Before her Christmas merchandise was taken off the shelves, Shirley Lyons, owner of Dandelions Flowers and Gifts in West Eugene, was busy developing a strategy for the annual flower-buying frenzy that occurs every Valentine’s Day.
Early in January, she had placed the bulk of her orders for flowers with wholesalers throughout the United States and South America. Then she had to search for extra personnel to help create and design the Valentine’s Day floral arrangements, increasing her staff from 18 to 55. She also assembled a fleet of 17 delivery drivers to complete what she believes will be more than 550 deliveries in a single day.
Even though much of the preparation is done, Lyons said she’s expecting many sleepless nights the week of Feb. 14.
“It’s challenging to try to do a month’s worth of sales in one day,” she said. “The staff is tired because they won’t go home until late, then they’ll be back early in the morning. We’ll be working straight through the night on Feb. 13.”
Lyons is one of many merchants, locally and nationally, gearing up for the first big shopping holiday of 2003. For stores that carry the traditional Valentine’s gifts, such as flowers, candy and jewelry, Valentine’s Day is one of the most important single retail days.
“About 10 percent of our sales for the year will come during that week alone, and most of that on Valentine’s Day itself,” said Debbie Harris, a sales associate at Mark’s Hallmark store at Valley River Center.
As holidays go, Christmas is still king with retailers. Mother’s Day, Halloween and Easter, with less emphasis on perishable merchandise and longer shopping seasons, are also considered more profitable than Valentine’s Day. Still, for many stores, a huge portion of annual revenue is generated on Feb. 14.
Jennifer Sparks, vice president of marketing for the Virginia-based Society of American Florists, said 17 percent of all holiday flower purchases are made on Valentine’s Day, with more than a third of all cut flowers sold that day. Florists sold 130 million roses alone last year for Valentine’s Day.
According to a report by the
International Mass Retail Association, consumers in 2001 exchanged 163 million cards — the second largest greeting card total after Christmas — and spent $1.05 billion on candy for Valentine’s Day.
Laura Betty, retail manager for the Euphoria Chocolate Company, said she expects her store at the Valley River Center, one of three outlets in Eugene, to be packed come Feb. 14.
“On an average day, we have about 150 customers come in, and last year, it went up to 700 on Valentine’s Day,” Betty said.
Merchants specializing in traditional Valentine’s gifts are not the only ones anticipating a shopping rush.
Store manager John Heckler of Green Acres Road’s Wal-Mart said most department stores experience increased foot-traffic during Valentine’s Day from people scrambling to buy that last-minute card or box of candy. With more customers cruising the aisles, the likelihood of non-traditional Valentine’s Day purchases increases.
“They might come in looking specifically for Valentine’s items, but anything can become a potential gift,” Heckler said. “Maybe it’s a red sweater they see on their way toward the cards or a shirt with a heart on it, but things we aren’t even advertising for the holiday become Valentine’s gifts.” Local Fred Meyer, ShopKo and Target stores are also all geared up for the holiday, with special merchandise packing the aisles.
Despite the rush and extensive preparation, shoppers are a welcome sight.
“It’s a crucial sales day,” Lyons said. “With all the time and effort we’ve invested, we’re happy to see customers coming in.”