Unit B2-12

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Unit B2-12

• Floriculture
• Horticulture CD

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Problem Area 2

• Floral Design

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Lesson 12

• Managing the Flower Shop

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Interest Approach

• On a sheet of paper, list as many flower shops as
  you can that are in your area. What do the shops
  have in common? How are they different? What does
  it take to run a flower shop?

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Student Objectives

• 1. Describe the qualifications to be a florist.
• 2. Describe the types of flower shops.
• 3. Explain the basics about good location and
  starting a floral shop.
• 4. Describe the importance of marketing,
  promotion and sales.
• 5. Describe effective packaging and delivery.
• 6. Explain the major areas of an effective
  flower shop floor plan.

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Vocabulary

• Bucket shop
• Carriage trade shop
• Clearinghouse
• Demographic study
• Displays
• Empty nest couples
• Fictitious name statement
• Filling florist
• Franchise
• Gray market

• Marketing
• Marketing mix
• Promotion
• Resale license
• Satellite shop
• Sending florist
• Stem shop
• Tax number
• Up-selling
• Visual merchandise

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What Skills Must I Posses If I Am Going to Become
a Florist?

• Most people who become florists do so because
  they enjoy flowers and plants
• Opening a business, however, requires knowledge
  about the industry, floral training, and ability
  to keep up with new trends
• Skills can be acquired through college courses,
  working in a shop and attending training sessions

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Qualifications of a Successful Florist
Floral Knowledge Business Skills Personal Attributes
Flowers Advertising Honest
Care/handling Marketing Trustworthy
Design Personal management Consistent
Display techniques Buying inventory management Self starter
Creativity Pricing knowledge Motivated
Trend watcher Computer skills Energetic
Bookkeeping/accounting skills Patient
Salesmanship skills Tactful/compassionate
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• Major skill areas include
• 1) business knowledge
• Knowing how to advertise, market, buy, do
  inventory control, effective pricing strategies,
  computer skills, bookkeeping, accounting and
  employee relations
• Having a partner provides added experiences
• 2) personal skills
• Honesty, trustworthiness, drive, energy,
  patience, tact, compassion, consistency and
  integrity Basically a people person
• Will result in ethical business operation

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• 3) must possess knowledge of floral products
• Understanding of plant care and handling, design
  principles, display techniques and overall
  creativity

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Flower Shop Categories

• Full-service shop
• Large-volume shop
• Party/wedding shop
• Carriage trade shop
• Stem shop or bucket shop
• Satellite shop
• Franchise shop

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What Are the Various Types of Floral Shops?

• A. Full-service shop
• The traditional floral shop
• Offers a wide variety of services to meet the
  consumers needs
• Usually a member of one or more wire services
  (such as FTD or Teleflora)
• Does wedding and sympathy work and fills various
  other needs
• Owner is usually a good businessperson and
  prominent member of the community

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• B. Large-volume shop
• Sells large quantities of design work due to a
  well-executed marketing plant
• Owner is an expert in planning, budgeting,
  financing and training
• Offers many of the services that a full service
  shop offers but does mostly large quantity orders
• Often found in big cities and work with corporate
  accounts such as hotels and businesses

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• C. Party/wedding florist
• Considered a specialty shop that has restricted
  its work to event planning for weddings and
  parties
• One caution in this business is that the market
  area must be able to support the specialization
  if it is going to survive
• Owner must be a good communicator, creative and
  dramatic in carrying out the plans requested by
  the consumer

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• D. Carriage trade shop
• Provides extensive personal service to a limited,
  elite clientele
• Offers the services of a full-service shop, but
  in a lavish, upscale manner to a limited customer
  base
• Key to success is developing a name and
  reputation with the desired clientele
• Communication is extremely important

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• E. Stem shop
• It is a cash and carry operation that offers a
  variety of flowers foliages by the stem or
  bunch
• Often called a bucket shop because the flowers
  are sold directly out of the buckets
• Key to success is to be in a high traffic area
• Often found in grocery stores, malls or airports

