Exotic Flowers in Boston

Boston, MA

August 8th, 2011

As Britney Spears gets ready to take the stage at TDBank Garden in Boston tonight, she will be enjoying the fragrant blooms of Exotic Flowers in her dressing room. Britney has recaptured the public's affection and sells out her concerts throughout the country. I know that Britney will be blown away by the striking arrangement of Ecuadorean roses, Dutch hydrangeas, and orchids from Thailand sent by an adoring fan.

As Boston's Premier Florist, the staff at Exotic Flowers is often called upon to create some outrageous flower designs for the Boston area. From Fenway Park to Gillette Stadium, Exotic Flowers has had some memorable deliveries for friends, fans and celebrities.

Some of our flower deliveries have gone to Boston news icon Natalie Jacobson; actresses Barbara Streisand, Rita Moreno, Jane Seymour and Amy Smart; Baseball legends Ted Lepcio and Jose Canseco;  and politicians Senator Ted Kennedy, Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Tom Menino. While some of our more memorable deliveries include:

Actresses Annette Bening, Eva Mendes and Debra Messing (who has many floral allergies) were feted with flowers while filming the movie, The Women in Cambridge, MA. What a pleasant surprise to have Hollywood producer Toby Emmerich's people ring up Exotic Flowers in Boston to celebrate these three movie stars with Ecuadorean roses, Dutch Gerbera Daisies and Cymbidium Orchids from New Zealand.

In June, 2009 - the Red Sox celebrated manager Terry Francona and coach Brad Mills' 500th win for the Red Sox with 500 roses sent to their wives from Exotic Flowers' hoard of Ecuadorean roses.

When the famous legend Julie Andrews was in Boston, Exotic Flowers was chosen to create table centerpieces for a party in her honor.

One of the more memorable Boston weddings came years ago. Exotic Flowers was honored to create the wedding flowers for actress Maura Tierney. The Hyde Park native has been a friend of Sonny at Exotic Flowers for many years. We are proud to be friends with such a special family.

It was

Of course Father's Day does not have the cache or exposure of Mother's Day. Father's Day is Sunday, June 19th. Father's like everyone else appreciate being thought of and appreciated. Whether you say 'thanks dad' or we appreciate everything you do. It is also nice to shower your dad with gifts too. After all, he has been a shoulder to cry on; a guy who freely gives you more $ than you ask for and even changed a diaper or two along the way.

At Exotic Flowers in Boston, we always suggest fresh flowers as being the best gift to receive. Men appreciate receiving flowers. The old fashioned theory of men not liking them is out the window. Men like flowers and men like to receive flowers.

If you are still hesitant to send flowers, the staff at Exotic Flowers Boston has come with some great gift ideas as well.

From, the Garden Center at Exotic Flowers in Roslindale on American Legion Highway; Exotic Flowers offers your dad is very own herb garden. If your dad likes to cook or grill, this item is ideal for him.

For a gift that’s both fragrant and utilitarian, send a selection of real herb plants in a galvanized bucket. With fresh sage, peppermint, rosemary, basil and more, it will add taste to any kitchen – and a lovely touch to any décor.

If your dad, brother or uncle is not much of a cook and enjoys indulging himself on other's cooking; we have our Take Me Out to the Ballgame gift basket for Father's Day.

Dads, and Red Sox fans of all ages will think you're an MVP when you send this winning basket. Full of ballpark favorites and more, perfect for a picnic or a pick-up game in the park. You'll score a home run with this yummy basket that includes a real baseball, of course.

Peanuts, pistachios, Cracker Jacks, three good old-fashioned root beer or Sam Adams if you choose are teamed up in this basket.

During our time as the Offical Florist of the Boston Red Sox, we picked up some cool artifacts along the way. For the Dad who has everything and loves the Red Sox, we have a real base used in the 2007 World Series.

What more could you ask for ? A real game used base from the 2007 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies. This is a true piece of history. This base comes from game 2 of the 2007 World Series at Fenway Park. The Red Sox won this game 2-1 at Fenway Park on 10/25/7.

And finally my favorite gift for new Dads or Grandfathers; The Land of Chocolate

Cosmos children's book.

