Pets & butchers help florists trade
From pots to pets .. bouquets to butchers ... enterprising florists are finding legitimate ways to trade.
Jamie Christopher Price normally specialises in high end and elegant design. Now he’s got equally stylish hamster food, hay and bird seed. The reason? Because as a florist he has to shut the shop door, as a pet supplies vendor he can open.
"Do I want to sell pet food? No but if it means I can open my shop and sell flowers and plants then I will.” Not that it was just a case of bunging a few bags of pellets in the shop as Jamie explained. “I’ve done it completely properly. I have new signage; this part of the business trades as Noah’s Pet Shop, I carry a full range of stock and the local council have been to see me and approved it. My Landlord also added it into the covenant of what I could sell under my lease agreement which added yet more legitimacy.”
And it wasn’t cheap either. “It’s cost over £600 but to be honest with the way Lockdown works and the fact I need my outside display to both attract customers and make money it was an investment I had to make. In theory we are ending this one on December 2nd but what happens if there’s another Lockdown. I simply couldn’t take the risk so had to come up with a practical and legal solution.”
For Good Florist Guide member Karen Girard, who runs Karen Woolven Flowers in Greenwich, it’s been a case of collaboration. Karen, who normally specialises in weddings and events, has found pivoting her business when the event side of things crashed and burn an ongoing challenge. “I have a gorgeous shop and it does OK but the bulk of my revenue came from weddings so obviously that’s completely gone. However I still have overheads and staff to look after so had to find other routes.”
Watching her neighbouring greengrocer flog flowers also galvanised her. “It was heart-breaking watching this bloke sell flowers he’d bought from my usual wholesaler and then flog them from the front of his shop to my customers when I had to hide behind closed doors. So I went out and found other locations that could operate! I created pop-up shops which means I and they both benefit from flower sales and it works.” Currently she has a butcher, deli and coffee shop carrying the distinctive Karen Woolven RTG bunches and plant range but will carry on working up more.
“Obviously I’d rather be doing my gorgeous weddings and preparing for mega Christmas installations and I’ve cried an ocean of tears but that won’t pay the bills. Grants and furlough help but they simply won’t cover the losses. As such there is no other way but to look at how I can get through this until the weddings and events come back. It’s bloody hard but what else can I do. Sitting and moaning isn’t my style."
THE RULES
Under the government rules only essential shops may open their doors for walk in customers. That does not include florist shops.
Whilst we have heard of cases where, if the plant selection makes up more than 50% of the stock holding, some local Council Officers have approved them as falling under the category of Garden Centres, other council officers are not being so kind and we are hearing of florists being checked. As such you MUST check with your local Council as to whether you can or can't do anything.
In the case of covered and open markets whilst we have seen notices saying flowers and plants are allowed this is unconfirmed. In addition we know from talking to Sharon Crane who runs the The Gated Garden at Borough Market that her landlord has specified no flowers and fines that could be imposed are not worth her taking a chance. At the moment she is just grateful she can sell plants and Christmas decorations even though she knows there are several flower stalls operating in the vicinity.
Bottom line is that it’s not fair (we hate that phrase but it does seem very appropriate in these circs), the rules and regs are all over the place and it is clear from our dealings with Government departments and Press Officers that there is a lot of NKYAFYE (nick-ee-a-fye*) going on amongst those who should know.
However we absolutely cannot condone or recommend you break the rules; we need this virus contained in order to get a decent run at Christmas plus you only need one eager beaver council person to get on your case and you could be fined, wiping out any profit you might make. That said there are many things you can do to raise your profile even if the door is shut so make sure you read our 12 Things to do in Lockdown #2 for some hints and tips.
* Not knowing your a**e from your elbow
