Local flower business blooms on Valentine’s Day
CAPTION: Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for Strelitzia Flower Company, a locally-owned Davis business.
By Iris Harshaw,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff-
Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for Strelitzia Flower Company, and this year is no exception. They have 300-500 flower deliveries on Feb. 14 every year, and despite pandemic conditions, the store is busy and bustling.
“We’ve actually had a lot of growth in our business because of COVID with people not getting together for birthdays and things like that, people are learning to send flowers,” said assistant manager Hanna Widlund.
Strelitzia’s preparations for Valentine’s Day started four months ago. To determine how many flowers and other materials to order, they take data from past Valentine’s Days. Which day of the week that Valentine’s Day falls on is a big factor in the predictions. For example, the busiest Valentine’s Days always fall on Wednesday or Thursday, while Sundays are usually slower.
“There are so many formulas and math and data that go into making this happen,” Widlund said.
Strelitzia brings in up to 15 additional employees for the holiday weekend, and there is even a coffee cart set up in the back as a gift to everyone working hard on Valentine’s Day.
“We always have to warn our staff: ‘Don’t make plans. Celebrate on the 15th,’” Widlund said.
The atmosphere is frantic, but the employees seem to be in positive spirits. Maybe “love” isn’t in the air exactly, but there is a sense of comradery and joy drifting among the rows of red roses.
Robin Bianchi has been working at Strelitzia for eight years now. She started as a delivery driver and now works as the head flower designer.
“I love Valentine’s Day and I hate Valentine’s Day. It’s a fun chaos,” Bianchi said.
According to Widlund, there are literally thousands of roses in the building this weekend. The most popular flower is the red rose and the most popular arrangement is “designer’s choice,” which means designers have the freedom to arrange however they want.
“It gives us the opportunity to use any flowers that we want to. It’s a little bit more creative than just giving roses,” Bianchi said.
February isn’t really flower-growing season, presenting a challenge to all florists. Changes in the weather can change which flowers are available.
“This year, even with the rain, it worked out and we got a lot of what we wanted,” Widlund said.
All of Strelitzia’s roses are imported from Central America since they don’t grow as well in the United States. The flowers they get locally include sunflowers, ranunculus, anemones and tulips.
“We actually go directly to farms along the coast: Salinas, Half Moon Bay, etc,” Widlund said.
One of Widlund’s favorite parts about Valentine’s Day is the customers.
“All the guys are kind of nervous and they come in and they’re not sure [what to buy],” Widlund said.
The founder and owner of Strelitzia Flower Company, Dean Labadie, can be seen walking around the store, surveying his employees and merchandise. The store is coming up on its 50th anniversary later this year and has many more Valentine’s Days to come.
