumers might accept $10-$15 extra. So if the price of arranged roses was somewhere around $25-30, they might start buying more from us.

Problem is,mot of us can't survive with that kind of margin; that's precisely where the problem is. I think that's the biggest dilemma facing us today. *****

I know that we have gotten entirely off the topic of Quality Assurance Programs....well sort of anyway....

IMHO you have to PROVE to your customers why your flowers are worth more than they are at the grocery store. At V-Day, I always trott my little butt up to the grocery store, buy one of their dozen roses arranged. Then when I get a guy in my shop huffing and puffing about $85 for a dozen...I bring out the grocery store arrangement, receipt and all, and set it next to my arrangement. 100% of the time, they have whipped their wallet out and paid up. Most of the time, they thank me for showing them and explaining to them the difference, AND said that they never had any idea whatsoever that one rose was any different from another.

I have people that will glady pay $5 for a gerb, because they know that the ones coming from my shop are going to last at least two weeks....and they have gotten the grocery store ones that hold up for one day. When people have the time to listen, I explain it to them from both perspectives (as I was a grocery employee for 9 years, and indie for 6)

Just like I expect that if I buy a $5 shirt at Old Navy...chances are it's only going to survive about 10 washings. But if I buy a $30 shirt at Macy's, it'll last for a few years. Each person has to figure out what is important to them in the long run. People that care about QUALITY are the ones that shop at a flower shop. People that care about VALUE are the ones that don't.

Just my .02 worth. )

The underlying problem is that as an industry sector the tpical retail florist has sacrificed customer count to higher margin.This didn't happen overnight it has in fact been the basis of the business model for decades and worked quite well until the introduction of lower priced (imported) product, mass marketers, and the internet.

What is the solution? More customers

Obviously easier said than done.

Sure you can stand your ground on pricing and fight the battle on quality and service. But ask yourself, do you think for a moment that is enough? If it was I suggest that most of the discussions on this board would not be taking place as the reality is that the retail florist has lost those battles and is on the brink of losing the war in many cases. Both quality and service can only be proven to the consumer when and if you get the opportunity to communicate with them. This communication can occur in person or via marketing (expensive and generally something which most florists are poor at).

The only solution is to provide the consumer with what they percieve as value, unfortunately that generally translates to lower prices. So we're back to that.

 

[BOSS]

The underlying problem is that as an industry sector the tpical retail florist has sacrificed customer count to higher margin.

The only solution is to provide the consumer with what they percieve as value, unfortunately that generally translates to lower prices. So we're back to that.

Boy, you guys have been busy... good thread!.. Been to busy doing flowers to jump in this mix...

While I concur with Doug's theory outlined in the quote above in general, I believe that we can compete at the upper end in many cases better than competing at the bottom end, especially if we concentrate on the NET income over the gross income. I feel this is based on market size, where a shop like mine in a city of 40,000 has a much better chance of working a niche at the high end of the market, while leaving the lower margin work for someone else. This probably will not work in a 2 florist city with a population under 10,000 people.

Looking at Midland, there are definite levels of price, quality and service among the 7 shops here. Myself, and to a large extent one other shop have the reputation of being the most expensive (while in reality this is not really true) then there is a group of 3-4 that are "middle of the road" and one with the "two bunches of glads, and 3 bunches of pomps for $35.00 for a funeral" still selling to the "blue hairs" from long ago.

Doug, and Da Fish are right, we have to, in fact we must cultivate new customers. While we can try to do it with cut throat bottom fighting at $9.95 a dozen, I feel that for long term top line growth we must work to cultivate the perception that "MY FLOWERS ARE WORTH WHAT I CHARGE FOR THEM" and if you really want roses for $9.95 a dozen perhaps you are not a good customer fit for my store. While I would not mind have ALL the business in my city, I would rather concentrate on the higher end of the game and take what comes in on the lower end, rather than fight for low margin sales and lose the top end in the process. The old adage still applies, You can not be all things to all people and do a good job. Something will suffer.

My goal is to make sure my quality and service do not suffer, and with that the reputation we have spent decades cultivating does not get lost along the way. I do not want to be known as the shop selling roses for $9.95 that drop dead in 3 days, I want to be known as the shop with style, vision and design, whose roses last 2 weeks and open, even if they do cost 6 times more. For me it's all about quality over quantity. I'd much rather do less and make more and have a life than to do more and make less per unit and not have a life.

