Valentine’s Day leads many on the hunt for the perfect gift to
express their love
Gilroy – As Ralph Sandoval sat inside the Gilroy Flower Shop, struggling to fill out the card for his girlfriend’s bouquet of roses, his cell phone rang. While he spoke to the person on the other end, the florist behind him arranged vases of tropical flowers and roses that will be delivered for Valentine’s Day.
Balloons reading “Happy Valentine’s Day” float in the air. The store phone rings – one of the 70 Valentine’s-related calls the shop has had Monday – and it’s not even 1pm.
“That was her on the phone,” Sandoval said, smiling when he hung up. “I didn’t tell her where I was. I always have trouble with the card. I gotta put something down that’s nice, not just anything. I’ll probably be here 45 minutes.”
Sandoval wasn’t alone with his frustrations.
Flower shops around Gilroy were flooded with customers like Sandoval Monday, last-minute shoppers remembering that their special someone is anticipating a present to open – even if they aren’t.
According to local florists, Valentine’s Day is about women.
“Valentine’s Day is a man’s holiday,” said Sheila Alvarez, owner of Frank’s Garden Florist.
And looking around at the pink, red and white floral displays, one can see she speaks the truth.
“I’m not expecting anything,” Sandoval said. “If I get something, I get something. But her …”
Then the door opens – another guy enters.
“A dozen roses please. For my daughter – Daddy’s girl,” he winks.
Frank’s Garden Florist will handle more than 4,800 roses this Valentine’s Day and charges $89.99 for a dozen red roses.
“Ours have to come from Ecuador,” Alvarez said.
The market demands roses, even if they aren’t in season here.
“Everybody who’s called ordered red roses,” she said.
And they aren’t cheap this time of year.
“The grower’s raised their prices a lot, so we had to raise ours,” said Susan Habing, owner of the Gilroy Flower Shop. A dozen roses will set you back $85.99 there.
But price is relative.
“In New York, they’re paying $150 for a dozen red roses. It gets very expensive back east,” said Northern California Operations Manager for Bert E. Jessup Transportation Inc John Chavez. “If they have a storm, they’ll take anything they can get.”
According Chavez, the price hikes are caused by a cold growing season and the higher cost of energy this winter.
“The majority of roses come from South America,” he said. “(There) a lot of the product was very sparse.”
Though northern California nurseries grow roses, PG&E price increases forced many growers to turn down the heat in their greenhouses, limiting the supply of roses.
“It was too expensive to heat the nurseries,” Chavez said.
Jessups hauls flowers all over California, including to San Francisco’s flower district and to Los Angeles.
“Twenty 18-wheelers full of flower arrangements took flowers to Trader Joe’s (in LA),” he said. “That’s a lot of bouquets. It’s a lot of headaches but it’s worth it.”
While the trucking company loaded the last of the flowers heading to markets Sunday morning, the rush has yet to begin for Zen Flower Garden.
Last year, the store had 220 customers come in on Valentine’s Day, and they expect to sell about 3,000 roses this year. Zen Flower Garden does not deliver flowers, which helps keep the price of its bouquets down to about $49.99.
“It’s usually our shoppers who wait until the last minute,” said owner Ted Uchida. “It’s today, tomorrow. This is our biggest holiday. The thing about the last minute is, everybody wants red roses, and eventually we run out.”
