Florist in Laredo, Texas, Tells All About Valentine's Day Business

Laredo, Texas -- In an interview with the main salesperson, and go-to-guy, Memo, at Farias Wholesale Florist, we will learn what it takes to run a successful business during Valentine's Day each year.

1. Does Valentine's Day affect your business in a positive way?

Yes! Valentine's Day is what gives this business the ability to keep running the way it does for the rest of the year. There are certain goals that are set, that need to be met, in order to make this holiday a positive one though. Some of those goals include making preparations in advanced, and making deliveries on time to flower shops in order to not lose their business to another wholesale company.

2. How many different flower shops do you serve?

We serve all of the Laredo, Texas flower shops in one way or another. Although we do not receive Valentine's Day flower orders from each one of them, many shops come into our store and purchase items they will need for the holiday that makes their business worth-the-while. They purchase vases, water foam, ribbon, and a variety of other supplies they need.

3. Do you do any advertising for this holiday?

I wouldn't call what we do advertising. Each January we make a list of what we will be offering for Valentine's Day, the prices, and by when the flower shops will need to make their orders, and then I self-handedly deliver that piece of paper to the flower shop owners. That's about all the advertising we do here at Farias. We are listed in the phone book, and since we have been servicing most flower shops since the day they opened, we already have their business for this day.

4. What is your most popular item during Valentine's Day?

As always, roses. Roses, baby's breath, carnations, and vases are amongst the top sellers during these holidays. We make sure to offer the best prices to the flower shops, and we do a lot of negotiating with the flower distributors. We also do pre-ordering so that our business can get the best price as well.

5. What preparations do you do, if any, in advanced to insure things go right?

Well, we take orders in advanced and let it be known to the flower shops that we cannot ensure timely delivery if they don't meet the deadlines we set. We also hire extra help for our store, and to help get things delivered on time.

6. What do you worry the most about during Valentine's Day?

What worries me the most for this holiday is not getting the orders from the distributors on time. It also worries me when we don't get the best quality products, because I do not like to sell flowers that I know aren't going to last.

7. Is there anything that you could do to increase profits for your business during Valentine's Day?

There are not a lot of things that can be done to increase profits during this holiday for a business such as ours. Our business is a reflection of the business our local flower shops have, and since we cannot control them, they control us. I guess, the day we need to increase profits, we will start selling flowers to shops in our surrounding areas.

8. What memory stays with you from Valentine's Day each year?

Each year, I get phone calls on Valentine's Day, from flower shop owners asking me if I have a certain type of flower available for them. They beg and plead me to please get it to them as soon as possible, and I just chuckle and tell them "Of course, don't worry about it." The sigh of relief I hear, is something that stays with me forever.

Farias Wholesale Florist which can be located at, 3102 San Bernardo Avenue, Laredo, TX 78040, and reached by telephone at 956-724-9979