 

[sandytf]

If I want a plain ol' loaf of white bread, I go to the grocery store and pay $1.49
If I want a fancy asiago cheese 7 grain loaf of fresh baked bread, I go to Panera and pay considerably more.
I appreciate the fancy loaf, and am willing to pay double, maybe tripple what I would for a loaf at the grocery.
Grocery stores have us beat in the conveinence department, but they sure as hell don't have me beat in the quality department. Actual value, or perceived value, vary greatly from one person to the next.

I don't believe that florists have been DEFEATED. I believe that this is a very difficult business to be in, and you get out of it exactly what you put in. If one has the attitutute that they are the loser, then how can you possibly succeed?

Figure out what works for YOU and have a go at it! If that means selling crap roses at $12.99 a dozen, then by all means, do it. If that means admiting defeat and becoming a bus driver, then do it. If that means finding a way to consistently sell the best quality and prettiest arrangements in town, then do it. )

The reality is that the $12.99 roses are not crap in most cases. The $12.99 rose bouquets that we sell often outperform our long stem premiums. Another "myth" that B&M florists are hanging on to: All grocery store and mass market flowers are low quality. While that may have been true when they first entered the market, it's simply not true anymore. Yes, you can find crappy flowers in a grocery stores, but increasingly, you find high quality flowers at a fraction of the cost of what most flower shops charge. The biggest difference is service. And, as Goldfish has pointed out, the consumer has spoken on that. Not everyone wants to pay for the service. They're perfectly happy paying the $12.99 and taking them home and putting them in a vase by themselves. For $12.99 they can enjoy roses for two weeks on their table. To me, that is value.

 

[KABERS]

I still believe it's about conveinence. Our local grocery store floral dept. is suffering a substantial loss because a Super Walmart moved in right up the road. The overall store sales are down 30%. Obviously there are less people walking through their floral dept. The designer there is good and use to underprice everyone on weddings. She doesn't do that anymore because she realised the pitiful profit wasn't worth all the work and stress. As for 12.99 roses, I haven't seen any I'd buy, because the box stores around here don't pay people to care for them. Sandy, you have the best of both worlds by being a store in a store. I greatly admire you and all you do to promote your business. I simply can't increase my walk in traffic to any degree that would make it feasible to work with lower margins.

 

[JoycesFlowersKC]

The only solution is to provide the consumer with what they percieve as value, unfortunately that generally translates to lower prices. So we're back to that.

I totally disagree. Respectfully of course. )
I get my coffee at Starbucks. Not McDonalds. I 100% value my decaff extra carmel non-fat no-whip latte....and I'm willing to pay $5 for that. The day that McDonald's can provide me the exact same drink, made by an english-speaking staff who know me by name, know what I want when I walk in the door, and it's made by hand in front of my face, not poured out of a machine from a ready made mix....and do all that for $1.99....I'll be the first in line. Some people could care less about any of that. Those are the ones that care more about price than about quality. They are not the people that shop at my store.

My goal is to make sure my quality and service do not suffer, and with that the reputation we have spent decades cultivating does not get lost along the way. I do not want to be known as the shop selling roses for $9.95 that drop dead in 3 days, I want to be known as the shop with style, vision and design, whose roses last 2 weeks and open, even if they do cost 6 times more. For me it's all about quality over quantity. I'd much rather do less and make more and have a life than to do more and make less per unit and not have a life.

I could not agree more! )

The reality is that the $12.99 roses are not crap in most cases. The $12.99 rose bouquets that we sell often outperform our long stem premiums. Another "myth" that B&M florists are hanging on to: All grocery store and mass market flowers are low quality. While that may have been true when they first entered the market, it's simply not true anymore. Yes, you can find crappy flowers in a grocery stores, but increasingly, you find high quality flowers at a fraction of the cost of what most flower shops charge. The biggest difference is service. And, as Goldfish has pointed out, the consumer has spoken on that. Not everyone wants to pay for the service. They're perfectly happy paying the $12.99 and taking them home and putting them in a vase by themselves. For $12.99 they can enjoy roses for two weeks on their table. To me, that is value.

