Was it worth it?

The very words Chris said to me the morning after Valentines Day. In short, my answer to his question was a resounding "No"! This was followed by "absolutely not" before I continued with my usual ranting about how I hate the day, vowing as I (and many other florists over the years) uttered the words I have done for the past twenty years "I'm not doing it next year; I'm going to shut for the week" to which I added "I've already booked the time off on the calendar". I really have too. I did it around lunchtime on the offending day itself. 

On a personal level I don't understand Valentines - never have; even as a teenager I didn't get it. Why would a boy tell me he had a crush on me the same day everyone else was being told? As an adult I understood it even less. I didn't want my partner, fiance, hubby to waste money on me, tell me he loves me, on a day everyone is. If he's going to treat me to flowers, chocolates, a nice meal out or with a nice sparkly diamond, I want him to do it on a random day, or a day which means something to us. 

I understand how back-in-the-day the concept of it started with good intentions and romantic notions, but like so many things these days it has become all about commercialism and money making. The making of money though is mainly for the big corporations, the million/billion companies who are already making enough - you all know my feelings on those companies, the ones who are making their millions off the back of the smaller businesses they screw over. I love competition, always have, always will, but the small, local indepenent shops can't even come close to completing against the million pound companies. Not that I would really want to if I'm being totally honest. 

I have no doubt many, many people went into the supermarkets on the day where they picked up a bunch of roses at a rock bottom price to take home to their loved one. I even sent a few people who came into my shop to a supermarket. One guy was arguing with me that I should have sold him an A grade bouquet of roses for the same price as the bunch he could get in the supermarket. The only way to get him to eventually shut up - why people think it's acceptable to speak to me like I am a piece of dirt stuck to the bottom of their shoe is beyond me - was to show him the price I had paid to my wholesaler that morning. I watched as the colour drained from his face when he realised I was quoting him the exact same price I was paying. "You're being ripped off" he commented, which made such a nice change to being usually told I am ripping customers off. It got me thinking though; are we all being ripped off?

I've always stuck up for the growers at peak period times of year stating that they have to guarantee they can grow a set amount of flowers for a specific date so it's only natural prices will go up. Then you have the demand aspect; the more people who want the same thing, the more the price can be raised. An example of this is an auction, something we are all aware of. If we've not been to one we've probably all watched one of the programs on the BBC at some point. Two people at an action wanting to purchase the same thing. An item may be worth just £10 yet to a couple of people in the auction room it may be worth much more, and so a bidding war begins. The item could eventually sell for £100, or even more. The dutch flower markets work on an auction system, so naturally the prices are going to end up being however much someone is willing to pay for them. For those of you who don't already know it is often Russia who creates the biggest issue to us when it comes to flower prices. I'm not entirely sure how it works but do know their bidding causes our prices to be so much higher than they should be. This leads us back to the grower. They may only want 50p per rose when they send their flowers off to market, but because of the demand and actioning of those roses, they can be getting as much as 1000% more - yes, you read that correctly, one thousand percent more than they need. 

I have always blamed the supermarkets for the price increases in the past, and to that point they still hold some responsibility. They are using their power, their ability to be able to purchase more than the rest of us, to go directly to a grower for their pricings. No business in their right mind is going to turn down a company wanting to buy a million roses from them - or any other flower for that matter. Hmm, off on a quick tangent that's now got me thinking about how the price of lisianthus has risen in the past three years; I'm now paying as much as 300% more than I used to. This has happened at the same time as supermarkets have begun to sell more bunches of them. The same happened when the price of freesia rose drastically - I literally went from paying 15p per stem one day, to 57p the next - and the cost of white lilies increased to us as the supermarkets began to sell more of them. Orchid plants now cost me 30% more than they did a few years ago too. I see a pattern emerging!

Right, back to Valentines. We have a grower with a field of two-million roses. He sells one-million to the supermarkets for the 50p each. The other million end up in the markets where wholesalers throughout europe - and beyond - now have to do battle to purchase those remaining roses, in order to be able to supply their local florists, who in turn want to supply their local customers. The trouble now is can we really afford to supply our local customers? My flower bill one day should have been around £350; it came in at £891. We are not even being given the chance to compete, yet we seem to be the punchbag for customers who believe we are raking it in. The irony when the ones who making the millions are the very ones causing our flower prices to pushed up so high. It's a bit like what is happening in America right now. Trump supporters believing that the higher prices they are paying is down to the Democratic party, when it is in fact down to the very man they have voted for, worship, who is giving more money to the million/billionaires whilst screwing over those who have little. The average person with very little disposable income will go where the products are cheaper, not realising the reason they're cheaper is because other's like them and people like me, working all the hours out there to pay the bills for a our small businesses, are being screwed over. That's not a problem to the person getting the best deal, paying the cheapest amount possible; for now! Eventually though the small business will be out-priced. There were five other florists in Fareham when I first opened my doors here; now there is just one, and the only reason I've been able to hold on so tight is because I have a great landlord, and a Clive.

