Flower shops do big business for Valentine’s

ELLSWORTH, Maine (WABI) - Flower shops around the area have been planning for Valentine’s Day for months.

“It’s the Superbowl of the flower industry,” said Bud Connection Owner Barbara Courchesne.

For many flower shops around the state, today Valentine’s Day the single busiest day of the year. For The Bud Connection in Ellsworth, Valentine’s Day 2023 is record-setting.

“This is my nineteenth Valentine’s,” Courchesne said. “My busiest day was yesterday. We might top that today, but we may all be dead so check on us at 5.”

The Bud Connection started prep work for Valentine’s Day just after Christmas, and before the holiday is over will have gone through five-thousand roses, while making nearly three hundred deliveries.

“I have ten drivers today,” said Courchesne. “We have a fleet of minivans that’s ridiculous. I have a lot of part timers that come in to help with this, and they love it. They look forward to it, because this is one of those days where you want to be that person in the office getting the flowers. So it’s super fun for everybody.”

There are of course other times throughout the year where the flower shop industry is really, really busy; graduations, Mother’s Day, and wedding season to name a few. But there’s no day quite like February 14th, when the clientele gets a little more specific.

“We have a pretty big parade of men yesterday and today, which is pretty exciting,” Courchesne laughed. “Sometimes they’re just lined right out the door. So, it’s just a fun holiday.”

A fun holiday that will be back again before you know it.

“We start making notes tomorrow about what worked and what didn’t work. ‘What can we improve?’ So it’s one of those things that’s always in your brain. ‘Oh yeah, Valentine’s is only seven months away, six months away, four months away.’ So it’s a big production, but y’know, it all just rolls here.”

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