Exotic Flowers in Boston

The buyers at Exotic Flowers have just started bringing new tropical flowers into Boston from a new vendor. The Amazon Secrets of Ecuador specializes in unique flora and foliage of the Amazon jungle. Amazon Secrets is a division of Magic Flowers of Ecuador who is a certified member of the Rainforest Alliance as well as a member of EUREP GAP (the Global Partnership for Safe and Sustainable Agriculture,).

Every day, more than 700 acres of the Amazon Jungle are devastated. The destruction has extinguished large amounts of native species. In 1990, Magic Flowers started its rescue of the Amazonian Flora. An adequate cultivation of native species allows Amazon Secrets to offer the world, the jungle enchantment and helps conserve them for future generations. Magic Flowers stated goal is to "Help Protect the Jungle,".

Magic Flowers products include Heliconia, Ginger, Musas, Decorative fruits (like miniature bananas) and tropical which are all featured on the pictured arrangement.

The arrangement featured in this photo was created for long time customer Darryl M. of Boston who wanted to put his wife in the tropics, eventhough they could not fly there for their anniversary this year.

A few tips to preserve the life of tropical flowers include;

• Display away from heating and cooling sources.
• Daily misting is recommended.
• Use a stable flower vase filled up with room temperature water. Add a floral preservative (Exotic Flowers water is already treated,).
• Cut an inch off flowers if they do not arrive in a vase.

These simple tips will help your tropical bouquet from Exotic Flowers in Boston lovely longer.

September, 2010 - Boston, MA

Exotic Flowers, the greenhouse at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, has been invaded by carnivorous plants. Venus Fly Traps and Pitcher Plants have arrived from the swamps of Florida. They are hungry and are looking for their own Seymour to adopt them and more importantly, feed them.

This movie clip comes from the motion picture "Little Shop of Horrors," starring Rick Moranis. Audrey II is played by the deceased Four Tops singer Levi Stubbs.

This movie also paints a small picture of what flower shops were like many years ago. Lombardi Florist in Roslindale had many fixtures and decor quite similar to the ones in this film.

If you're in Faneuil Hall Marketplace, check out our carnivorous plants. Or if you're in Roslindale, stop by Exotic Flowers and ask about our 75 year history at the same location. We have some great stories to share.

Since 2003, Exotic Flowers of Boston and Roslindale has been delivering hundreds of fresh flower arrangements to the PGA Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts. The Deutsche Bank Championship features the top 100 PGA golfers as they compete for the FedEx Cup and its ten million dollar first prize. Defending champion Steve Stricker looks to repeat as this year's champion. Stricker will be competing against pros Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and many more.

The tournament is a week long affair of competition and fun. The event begins on Tuesday August 31st and ends Monday, Labor Day September 6, 2010. The tournament features premier sponsors like FedEx, Stop & Shop, MasterCard, Deutsche Bank and many others.

With so many high profile sponsors, clients and celebrities. Exotic Flowers, Boston's Premier Florist is honored to provide the floral arrangements for the week's events. Beginning on Monday, Exotic Flowers personnel heads to TPC in Norton, MA with plants and flowers for the week's events.

Flower design work began Saturday, August 28th and will continue throughout the week. Over three hundred floral arrangements and fifty plants are delivered for the tournament. Veteran Exotic Flowers employee Mike Schaaf has overseen the event's logistics since the tournament's inception in 2003.

Mike remains on site daily through the week's tournament to ensure that all flowers and plants remain at their freshest and most beautiful form. From replacing broken and wilted blooms to ensuring that each vase remains fresh, Mike will work into the evening ensuring that TPC and Deutsche Bank knwo why Exotic Flowers has earned our moniker as Boston's Premier Florist.

Jeanne Benedict, host of DIY Network's Weekend Entertaining, suggests placing the main floral designs in prominent places. With the extras, snip off the blossoms and float them in martini glasses or decorative bowls, and place a small vase with a couple of buds in your powder room.

Over the years, the flower shops in the Boston area have slowly disappeared. Boston Flower shops used be in every town and often, five to ten shops in each village. Flower shops were once as common as the dry cleaner and gas station. In recent history, they have gone the route of the shoe cobbler and tv repair man. The street peddler, the internet and the grocery store have all taken away markt share from the florist. Unfortunately, our new competitors' quality pales in comparison to a full service florist.