** DELIVERED FREE ** The Land of Chocolate Cosmos is the first book in the Green Series dedicated towards educating and empowering children to change the world's environmental concerns. Within the first tale, a community is distraught when their magical natural resource, the chocolate cosmos flower, is overused and abused. With the help of Coco, the people learn how to recultivate and preserve the cash crop, sustaining the sweet enchantment of chocolate that once enriched the tow

The goals of our marketing at Exotic Flowers are quite simple; we maintain a visual presence in the Boston area by presenting a beautiful flower shop and greenhouse which sells the freshest flowers and exotic plants. Our flowers and gifts are sold and delivered by uniformed personnel who drive lettered vehicles.

The color maroon resonates throughout our company. Maroon is visible in our clothing, our stationary, our vehicles, ink colors, stickers, packaging, direct mail and our website. Why maroon ? Maroon was chosen for personal reasons. I, Rick Canale, am a graduate of The Roxbury Latin School (1989) and Boston College (A&S 1993,). Both schools use this color as their signature. Of course, many other Massachusetts Universities and Colleges, like Harvard, M.I.T.. and UMASS Amherst also use this color. So Exotic Flowers reaches out to many Massachusetts residents through this subliminal advertising.

We send direct mail postcards five times per year to our client base. These mailers reinforce to our customers, who they buy their flowers from. The goal of our program is remain at 'top of mind awareness' for our customers.

We spend over ten hours per week in social media. I personally post to two blogs, am on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Our social media program keeps Exotic Flowers in a continual conversation with our customers and prospective customers.

Exotic Flowers of Boston and Roslindale will occasionally publish a print ad in a local publication like the Improper Bostonian. Our goal with these ads is to reinforce our image and presence in the marketplace. Exotic Flowers also has a small ad in the Super Pages Book for the client who still references the big book.

Exotic Flowers also donates flowers and gift cards to special causes and events for our top clients. We reserve these donations for our top clients as we like to give back to those who give to us.

Exotic Flowers also sponsors sports teams like the Red Sox and the Boston Breakers. We also contribute to local child and teen sports leagues. Exotic Flowers feels organized sports are essential to the health and well being of our community.

Finally, the staff at Exotic Flowers goes out of the shops and talks to people. We believe in going to the bank, shopping in our community, dining out and being seen. We are a member of the community and want to be visible. We also attend industry shows and conventions and network with our colleagues. We feel that we need to give as much as we can to the floral industry. We know that the more floral professionals who share ideas, the more people will buy flowers and the more successful we will be.

Ben Affleck's new movie "The Town" is an adaptation of the 2004 novel "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan. The story is a tale of four men - thieves, rivals, friends - who are hunted through the streets of Boston by a driven FBI agent (Jon Hamm).

 Ben Affleck plays lead character Doug MacRay. MacRay was born and raised in Charlestown and a lifelong criminal who learned his trade from his father. MacRay is the leader of a gang of bank robbers who has eluded capture. The gang works for crime boss Fergie, played by Pete Postlethwaite.

In order to have a public profile, Fergie's front is as a Boston florist. Scenes in the movie show Fergie in his shop and arranging flowers. These scenes give viewers an interesting look into day to day operations at a Boston flower shop.

(Inset of O'Banion flower shop)

Fergie's character is loosely based upon Irish American mobster Dean O'Banion (1892-1924). O'Banion was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone in Chicago. At the height of his power, O'Banion was rumored to  be making one million dollars in bootlegging operations. Like Fergie, O'Banion need a legitimate front for his criminal operations. O'Banion was not only known as a successful Chicago florist, but also an excellent floral designer. Much of his floral work came as a result of the Mob wars in Chicago. These mob hits often resulted in $1000 floral tributes for the deceased. The rooms above O'Banion's flower shop (Schofield's) were used as headquarters for his Northside Gang.

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.

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.

 August 18, 1910, a group of forward-thinking florists met at the Society of American Florists (SAF) Convention in Rochester, NY and formed the country’s first flowers-by-wire service, Florists’ Telegraph Delivery Association (FTD). The retail delivery association was led by John Valentine, a Colorado wholesaler who wanted to help grow the retail floral industry, which was still dominated by growers and wholesalers.

1910s
In the beginning, the growth of FTD was a slow process with only 200 florist members in 1914.  At the 1916 SAF Convention, members of FTD voted to split from SAF to form its own entity FTD, giving the 328 FTDA member florists the chance to chart their own destiny.  Also in the early years, the well-known FTD Mercury Man was introduced (1912), showcasing Mercury, the mythical messenger of the gods. Over the years, the logo has taken on many different variations, but always features the famous winged man.
Click here to view the FTD Logo through the years!

