Las Vegas, NV – A group of “brick and mortar” traditional retail florists known as Florists For Change concluded its inaugural conference at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas on August 19th, 2011. Attended by more than 100 retail florists from the United States and Canada, the group set the framework for its core principles for improving the economic condition for the retail floral industry.
The 3-day conference concluded with the establishment of the mission of the organization. Unanimously approved, the mission of Florists for Change is: To improve the economics of the retail florist by encouraging industry advertising, providing exceptional consumer value, and promoting equitable trading among florists.
Central to the discussions at the conference was the approval of a code of ethics based upon the “golden rule” for ethical business conduct. This included a 100% consumer satisfaction guarantee as well as a prohibition on deceptive order gathering, a fraudulent practice detrimental to consumers of marketing one’s business as a local florist entity, when in reality, it has no local presence, and may not be an actual florist.
Mike Fiannaca, owner of Sparks Florist in Sparks and Reno, Nevada and one of the four founding members of Florists for Change, lead the discussions on the present state of the retail floral industry and presented options to the group. Breakout sessions were conducted to address each option, including:
- doing nothing,
- ·negotiating with wire services for changes in their current business model, involving a more equitable commission structure between the sending and filling florists as well as the eliminating sending rebates,
- establishing a non-profit florist-to-florist direct order transfer system,
- a hybrid approach of negotiating improvements in the current wire service business model while simultaneously establishing a florist-to-florist direct order transfer system.
It was agreed that an immediate need exists for a direct order transfer system for florists who are not wire service customers. It was also agreed that if improvements in the current wire service model could be negotiated, consumers would receive better value and filling florists would realize improved profitability.
According to Fiannaca, the hybrid option could result in immediate economic improvements for filling florists, and that this would tend to preserve order “end points”, meaning the often smaller floral businesses located in more sparsely populated regions that sending florists in more densely populated regions need to accommodate their customers. The implementation of a non-profit florist-to-florist direct order transmission system could also provide a funding mechanism for a “buy local flowers” advertising campaign throughout North America, patterned after the famous 1993 “Got milk?” ad campaign of the California Milk Processor Board.
Dirk Lorenz, owner of Fremont Flowers in Fremont, California, also a founding member of Florists for Change, addressed the immediate need for “wire service free” shops to establish industry standards for a florist to florist direct order transmission service. Acknowledging the long term need for a technology solution that could work within the existing POS retail floral systems, Lorenz said “our immediate priority is to establish a formal entity for the group and to populate action committees. Once established, a “florist to florist” committee could be charged with evaluating and recommending an equitable order transfer solution for florist both big and small floral businesses that would also fund industry marketing needs”.
On the legislative front, Keith Hill, owner of Beaverton Florists in Beaverton, OR lead the discussion on efforts in the Oregon legislature to protect consumers from deceptive order gathers (DOGs), who misrepresent themselves as local florists. Hill is also a founding member of Florists for Change.
Betsy Hall, owner of Halls Flower Shop and Garden Center in Stone Mountain, GA addressed the need to involve more florists nationwide, and accordingly is deeply involved in organizing the second Florists for Change conference to be held October 3rd, 2011 at the Westin Peach Tree Hotel in Atlanta, Ga. “This conference will summarize findings from Las Vegas, but more importantly will initiate the work of the action committees.“ Hall continued saying “I am overwhelmed by the interest I have experienced regarding our Atlanta conference. We have really hit a nerve in the floral industry”.
Florists can log onto the Florists for Change website at www.floristsforchange.comfor further information on the Atlanta conference. Additionally, the “at a glance calculator” can be found on the website. This valuable tool can easily help florists determine if filling incoming orders under the current industry commission structure is profitable. It also shows how a direct “florist to florist” order transmission system could improve profitability. Email and phone contacts for each of the four founding members can also be found on the website.
Source: Florists for Change