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• F. Satellite shop
• A second shop operated by a full-service shop,
  commonly found in a strip mall and shopping malls
• May also be found in hospitals and office
  buildings
• Might be opened due to increased exposure and
  traffic
• Owner must have skill in planning and
  organization if both shops are to survive

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• G. Franchise shop
• A flower shop purchased from and operated
  according to a parent company for use of its name
  and business service
• There are not many shops of this type because the
  initial cost of purchasing the shop can be quite
  high
• Advantage is the name recognition and
  demonstrated services and products in the
  marketplace

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Where Should a Flower Shop Be Located and What
Are the Basic Legal Requirements?

• The trick to finding a good location is to do
  some research about the area where you are
  interested in to start the business
• Research should include potential state, city and
  neighborhood
• Competition, population, traffic flow, parking,
  visibility, and wholesale florist locations must
  also be taken into consideration
• Prospective owner must also evaluate the economic
  and demographic information

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• A demographic study is a report of the size and
  distribution of population in a specific area
• It will include information on age, education,
  income levels and other information about the
  community
• Community information will allow the future
  florist to see if there are trends like empty
  nest couples - people under 65 who no longer have
  children at home They are likely to spend money
  on flowers
• The gray market, people over 65, typically spend
  less because of their fixed incomes

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• There are some basic legal requirements to be met
  before operations begin
• Licenses and permits must be obtained from state,
  county and local governments
• Florist must gather five licenses as follows
• 1) A fictitious name statement is a document that
  must be filed with the county to register the
  business name and prevent another business from
  using that name in the county
• There is a filing fee and a notice must be
  published in county newspapers
• 2) A federal employer identification number
  (FEIN) must be obtained if there will be employees

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• Number is used by both the internal revenue
  service and the social security administration
  for tax return purposes
• If there are no employees, the owners social
  security number is used
• 3) A resale license or tax number is a number
  obtained so that the required sales tax can be
  collected and wholesale items can be purchased
  without paying sales tax
• Applied for through the states revenue
  department
• A county license might also be required
• 4) professional licenses are issued by the sate
  agriculture department, registering a business to
  meet certain state regulations
• Not required by all states

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• 5) special licenses are issued for special
  services that might be provided by a florist,
  such as a liquor and pesticide application
  license
• Often same as those with helium tanks

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How Does One Market and Sell Floral Products?

• Marketing is the process of selling a product and
  providing a service the consumer wants or needs
• It is essential in the retail business world
• Goal is to determine the most effective market
  mix and market strategy for a given consumer base
• A marketing mix will vary from shop to shop
  There are five guidelines

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Guidelines For Effective Marketing

• Define specialties or strengths of the particular
  floral business
• Define the targeted customers or target market
• Determine the products the customers want to buy
• Determine how to communicate the message
• Decide the specific products and services to
  offer the target market

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• Promotions encompass a variety of activities that
  lead to public name recognition
• Include advertising, community involvement,
  contests, punch cards, coupons, demonstrations,
  educational articles, logos/image development,
  window displays, publicity, signs and effective
  selling techniques

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• Advertising is the biggest promotional activity
  of a business It occurs on a daily basis
• Varies from print, to voice, to video, to the
  internet
• Yellow pages are used heavily because many orders
  occur over the phone
• Helps to be affiliated with a wire service, such
  as FTD
• Sending florist a florist who sells a wire
  service order Orders are sent via telephone, fax
  or computer
• Filling florist is a florist who takes the
  order, fills and delivers it
• Billing of the order is based on the order
  activity and is settled by the clearing house

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• Smart selling is invaluable to the retail florist
  industry
• Salesperson must be versatile in handling a
  variety of situations, from weddings to funerals
• Salespeople must have knowledge of flowers, be
  friendly and personable this will project a
  positive image of the shop
• Should also be good listeners and effective
  communicators Also develop up-selling a
  technique of persuading a customer to make a
  larger purchase than originally planned by
  offering a range of prices, not just the lowest,
  and suggesting the purchase of related products

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How Should Effective Packaging and Delivery Be
Handled?