At one time, Seltzer's Flowers, Dutch Flower Garden, Wisteria and Boylston Street Florist were all bustling florists in Boston. Now these Boston florists are only a memory. In the inner city of Boston, the dearth of florists is magnified in Mattapan and Hyde Park.

Many years ago, Flowers by Solly was a large full service florist in Mattapan. His flower shop on Cummins Highway now houses a community church. The purple facade of Flowers by Stephanie in Mattapan Square is also gone. And now, Mattapan does not even have a flower shop. Fortunately, Exotic Flowers on American Legion Highway is close enough to Mattapan that its residents can have a neighborhood florist to call its own.

Hyde Park, Massachusetts has also experienced a significant disappearance of its florists. Serino's Italian market attempted to sell flowers with little success a few years ago. Riverside Florist, a Hyde Park institution, also shuttered its doors after many years of selling flowers in Hyde Park. Once again, Exotic Flowers in Roslindale is close enough to Hyde Park to provide Hyde Park with its own neighborhood florist.

The floral economy has changed over the years. Hopefully, there will be more famiyl owned and operated florists like Exotic Flowers and Lombardi Florist who can serve Boston communities for years to come.

Last weekend, August 14th & 15th, was considered a sales tax holiday in Massachusetts. Massachusetts collects a 6.25 sales tax daily, but this past weekend offered 2 days of no sales tax. The argument for this amnesty is to stimulate sales at a time when retail sales are a bit sluggish. The retail sales increases add much justification for the sales tax holiday. Sales of flat screen TV's, furniture, Ipads and even house plants experience a slight surge uncommon to August sales.

As a florist in Massachusetts, we often hear clients complain about the sales tax on flowers and plants. We are on our clients' side too. At Exotic Flowers in Boston and Roslindale, we feel sales tax should not be charged on flowers, plants or even Christmas trees. Massachusetts does not charge on sales tax on dated items like newspapers, magazines etc. Isn't a cut flower or cut Christmas tree really a dated item ? Although not stamped with a date, they do expire.

We do know however that once the state can collect sales tax on an item, they rarely overturn their decision. We have learned to collect sales on flowers and plants in Massachusetts with a smile. After all, it's not like parts of New York where the sales tax on flowers approaches 9%.

Some say working in a flower shop is a dream job. Others might say being a florist is physically exhausting and financially challenging. Some might even relish or dread dealing with demanding customers on a daily basis. Florists know one thing for sure; being a full service florist is an emotionally fulfilling and rewarding career.  Florists send emotions.

In 1996, Christian Slater starred in the movie - Bed of Roses. This movie gives a glimpse into the life of a florist. A few things have changed since 1996, but the pride and purpose of a florist has not.

