Gilroy florists were brimming with passion this Valentine’s
Day
– but not the romantic kind. Feelings flared Monday as dozens of
gift vendors rolled into town, set up shop on bustling street
corners and attracted passers-by – or boyfriends on a budget – with
giant stuffed teddy bears, bejeweled purses, metallic-colored
balloons and discounted rose bouquets
.
Gilroy florists were brimming with passion this Valentine’s Day – but not the romantic kind.
Feelings flared Monday as dozens of gift vendors rolled into town, set up shop on bustling street corners and attracted passers-by – or boyfriends on a budget – with giant stuffed teddy bears, bejeweled purses, metallic-colored balloons and discounted rose bouquets.
“Terrible, terrible, terrible,” were the first three words from Maggie Aboytes, manager of Frank’s Garden Flowers at 7600 Eigleberry St.
For green-thumbed professionals such as Aboytes and her boss Sheila Alvarez, Valentine’s Day is their bread and butter; a solid marathon of cutting, tying, wrapping and arranging that bolsters cash registers with midyear replenishing.
So when it comes to competing merchants – their place of origin, source of products and operating rights completely unknown to local businesses that have paid their dues for years – it’s a sore subject.
“I don’t think it’s right,” said Gloria Espino-Anaya, who runs the 55-year-old Gilroy Flower Shop on 47 Fifth St. with her brother, Frank Espino.
Anaya said she recently called Gilroy City Councilman Dion Bracco and told him how she felt.
Bracco said Tuesday he wants to see more crackdown on city regulations come Mother’s Day, which is exactly what Anaya, Alvarez and Aboytes are hoping for. The holiday is another moneymaker in the flower industry.
“There have been problems with these vendors that come in the night, so to speak, and leave in the night,” said Scott Barron, code enforcement officer for the City of Gilroy.
He explained business regulation is a shared responsibility between Gilroy and the Gilroy Police Department; affirming anyone who does business in Gilroy must have a business license or an operating permit.
On the legal end, he said the GPD’s job is to make sure this mandate is obeyed.
GPD Chief Denise Turner said Tuesday officers checked several vendors this week for operating permits, and all were in compliance. However, she did not specify the number of vendors inspected.
“In the past, some of this enforcement is done on weekends and holidays, and has been difficult and problematic for police department to enforce,” Barron said.
When Irma Navarro, revenue officer for the City of Gilroy, did a search for recent seasonal licenses that allowed vendors to do business Monday, she said Wednesday four were on file. One was taken out for 7000 Monterey Street, one for 1470 First St., one for 300 Leavesley Road and one for 400 Leavesley Road.
“On Valentine’s Day, I counted five vendors on First Street alone,” Alvarez said.
In terms of Gilroy benefiting financially from the business generated by the vendors, Navarro said “we should see some of that sales tax as well, if they report it properly.”
Espino doesn’t see that happening.
As he sat at a table inside his fragrant Fifth Street store thumbing through a binder of bouquet designs, he said the situation is getting out of hand.
“They don’t report everything … they come over and eat us up,” he said, gazing around the empty shop.
His slight frown was juxtaposed by the plush backdrop of cheerful stuffed animals arranged on a shelf behind him.
Espino said at one point, Gilroy had eight locally owned floral shops. In the past five years those businesses have dwindled from the market like petals falling from a wilting daisy.
He said Valentine’s Day used to clean their store out.
“We pay overhead – taxes, insurance, water, rent, workers’ comp,” explained Anaya.
She said vendors have been showing up for the past five or six years, toting lesser-quality rose bouquets at cheaper prices.
“They come here in one day, and take all our business.”
Bracco said prior to Valentine’s he spoke with City Administrator Tom Haglund and Turner about keeping an eye out for the vendors this year.
“I’m going to talk to Tom again,” he said. “I think we should be more forceful.”
Bracco maintained he would be pulling for stricter regulation in the future, suggesting an inspector be assigned specifically on holidays such as Valentines and Mother’s Day to thoroughly scrutinize out-of-town peddlers.
As she stood by the cash register next to a heart-shaped balloon with a frog on it that said “Toad-ally in love with you,” Aboytes indicated to an unlit, temperature-controlled display case.
Where colorful bursts of ready-to-go arrangement once beckoned customers, the glass refrigerator inside Frank’s was turned off and lined with empty vases. Aboytes said they have enough competition with stores such as Safeway and Nob Hill. Having to deal with “tacky” vendors who undercut local entrepreneurs, adds to the difficulty of competing pricewise.
“My respect to everybody; everybody is trying to survive,” said the 30-year floral designer. “At least if the vendor’s product was nice and professional – but it’s not.”
Alvarez said she and her two staff members clock 12 to 15 hour days two weeks in advance as Feb. 14 approaches.
“We do prepare all year long to get ready for this holiday,” she said. “Hopefully the community will read this and realize what they’re doing by supporting these vendors.”