• Packaging plant material has a two-fold purpose
  protect the flowers from the outdoors and provide
  a shop image promotion and advertising
• On cold days, flowers should be double wrapped
  and the vehicle pre-warmed
• Packaging materials to protect flowers include
  sleeves, bags, cellophane, tissue paper and any
  combination of these
• Should be neat and held together with tape or
  staples
• Ribbon and accessories may be included and the
  package should be finished off with a shop sticker

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• Delivery is an essential part of the floral
  industry
• Link between the designer and the customer
• Efficient routing and delivery schedules must be
  maintained
• Delivery person must be good at maintaining the
  vehicle and loading items
• He/she must be timely and safe, neat in
  appearance, and courteous
• Items should be secured in the vehicle
• Use sandbags, bricks, boxes, and plastic carriers
• Place tall items on the side and shorter ones in
  the middle will help in effective loading
• There are several categories of deliveries

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Types of Deliveries

• 1. Regular deliveries those that are made in an
  area predetermined by the shop owner
• 2. Out-of-the area deliveries are those outside
  the predetermined area and carry a larger
  delivery charge
• 3. Timed deliveries are those that are to be
  delivered at a time determined by the customer
  (usually for birthdays or anniversaries)
• 4. Special deliveries are for those customers
  that forgot, or were not aware of a floral need,
  and a last-minute delivery trip must be made.
  Additional charges could apply

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What Primary Areas Are Needed in a Floral Shop
Floor Plan?

• There are four major areas to consider when
  developing a floor plan
• A) the sales area should contain a display
  window and have a good entry spot that invites
  the customer into the store
• Need room for display units, coolers, tables,
  shelves, a sales counter, cash register and
  possibly a plant area
• Taken into consideration lighting, floor
  coverings, and the ceiling

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• Sales area continued
• Traffic patterns should encourage the customer to
  look at all available merchandise before making a
  purchase
• Effective displays in the sales area will promote
  a greater volume of sales
• Visual merchandising is a coordinated plan to
  attract customers to the flower shop and to make
  a purchase
• Displays are one component of visual
  merchandising
• Attract attention,create interest, and motivate
  the customer to want to buy the items displayed

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• B) the design area, or workroom, needs to
  include design benches, easy access storage for
  containers and supplies, receiving and delivery
  area for incoming flowers, and outgoing area for
  deliveries
• A storage cooler should be located in this area
• It should be large enough to hold the increased
  volume of flowers during the busy seasons
• Good lighting, accessible water, drainage, and
  good shelving are important to a design area
• Design benches should be at a comfortable height
  while standing

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• C) wedding or funeral consultation areas should
  be located where conversations will be
  undisturbed by phones or other people
• A table and several chairs should be provided
• An area that is neutrally decorated and furnished
  can serve the needs for both types of
  consultations
• Some funeral ordering will take place over the
  phone
• D) the final area is the office This area
  should be convenient for supervision of both the
  design area and sales areas
• It should be equipped with as much modern office
  equipment as possible
• Including computers, telephones, fax machines and
  internet capability

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Summary

• What are some areas of skill that are required by
  a florist in order to run a business?
• Give some examples in the area of flower
  knowledge that are required by a florist.
• How is a full-service shop different from a stem
  shop?
• What makes a carriage-trade shop different from a
  full-service shop?
• Why would a florist open a satellite shop?

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Summary Continued

• What is the purpose of doing a demographic study
  before opening a floral shop?
• Explain the importance of a fictitious name
  statement.
• What is a federal employer identification number
  used for?
• How does one market and sell floral products?
• Name some ways to package floral material.
• Why is it important to wrap all floral products?