Floral Bouquets at Elroy’s Fine Foods

Mother’s Day is the second largest flower holiday in the United States. Jamie Collin is the owner of Serendipity Farms located in Carmel, California and the merchandiser at Elroy’s Fine Foods in Monterey, California. Jamie’s background has been in farming and running famers markets. Since recently stepping into a retail-orientated role, she has learned that the needs of fresh products holding up in a retail environment are different than farmers markets. Jamie shares her thoughts and game plan for executing Elroy’s Fine Foods’ first Mother’s Day holiday.

• Projections: Using data from previous floral focused holidays is key to planning for Mother’s Day! Elroy’s Fine Foods was not open for Mother’s Day 2020, so Jamie will be using sales data from Valentine’s Day to run projections. This allows the team to plan on how many bouquets they will need to pre-order. Jamie advises to increase order amounts slightly to account for year-over-year growth. It is always better to have some bouquets left over than to run out!
• Communicate with Your Account Manager: Touch base with your Account Manager and communicate any special needs your store may have! Make sure you are aware of pre-order deadlines—which are coming up quickly this year.
• Place Orders Early: Place your floral orders with your growers and distributors as early as possible! From a farmer’s perspective, having pre-orders is very useful to plan labor for harvests, bouquet making, and delivery.
• Maintain Freshness: Keep your displays looking abundant and fresh! Keep water buckets full and refill with fresh water every day. Clean out buckets thoroughly every other day for optimal freshness. Check your displays daily and cull wilted, damaged flowers and shedding foliage. Store flowers overnight in a cool location, preferably in a cooler if you have access to one, to prolong their life.

Jamie Collin, Owner of Serendipity Farms and Merchandiser at Elroy’s Fine Foods