Valentines Day brings big business to area flower shops
<p><strong>For the week of Valentine’s Day, the Garden Gift and floral shop becomes packed with balloons, chocolates and other products for the holiday as one of their busiest day of the year approaches.</strong></p>
PLAINS – Valentine’s Day is usually seen as a day of romance or to show how much you care about people in your life; for flower shops and bakeries, though, it is one of the busiest days of the year.
Last week Garden Gift and Floral, in Plains, was going at full steam making flower arrangements, gift baskets and making deliveries. Right next door, the bakery above the Dog Hill Bistro was swamped with orders for cookies, cakes and all variety of pastries in preparation for the holiday.
Katie Gonce, of Garden Gift and Floral, said the week was nuts for them. They had to run deliveries all over the Plains area as well as going out to Hot Springs, Paradise and other surrounding areas. To keep up, Gonce had to bring on more people to help manage the work load.
She recalled calling on her mom as well as the former owner and her daughter for help with things.
“It’s people who have been in the industry a lot longer than I have,” Gonce said. “I call on them to help me … and that’s what happens.”
For the week of Valentine’s Day, the florist is almost completely unavailable for other business. Gonce recalled she had to ask people to call her back the next week if they needed anything not related to Valentine’s Day orders.