Viewpoint By Rick Canale

 Admit it. You’re probably not paying
your sales staff enough. In our industry,
sales reps, on average, earn about $9-$12
an hour, compared to the $15 to $20 an
hour designers pull in. How can we ask our
salespeople to sell $500 funerals or $100
arrangements, when they only average
$20,000 per year as full-time employees?
Designers command the highest
wages (outside of management) in a
flower shop. Why? They have a unique
talent and years of training and education.
Are they worth it? Of course — an
accomplished designer creates wedding
and party referrals and controls your
cost of goods. However, without an experienced
salesperson invested in your
services and designs, those skills are
wasted. The sales reps are the lifeblood
of a flower shop. They establish and
maintain customer relationships — and
they have the potential to destroy them,
too. They can increase sales with a mere
suggestion: “Would you like a balloon
with that order?” (For a $50 arrangement,
a $5 balloon addition equals a 10
percent increase in sales.) And they can
sour a relationship with a surly response
or failure to listen.
The power a salesperson has over
your shop’s image and sales is no small
thing. Recognizing it is crucial to fair
compensation. Do I want a gum-chewing-
baggy-jeans-wearing student trying
to sell a $200 funeral piece to a grieving
life partner? No. I want a uniformed,
well-groomed, well-paid professional
with a business card and experience.
Experience is key; training is only a minor
factor. True sales skills come from experience.
Good sales reps also forage for
their own clients. They use Facebook and
Twitter and attend cocktail parties and
charity events to foster relationships —
personal and professional. Often, these
relationships develop when they are not
even on the clock. If shop owners don’t
compensate them well, how can we expect
to retain them?
A talented salesperson takes on the
role of a consultant. Expert consultants
learn as much as possible about what
they sell: where it comes from, how it is
prepared and how to care for it. Premier
sales reps not only offer upgrades, but also recommendations,
with a
personal touch.
These recommendations
build rapport
and establish
trust. An expert
floral consultant
leaves no detail
unnoticed. We are in a business of details
and it all begins in taking the order.
Some shops and consultants, including
Team Floral of Tulsa, Okla., are big
fans of commissions. Many shops’ financials
prove this incentive program works.
At Exotic Flowers, though, we do not
practice this. Veteran Entrepreneur and
Inc. magazine columnist Norm Brodsky
offers an argument against sales commissions:
People who are motivated by
commissions have the means to maximize
their pay, potentially at the expense
of other departments like operations
and billing. Instead of base plus commission,
Brodsky recommends paying
a salary plus a three-part bonus tied to
the success of the individual, the team
and the company. A veteran entrepreneur,
Brodsky’s experience has led him
to subscribe to a few other controversial
business ideas, including: don’t hire family
and friends (Google “Firing Carlotta,
Brodsky” for more) and competition is
good for business (Google “The More
the Merrier, Brodsky”).
Almost all retail companies rely on
sales reps and customer-service agents.
The key is to have all your employees
work together for the growth of the
company. At Exotic Flowers, our top four
sales reps have 100 years combined
experience, and we flaunt that fact in
our marketing materials. The public is
tired of sales clerks who just collect a
paycheck — and sales reps are tired of
playing second fiddle to designers, when
it comes to pay. Now is the time to differentiate
our industry from other retail
organizations. Let’s do that by leveling
the paying field.
Rick Canale, president of Exotic
Flowers in Boston, was named Floral
Management’s 2008 Marketer of the
Year. E-mail: rick@exoticflowers.com.

What happened to giant florist chain Kabloom flowers ? Kabloom arrived on the Boston scene in 1998 with a wave of publicity. With Staples' Tom Stemberg an early investor, KaBloom was on the fast track opening locations throughout Boston and the country. Founder David Hartstein wished to be the Starbucks of flowers.

Hartstein grew the business to 120 stores. Kabloom had at least 3 flower shops in Boston which I recall. I remember a KaBloom on Hanover Street in the North End, a KaBloom on School Street near the Omni Parker House and a KaBloom in South Station. KaBloom now only shows a store on Harvard Street in Brookline.

Hartstein missed that Bostonians know their flowers. They also know what they are looking for and appreciate a Boston florist who cannot only make suggestions, but provide high quality flowers, plants, knowledge and worldwide service.

Did KaBloom's huge advertising budget help close their Boston flower shops ? Perhaps. Or are Bostonians looking to deal with family owned and operated stores ? Bostonians know that flowers can be purchased on street corners, grocery stores, train stations and flower shops. Boston florists need to know their customers and give them what they are looking for at a fair price with good service.

There are no right or wrong answers to ordering funeral flowers. A funeral is an emotional time and the bereaved should not be forced into buying funeral flowers because tradition dictates they should. Studies have shown that flowers do help our emotional state however.

Flowers are clinically proven to lift the spirits, so we suggest that not only should a family have flowers at a service, but also suggest friends and colleagues to send flowers as well.

Unless an American Flag or other type of blanket or flag is adorning the top of the casket, then the bereaved's lineage should always do their best to put flowers on top of the casket. If a family has limited funds then we suggest pooling the available funds and having just a casket cover. The flower casket cover is the focal point of the entire service. From funeral home to church to cemetery, the floral tribute on the top of the casket is noticed by all.

The casket cover is the most common term for this piece of flowers and is usually ordered by the deceased closest living associate or family member.

 One of the more famous casket covers in recent history was for Michael Jackson (see above). Michael Jackson's casket flowers featured Freedom Roses and Bells of Ireland.

Another famous casket cover was for singer Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra's casket flowers were an old fashioned blanket of white gardenias at $10,000. Because gardenias yellow so quickly, two flower blankets were created for the two days of services.