1920s
In 1920, FTD debuted FTD News, the first monthly membership directory. The FTD Directory is still used today in a printed book format as well as online within FTD Mercury. On January 1, 1924, 3,000 FTD Member Florists were introduced to the FTD Clearinghouse, the first non-profit international banking operation in commercial history, which handled over 460,000 orders worth almost $3 million in its first year. The 1920’s was a year of growth for FTD with the introduction of FTD’s first Publicity Bureau.  The group was very aggressive and creative in their marketing efforts. Annual revenues grew to over $6.3 million and the number of florists exceeded 5,000 by the end of 1929. Also in 1929, the FTD logo was copyrighted as the official trademark for FTD and was displayed in every shop.

1930s
Although the Great Depression hit the floral industry hard, FTD continued its strong advertising campaigns in the 1930s with radio shows featuring flower experts and merchandising celebrity endorsements from film stars such as Betty Davis and Jane Withers.  FTD also entered its first prize winning float in the Rose Parade and revived the “Say It with Flowers” marketing slogan originally used in 1914.  As the 1930s closed, there were over 7,000 FTD Member Florists and more than 2.1 million orders being processed through the FTD Clearinghouse.

1940s
As the United States entered WWII in 1941, FTD Florists experienced a shortage of many things from flowers to gas, tires and flower boxes.  Many florists went back to horse-drawn carriages for delivery and flower shops became a sales office for war bonds. Resulting from the ban on travel, FTD cancelled its florists’ conventions for three years and took a very aggressive effort to support the war effort and hosted programs to support all military personnel.  This dedicated approach grew the clearinghouse business to $25.4 million in 1945 and more than 8,650 members at the close of 1949.  In 1946, FTD launched both the industry’s first and FTD’s first test order program to assure quality and top performance from every FTD Florist. Quality and customer satisfaction remains a key part of the business still today.  Also, in 1946, FTD joined British Unit and Fleurop, the three groups later became known as Interflora, Inc.

1950s
The 1950s was an era of aggressive marketing campaigns and more celebrity endorsements of FTD.  With the introduction of the television, FTD hit the airwaves with a winning float in the first televised Rose Parade, was featured on the Ozzie and Harriet show and had FTD floral segments on the Today Show.  FTD increased its print advertising campaign to 13 publications such as Better Homes and Gardens and Cosmopolitan featuring prominent entertainers including Kim Novak, Elizabeth Taylor, Dale Evans and Rosemary Clooney endorsing FTD and flowers.  The media hoopla helped the FTD Clearinghouse surpass $63 million as over 8.2 million orders were filled in 1959.  FTD processed over one million orders for the first time in May 1959.  It was also during this decade that FTD changed its name to Florists’ Transworld Delivery (1956) to reflect the international partnership that was flourishing with Interflora Inc.

1960s
FTD moved forward at a rapid pace in the 1960s.  Clearings doubled from $63 million to $132 million and membership increased from 8,000 to 12,000.  There were many firsts in the 1960s for FTD that contributed to its rapid growth.  In 1962, FTD introduced the first FTD Selections Guide. FTD was featured on the cover of Business Week for its aggressive marketing efforts and for the newly introduced Selections Guide which was termed a “merchandising brainstorm”.  Another idea that was evaluated was the Test 90 Program, a three-month test of a privately leased telephone wire system to send orders. Although it did not continue after the three months, Test 90 was the first step in the development of the Mercury Network.

1970s
The 1970s may have seen gas shortages, but there was no shortage of growth for FTD and FTD Florists.  Along with increases in aggressive advertising campaigns and the introduction of its first nationally advertised holiday special (FTD LoveBundle) in 1971, FTD officially launched the Mercury Network on August 8, 1979. By November 1979, 6,500 consoles were delivered to members and transmitted more than 11,000 orders per day.  It did not take long for the Mercury Network to reach its one-millionth order, which occurred on December 13, 1979.  At the end of the 1970s, FTD topped $350 million in volume, orders were at 18 million per year and membership was at its highest at 19,000 members.

