We are excited to start watching the new series of 'Mary Queen of Shops' which starts tonight on BBC1. This series Mary Portas is looking at our local shops such as greengrocers and bakers who are facing increasing competition from the ubiquitous supermarket. Not sure if the humble florist is featured or not, but our profession is definitely one which has been hit hard by supermarkets over the years.
While we can pretty much never compete on price with the Tescos and Marks and Spencer of this world, (we simply don't have the buying power), we here at Pollination like to think we offer something a bit more unique, interesting and original than the generic bunches that are often offered by the supermarkets. We
have seen some really lovely bouquets though, and a good range of flowers from the simple rose to the more exotic orchids and proteas. Although the fact that the supermarkets have moved on from just plain old carnations and chrysanths always worries us slightly! On the plus side, it does educate people who may not go into their local florist on the huge range of stunning blooms that are available to us now.
Supermarkets don't generally give the same care to their flowers though, whilst your local florist will prep every individual flower and cut, feed and generally treat them with respect, many bunches from the supermarket will be pulled out and stuffed half in half out of water, stems crushed by customers. They are often positioned at the front of the store, which from a marketing point of view is clever, but at the same time they are then treated to every blast of cold wind each time a customer enters, and are left wilting in the sun when it's a hot day. Nor does the supermarket allow you to pick individual blooms to create a tailored made bouquet or arrangement, or offer specialised services such as wedding bouquets (although Asda are selling 'good vaue' wedding dresses, so give them time!). They produce mass bunches for the masses, rather than original bouquets tailored to the individual.
The supermarkets, along with the recession, are good reasons to keep on top of our game, to keep our shops looking fab, and to keep producing good quality gorgeous bouquets. We find it encouraging that we receive orders from throughout Britain and the rest of the world to send our bouquets through the UK, and that we have a regular local customer base as well as new customers all the time, who have been recommended to us, have seen our website or maybe have received a bouquet themselves. But we never get complacent. It is a constant challenge to survive in the highly competitive retail world.
The more local independent shops that close down as they struggle to compete with the supermarket giants, the more our local high streets turn into streets of To Let signs and smashed windows, the more our local communities suffer and the less specialised, original independent businesses will be available, and what a dull place that would be.
