Flore Fine Flowers Moves to Woodbury, CT Due to Increase in Online Ordering of Flowers
The challenges of increased online shopping for flower arrangements has evoked a move by Flore Fine Flowers from a retail location in Southbury, Connecticut, to a commercial design studio in the historic, "Antiques Capital of Connecticut," Woodbury.
Woodbury, CT, November 18, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Challenges of Highly-Competitive National Trend for On-Line Ordering of Flowers Evokes Move
Lori Friedlander, owner of Flore Fine Flowers (www.flowersasmedicine.com), announced the move of her highly-successful flower shop from a retail location in Southbury, Connecticut to a commercial design studio space in Woodbury, Connecticut. “Change isn’t always adding something. Sometimes it’s about taking something away. My decision to move was due to my observation of how consumer comfort with online ordering grew and my customers increasingly turned to my website for the convenience of placing orders rather than coming into the store to place their orders.”
A successful small business entrepreneur, Friedlander recognized her customers’ "shifts in purchasing" and her personal longings to expand her wedding flower specialty and eliminate a walk-in retail shop. “As the wedding and event side of my business grew, I found it increasingly more difficult to divide my time between my retail customers and my increasing number of wedding and event customers. I felt I was doing a disservice to my event customers dividing my time between running a retail showroom and servicing events.”
Friedlander decided to close down her retail operations and move to a back lot, off the main thoroughfare, design studio located behind the New Morning health food store. “In our new location, my staff and I are no longer distracted by the day to day operations of running a store, so we can focus our full attention on each event. We still accept orders for everyday occasions, but the difference is that we now fit the everyday work in around our event schedule, rather than the other way around.”
Moving from a retail florist to event design studio helped create a niche for her brand. “Specializing in weddings, events and more couture designs for holidays and everyday occasions makes us stand out from our competition and gives us a distinct edge needed to survive as a florist today,” explained Friedlander. According the Society of American Florists, traditionally, about 20 percent of retail flower shops turn over annually.
“Big online flower delivery companies have been fighting the recession with special low-price promotions for big flower occasions. While shops are fairly easy to start, they are difficult to sustain because of the perishable products, long hours and stiff competition from online companies. Retail florists who are trying to compete with the big online companies on price are going to have a hard time without providing the service and style a florist like I can provide.”
Boosting its event business has also helped Flore gain a steadier source of revenue. Peak event season falls during the slower times for flower shops, and vice versa. “It has tended to smooth out the peaks and valleys, and we have a much more stable business year-round.”
Friedlander also sees an ever-changing business plan as the road map to success. “We’ve started taking on larger- sized events and have added services such as prop rentals, and full-scale event decorating to our repertoire as we continue to see the needs in the marketplace.” Additional services such as table linen rentals, invitations, lighting and other event decoration services continue to be added to the spectrum of services Flore can provide. “The more decoration services we can provide to our event customers, the more valuable a resource we become to them, and the more enjoyable the experience they have with us becomes.”
For more information, Flore can be contacted at their Woodbury studio at 710 Main Street South. Appointments can be scheduled Monday to Saturday between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. They can also be reached by telephone during business hours at (203) 405-1760, or online at www.flowersasmedicine.com.
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Lori Friedlander, owner of Flore Fine Flowers (www.flowersasmedicine.com), announced the move of her highly-successful flower shop from a retail location in Southbury, Connecticut to a commercial design studio space in Woodbury, Connecticut. “Change isn’t always adding something. Sometimes it’s about taking something away. My decision to move was due to my observation of how consumer comfort with online ordering grew and my customers increasingly turned to my website for the convenience of placing orders rather than coming into the store to place their orders.”
A successful small business entrepreneur, Friedlander recognized her customers’ "shifts in purchasing" and her personal longings to expand her wedding flower specialty and eliminate a walk-in retail shop. “As the wedding and event side of my business grew, I found it increasingly more difficult to divide my time between my retail customers and my increasing number of wedding and event customers. I felt I was doing a disservice to my event customers dividing my time between running a retail showroom and servicing events.”
Friedlander decided to close down her retail operations and move to a back lot, off the main thoroughfare, design studio located behind the New Morning health food store. “In our new location, my staff and I are no longer distracted by the day to day operations of running a store, so we can focus our full attention on each event. We still accept orders for everyday occasions, but the difference is that we now fit the everyday work in around our event schedule, rather than the other way around.”
Moving from a retail florist to event design studio helped create a niche for her brand. “Specializing in weddings, events and more couture designs for holidays and everyday occasions makes us stand out from our competition and gives us a distinct edge needed to survive as a florist today,” explained Friedlander. According the Society of American Florists, traditionally, about 20 percent of retail flower shops turn over annually.
“Big online flower delivery companies have been fighting the recession with special low-price promotions for big flower occasions. While shops are fairly easy to start, they are difficult to sustain because of the perishable products, long hours and stiff competition from online companies. Retail florists who are trying to compete with the big online companies on price are going to have a hard time without providing the service and style a florist like I can provide.”
Boosting its event business has also helped Flore gain a steadier source of revenue. Peak event season falls during the slower times for flower shops, and vice versa. “It has tended to smooth out the peaks and valleys, and we have a much more stable business year-round.”
Friedlander also sees an ever-changing business plan as the road map to success. “We’ve started taking on larger- sized events and have added services such as prop rentals, and full-scale event decorating to our repertoire as we continue to see the needs in the marketplace.” Additional services such as table linen rentals, invitations, lighting and other event decoration services continue to be added to the spectrum of services Flore can provide. “The more decoration services we can provide to our event customers, the more valuable a resource we become to them, and the more enjoyable the experience they have with us becomes.”
For more information, Flore can be contacted at their Woodbury studio at 710 Main Street South. Appointments can be scheduled Monday to Saturday between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. They can also be reached by telephone during business hours at (203) 405-1760, or online at www.flowersasmedicine.com.
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Contact
Flore, LLC Fine Flowers
Lori Friedlander
203-405-1760
www.flowersasmedicine.com
Lori Friedlander
203-405-1760
www.flowersasmedicine.com
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