1980s
During the 1980s, FTD developed many famous new bouquets, some that are still being merchandised by FTD today, including the FTD® Pick-Me-Up Bouquet®, FTD® Big Hug Mug® Bouquet and the FTD® Birthday Party® Bouquet.  In 1983, NFL Hall-of-Famer Merlin Olsen was introduced to members as the new FTD spokesperson and was featured in advertising campaigns and appeared at various floral industry events.  In 1985, FTD introduced the 800-SEND-FTD toll-free phone number. The industry’s first design and education team was introduced by FTD in 1988 and many of the designers are still on the team today wowing audiences and demonstrating the latest trends at industry shows. FTD membership grew to over 20,000 at the end of the 1980s.

1990s
The 1990s provided FTD with great change and moved closer to John Valentine’s original goal for FTD...to help grow the retail floral industry.  FTD branched out from being strictly a clearinghouse for orders and more towards a full-service business solution for florists.  FTD developed many new exciting business programs such as a telephone answering service (FTD Flowers All Hours) and a custom web site development and maintenance program (FTD Florists Online).  FTD also recognized how technology was changing the way consumers’ shop, so FTD expanded its efforts to promote 800-SEND-FTD.  In addition, FTD created www.ftd.com in 1994 as another means to reach consumers that wanted an alternative way to shop for flowers.  In 1999, a portion of FTD became a publicly-traded company on NASDAQ combining 800-SEND-FTD and www.ftd.com into one company called FTD.COM.

2000s
In 2000s, technology continued to be a vital part of the success of the floral industry.  Consumers continue to look for new easier and quicker ways to shop.  In addition, more and more competitors have entered the gift-giving category.  This forced FTD and FTD Florists to truly embrace technology, create alternative marketing solutions and merchandise non-floral gift options to reach distinctive, fast-paced, tech-savvy consumers.  Thus, www.ftd.com, FTD Florists Online web sites and Mercury Technology systems grew very rapidly and have become a critical business function to FTD Florists.

Today, FTD is revamping its signature black and gold branding and focusing its marketing campaigns on celebrating the talent and artistry of FTD Florists.  To assist FTD Member Florists in the industry’s highly competitive environment and challenging economic times, FTD has introduced various programs and services all aimed at helping increase florists’ revenues and reduce costs. Programs such as the FTD Luxury Collections and the FTD Customer Choice Program provide florists with the opportunity to up sell the customer and significantly increase average order values. FTD is continuously enhancing Mercury Technology systems to offer florists state-of-the-art technology modules such as delivery and accounting integration, gift card options and marketing solutions to help streamline and advance their business.

On August 18, 2010, FTD will celebrate its 100th Anniversary and its 100 years of floral innovation.  That spirit of innovation is still the driving force behind the FTD brand today. From new marketing initiatives to breath-taking floral bouquets to our cutting-edge Mercury Technology, FTD continues to lead the industry with creative solutions that help florists compete in this rapidly changing world.  Our talented FTD Florists have been a part of the fabric of America for 100 years and an essential part of life’s most memorable experiences.

Exotic Flowers, Boston's Premier Florist is proud to remain an FTD  member in good standing. Did you know that Exotic Flowers in Boston can send flowers around the corner and around the globe. Trust your local Boston Florist to send flowers globally.

Above Photo; Boston Florist, Rick Canale speaking at CFA convention in 2008.

Put the Social Back into Networking in Orlando
By Shelley Estersohn
Remember brainstorming over a cup of coffee or perking up when you heard someone else ask a question about his business? Those moments can’t happen if you have your face buried in your BlackBerry or you’re updating your Facebook page.

The potential for those unexpected “aha” moments — inspiration sparked when people with different experiences just get together and talk — is a big part of what draws people to industry meetings. That’s why opportunities for networking between wholesalers, retailers and growers are a mainstay of the SAF convention schedule.

“Everybody in business needs a little face time with folks from similar businesses as well as from other segments of the industry,” said SAF convention chairperson Dottie Pannepacker of Penny’s Flowers in Glenside, Pa. “I go to SAF conventions to get away from the day-to-day.”

Or attendees can walk the SAF Winners Circle and hear experts from Professional Floral Communicators – International talk about the top entries in the Outstanding Varieties and Sylvia Cup Design competitions. That night it’s all about the chatter as attendees gather under the stars for the Networking Reception. 

* * * * * 

 As a florist from Boston, MA  I look forward to not only attending the convention, but also participating in the forums and discussions. I have also been invited to serve as a judge for 2 of the more presigious awards for the event.

My most honored role at the SAF convention wil be serve as a panelist for the importance of social media in the floral industry. Whether you're a florist in Boston or Belgium, or specialize in funerals or weddings; this social media seminar should be attended.