How do we stop this, how do we halt these billionaires from making even more money? How do we get back to a level playing field? Let's not be fools, the more small businesses that are put out of business, the higher those billionaires can begin to raise their prices. Look at how Amazon are no longer a competitive company, as they once were. In fact often the very same items can be found cheaper elsewhere, but they've put so many small businesses out of business with their cheap pricing structure to begin with, that people automatically log on now out of habit. They lured you in with great deals, which now are not as great as they once were, but we live in a world where people want the easiest option as well. Many people believe google is the internet. It's not, it's just become the go-to browser. Personally I use DuckDuckGo because they have better privacy and don't sell my data to their billionaire friends - look into the owner of google and see what an absolutely charlatan that billionaire is! 

Supermarkets have made it easy to get everything you want under one roof. Amazon has made it easy to purchase the bits-and-pieces the supermarkets don't have. Google gives you access to the web. These companies are all owned by billionaires, people who have got rich from consumers choosing the easy option, but at what cost? Those scam phone calls you get; they come from your supermarket selling your details when you sign up for one of their clubcards. How is it possible a supermarket can sell you a product at 30/40 or 50% less if you sign up to one of their cards when they won't offer the same price to someone who refuses to sign up. They've got to be making that many back somewhere! 

Small businesses, local shops, we don't have that option. What we can offer you though is first-class service. Quality products and the knowlege that if we don't have something you want, we will go out of our way to get it for you. We'll remember you when you walk through the door - yes, I know I often forget your name as I'm getting on a bit now, but I still recognise your face. I'll ask how your family are, how your loved one who had a bug last time I saw you is doing. I'll treat you like you matter, because you do. That doesn't happen when you deal with a faceless company. To them you are just a number. You'll find out just how little you mean if you ever need to contact their customer service! 

In typical 'Sarah' style I have, yet again, gone off on a tangent, yet at the same time it is all connected with how this post started. How do we stop this? How do we level the playing field? How do I go about selling my flowers at a competitive price to my customers? It's quite simple really; I get them to stop being duped into the commercialism that is Valentines Day, and I steer them away from the supermarkets, back into local shops, or ask them to boycott the day completely. Yes, how about that? As Chris said to me after I'd finished ranting about it all "Can you not talk everyone into having them a week later when the prices are a bit more sensible again?". Can I? Would you? Are people willing to give it a go? To ignore the day, to purchase flowers for their loved ones on a different day, a day when they will get far more for their money, or pay a lot less for the same bouquets!

The only way any of us are going to survive this current 'Cost of living crisis' is to make the changes. To think about who we are handing our money over to, and work out at what actual cost is their saving comparing a supermarket to a local shop? The knock-on effect for us all could be the very thing which gets everyone back-on-track. Maybe if the supermarkets weren't screwing over farmers the governement wouldn't have to keep defending them. Maybe if we only bought one item of something we want from a supermarket - if you really must insist on shopping with them - instead of three because of a BOGOF offer, the second and third of which quite often ends up going in a bin (not so much of a good deal after all, eh?). These little things can make a difference to all of us who are not billionaires. Just because I own a business doesn't mean I am raking it in. Quite the opposite in fact. I earn less now than I did as an eighteen-year old, back in 1988! Believe me I truly know what it's like to have no money, to have to watch the pennies, yet since I've gone back to buying local, getting fruit/veggies/meat from farm shops I've actually saved money on my shopping. The products I've bought may have been a little more expensive to begin with but then I've only bought what I need - the taste as well is so noticably different. I'm not being tempted by bright colours and cheap prices. I no longer end up wasting food because I'm only buying what I want, and unlike the supermarkets what I do buy lasts double (if not more) longer so I don't need to purchase so often. It's the same with flowers. Their's may be cheaper but ours will last longer, fill a bigger vase and bring a bigger smile! 

Will I be doing Valentines next year? Nope, and I hope that none of you will either. I'm starting the snowball, right here, right now. Who's going to help me get it rolling? Who's going to join me and turn that tennis size ball into something the size of the Las Vegas dome? Little changes really can make massive differences; to all of us.  

Just for an example. If the bouquet of roses below had been made for Valentines it would have cost the customer £350; that's a cost of 140 - one hundred and forty - percent higher than it cost today! Next week it could possibly be even cheaper still! The same size, the same variety, just a different non-commercial billionaires day!