*I* believe that the cheap roses are exactly that...cheap. And to me, cheap=crap. I worked for a grocery chain for 9 years, was in 4 seperate stores, and every cash & carry dozen I saw go through there was yuck. But we sold thousands of them. And I completely agree, there are people out there that find value in those roses. They are not the people that shop at my store. The people that shop here expect premium....Geraldine, Tara, Blizzard and the like.
That being said, I think that a lot of the time in the grocery stores, it's not that it's always sub-standard product, it's sub-standard care. You have 16 year olds in there that don't know a thing, and they are processing the flowers. The buckets get cleaned *maybe* once a month...the flowers don't go in coolers....they don't get preservative. I'm not saying that every single grocery store is like that, but the 4 I worked in certainly were. And un-educated staff. One store I was at put all of their V-Day flowers in the produce fridge. I kid you not.

 

[Doug Munro]

I totally disagree. Respectfully of course. )
I get my coffee at Starbucks. Not McDonalds. I 100% value my decaff extra carmel non-fat no-whip latte....and I'm willing to pay $5 for that. The day that McDonald's can provide me the exact same drink, made by an english-speaking staff who know me by name, know what I want when I walk in the door, and it's made by hand in front of my face, not poured out of a machine from a ready made mix....and do all that for $1.99....I'll be the first in line. Some people could care less about any of that. Those are the ones that care more about price than about quality. They are not the people that shop at my store.



I could not agree more! )



*I* believe that the cheap roses are exactly that...cheap. And to me, cheap=crap. I worked for a grocery chain for 9 years, was in 4 seperate stores, and every cash & carry dozen I saw go through there was yuck. But we sold thousands of them. And I completely agree, there are people out there that find value in those roses. They are not the people that shop at my store. The people that shop here expect premium....Geraldine, Tara, Blizzard and the like.
That being said, I think that a lot of the time in the grocery stores, it's not that it's always sub-standard product, it's sub-standard care. You have 16 year olds in there that don't know a thing, and they are processing the flowers. The buckets get cleaned *maybe* once a month...the flowers don't go in coolers....they don't get preservative. I'm not saying that every single grocery store is like that, but the 4 I worked in certainly were. And un-educated staff. One store I was at put all of their V-Day flowers in the produce fridge. I kid you not.

First off, I don't for a moment believe that a comparison between your decision to purchase Starbucks and a consumers choice as to where to buy roses is a fair one.

Lets face it coffee is an everyday purchase and roses are not, secondly if there is a product more subject to a consumers personal tastes than coffee I don't know what it is, thirdly buying coffee at Starbucks is an experience for many rather than simply a cup of coffee, and last but not least as I recall Starbucks is floundering financially and closing stores while Mcdonalds is doing just fine (sound like another retail industry we all know)

As for your belief that $12.99 roses are "crap" this could not be further from the truth. I have personally been present at some of the best quality importers in Miami and watched them load product onto Krogers trailers, the same quality product that they sell to wholesalers and retailers. Sure they are not 60-70 cm stem lengths, but they are quality roses.While a company like Krogers or Costco may pay a bit less than "mom & pop" for these roses what makes them $12.99 roses is not the cost to the retailer, but the actual markup the retailer puts on the product.

As for how supermarkets treat product, don't judge them all by your limited experience. I have been to produce trade shows and the majors flowers farms all have a large presence along with virtually every post harvest care product manufacturer. The reality is that in the major food chains most understand and practice post harvest care better than the average florist, a lot of times their flower suppliers ensure it as the product is often on consignment and either way a supplier is judged by the longevity of the product and customer complaints.

Unfortunately the many retail florists views post harvest care as an added expense in both labor and product hard costs so try to cut corners where possible. I base this opinion on being in the wholesale side of the trade for 15 years and watching retailers consistently purchase post harvest care products based on which was cheapest, not which was best suited for the task at hand. What did you say about cheap, ahhh yes "cheap=crap".

On a last note while you ( and many others) may feel confident that the people who shop in your store are not looking for $12.99 roses, tell me this. Do these same people purchase their groceries at Costco or Walmart?

The bottom line is that making assumptions about what consumers want and forcing your desires on them want is a sure way to go broke.