Flower shops enjoyed a busy Valentine's Day, in spite of COVID-19 restrictions and supply chain issues. (Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW)

By battlefordsNOW and meadowlakeNOW Staff

Bouquet's selling

Bustling Valentine’s Day for flower shops in Saskatchewan

Feb 14, 2022 | 5:01 PM

Valentine’s Day proved as busy as ever for the business community in Saskatchewan.

In the northwest, flower shop owners in particular saw large turnout the day off, in addition to even larger pre-orders. Tania Ghai, Manager at Milbanke Flowers in North Battleford, said staff were at attention all day, with customers steadily rolling in and out of the store.

“No time for even standing around, there was a lineup at the front for some time [this morning],” she said.

This turnout didn’t come as a surprise to the managers and owners that spoke to battlefordsNOW and meadowlakeNOW Monday afternoon, who were well prepared despite supply chain issues affecting industires across Canada. Ghai said they ordered flowers well in advance, as this isn’t the first time during the pandemic there’s been concerns.

“Our flowers by air and by trucks, so sometimes COVID-19 and other stuff have hit us,” she said.

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Angie Feist, Owner of Through the Grapevine in St. Walburg, said they also had to be proactive, ordering their supply of flowers early in December. While supply chains have affected many businesses, some are more fortunate than others, depending on the supplier.

“The only concern was coming across the border, but our borders were open so we had no problem,” Feist said.

Grapevine still wasn’t 100 per cent on schedule. Fiest said one issue came from the manufacturers headquarters where pace was slowed from not having enough workers to get the trucks filled. However, it was resolved in time for the weekend.

“Usually they come a week before, but they came Tuesday-Wednesday, more than enough time for Valentine’s Day,” she said.

Much of the volume came from men coming at the last second to get their significant others a gift, though some business owners reported a high number of pre-orders.

(Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW)

Jaycee Senger, owner of Meadow Mouse Flowers in Meadow Lake, said they were quite busy in person and on the phone, but noted that over the years they’ve seen a lot of guys who’ve missed out on their desired bouquet learn their lesson.

“We’ve taught some of the men to pre-order,” she said.

Many flower shops have stayed steady for much of the pandemic, thanks to pre-order totals.

“Most of our orders were over the phone,” Senger said. “Even on a day-to-day basis, we didn’t see a huge hit.”

As for the selection, Senger noted that customers have opted for more variety than in years past.

“Red rose is usually the top pick, but we often sell mixed arrangements,” she said. “Looking at what is left on the table, it’s mostly groups of a dozen roses. All our mixed arrangements [went] quite quickly.”

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW