Romance blooms as Cork florists rush to fulfil Valentine's orders

The owner of a popular city centre florist has been busy preparing special Valentine’s bouquets ahead of today.

Carole Horgan, owner of The Best of Buds florists in Winthrop Arcade on Oliver Plunkett Street, said that Valentine’s is one of their busiest dates in the calendar.

Speaking to The Echo, she said: “Romance is alive and strong and certainly, I think people are more expressive because we're coming out of lockdowns and being locked away and being ill for a time. I think people are appreciating their loved ones and partners and sending them flowers to acknowledge that.” 

The tempo in the florists picked up on Friday and staff were kept busy all weekend, including Saturday and Sunday, with Ms Horgan describing it as “a weekend of love starting from Friday through to Monday”.

Speaking about how sales have been since reopening the shop after lockdown, she said that things have been “steady and they’re good”.

“There’s a pulse and life coming back into the business again. We've been opened close on 12 years now and I think that has stood to us in that the backbone of our business is quite strong and our customer base and loyalty are quite strong.

“I think it’s something that I really really appreciate, that people are shopping local and they are supporting us. Online has taken over, there's a phenomenal amount of online business as well and it’s part of how we live today, however, I think costs of doing business online are soaring.

“The price of delivery is going up, the price of packaging is going up. The price of flowers has gone up by about 25% so that’s a huge factor for consideration for us this year so we have to work smarter and harder so we can still deliver the best offering when it comes to flowers in Cork but I think we do have to very carefully and wisely consider how we do business and how we deliver our business because costs are soaring,” she said.

She encouraged people to shop local and support local businesses that have had it tough over the last two years.

“It’s very convenient just to get on the phone and do the online thing and flowers are coming from Dublin and all around the country but we should shop local and shop online local as well,” she said.