The Merry Month of May in a Flower Shop

May is a very busy month for a flower shop. All month long there are floral occasions.  The busiest occasions are Mother’s Day, graduations, Memorial Day, schools are ending their school year, there seems to be a lot of birthdays in May, and it is the beginning of summer. All and everyone are coming to life. Memorial Day usually is seen as the first major leisure time of summer. 

For florists, Memorial Day is a time for their customers to remember their loved ones that have passed.  Florists get many orders for memorial pieces to be placed on the graves of the people requested. Florists should plan ahead and get maps of the local graveyards either from the local courthouse or the city offices of their town. Florists will be placing their floral pieces on the actual graves and the graves must be located. You will be walking the cemetery. Many memorial orders will come from out of town and called into the floral shop. Florists should stock up on memorial type containers of all kinds. Be prepared for all kinds of memorial pieces to be ordered. Memorial Day can be an occasion to make repeat customers. If you do a good job on the customer’s memorial flowers, they will call you year after year. They will be using a debit card, credit card, or check by phone, so it is instant cash. In addition, the customer whom placed the order will more than likely get some feedback on the floral arrangement from a friend or relative.

I used to get an order from out of town. The customer always had a friend photograph the memorial piece she ordered every year and send it to her. She was always pleased. These out of town customers may have more relatives nearby and will use you more than once a year on different occasions. Build a relationship with these customers. Let them know that they can trust you to fill their orders as requested.  Assure them their flowers will be on the grave as requested.

Mother’s Day is a busy holiday for florists. It is always the second Sunday in May, so the date of Mother’s Day varies. This is a time for a lot of wire orders from out of town; people wanting to remember their mother. Orders for floral arrangements, corsages, blooming plants, and green and blooming plants are common Mother’s Day requests. It would be wise to stock up on these items as well as balloons, candy, and gift items, such as wind chimes, jewelry, and garden items. Most of Mother’s Day orders come ahead of time, but there will be two or three chaotic days which will be very demanding. You may want to give all mothers that come in your shop a free carnation as a token of appreciation and to honor her. It is good public relations. You can probably count on working on Mother’s Day at least some of the day.  That is each individual flower shops’ decision to make. Advertising you will be open on that Sunday. You may get many extra walk in sales or last minute call in orders.

In between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day there are many graduations from highs schools and colleges that will need floral goods. Also, there are the seemingly many birthdays in May. Furthermore, the schools are ending their school year. People like to give teachers flowers and plants as a token of their appreciation.

So stock up on your inventory and be happy. You are in the merry month of May. Be thankful your shop is busy. Be happy you are in warm weather. And start dreaming of the weddings you will do next month in June!