Get ready for roses and the Valentine’s Day rush

“But he who dares not grasp the thorn
Should never crave the rose.” ― Anne Bronte

It’s that time of year again. 

Time when every red-blooded American male starts to sweat about what to buy their sweetheart for Valentine’s Day. Most guys I know (including yours truly) don’t really think about Valentine’s Day until, oh, the day before or even wait until the last minute on Feb. 14. It’s panic mode at its finest. I remember one store manager gleefully saying, “For one day, everything with a flower will sell.”

What does produce have to do with this? Everything. After all, most produce operations help oversee the floral end of things as well, due to tradition, the perishable aspect and logistics. Day in and day out, produce directors or supervisors are smart enough to allow the floral specialists to do their thing, and for the most part they do it quite well. 

However, floral holidays tend to be all-consuming. The “season” of holidays in floral run something along this timeline gauntlet: Valentine’s Day, Easter Sunday, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and outdoor bedding plant season. There are other notable floral days of course, but these are the biggies, and perhaps none are as big as Valentine’s Day, if only due to all the red-blooded males who procrastinate and stores being overwhelmed the day before and the day of the big lover’s to-do.

What are the two big issues necessitating that we help our floral mates handle it all? A lack of labor and the sheer volume of product in a tight time window.

Related: Read more insight from Armand Lobato

Most of the product by now has long been committed for and shipped into storerooms and coolers, weeks ahead of when the “real” volume hits in the final week leading up to Feb. 14. Most floral departments are managed with perhaps just a few people at most, with miniscule-sized coolers and storage space.

A good produce supervisor, store manager and produce manager should be working out a schedule now to help. A good start would be to schedule a few additional shifts from produce or other nonfloral departments in the coming weeks, as they can help break down cases of floral goods: plants, cut flowers, greenery, miscellaneous gifts, bears, balloons and more. It all must be unpacked and stocked, not only in floral but wherever the store can share extra storage and prominent display space.

A good approach also includes an aggressive labor plan going into the final few days before Valentine’s Day. Extra hands to help manage debris, prepping and helping with floral arrangements, pricing, cleaning and anything else that comes up. 

The most successful retail operations will set up one to several temporary checkout stands with additional cashiers, these devoted to floral purchases a few days prior to and during the Valentine’s Day rush. This is an enormous help as customers will line up early. It’ll stay that way throughout the holiday. This helps keep the lines moving and takes pressure off your regular grocery customers in the process.

The best person to consult ahead of time is obviously your floral and store managers. Again, this doesn’t have much to do with fresh produce, and you’ll hear the old wisecrack, “The only flower I really know anything about is cauliflower.” However, this is a whole-store effort, and a valuable part of what produce oversees — so it’s wise to roll up those sleeves and lend a helping hand.

Just take care to mind those rose thorns.

Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.