Flower Retailers Seek Supermarket Sales
SALT LAKE CITY - Flower retailers exhibiting at the 2003 Super Floral Show in Salt Lake City are turning their attention to supermarkets as they seek to grow business, The Associated Press reports.
Between 1995 and 2000, there was a 25 percent increase in flower sales, according to Price & Price research, and the numbers, in part, sprouted an increase in flower production. With increased production and new technologies that keep flowers alive longer, there is an abundance in supply.
As a result, large retailers like superstores and grocery chains have been expanding their floral sections and moving them to more visible parts of the stores. They're offering much more than a few single roses and some bouquets of carnations in a refrigerator.
About 80 percent of new supermarket construction includes extensive floral departments, said Jeff Schneider, VP of sales and marketing for Structural Concepts Corp., a firm that provides the chilled display cases for some of America's largest retailers like Wal-Mart and Winn Dixie.
Between 1995 and 2000, there was a 25 percent increase in flower sales, according to Price & Price research, and the numbers, in part, sprouted an increase in flower production. With increased production and new technologies that keep flowers alive longer, there is an abundance in supply.
As a result, large retailers like superstores and grocery chains have been expanding their floral sections and moving them to more visible parts of the stores. They're offering much more than a few single roses and some bouquets of carnations in a refrigerator.
About 80 percent of new supermarket construction includes extensive floral departments, said Jeff Schneider, VP of sales and marketing for Structural Concepts Corp., a firm that provides the chilled display cases for some of America's largest retailers like Wal-Mart and Winn Dixie.