Alma, QC Florists

Alma Flower Shop News

Local flower shop shares story of surviving the pandemic on Small Business Saturday - ABC15 Arizona

CHANDLER, AZ — "Very proud to have this shop, very proud every day," said Lori Williams, owner of Flowers by Renee at the corner of Alma School and Queen Creek roads in Chandler.The shop has been around for 29 years in the East Valley."I've been the owner for five years, but the shop has been at this location for 21."Williams, along with her daughter Mellissa and her grandchildren Olivia and Nathan, has made their flower shop a community gathering. They befriend just about every customer who walks in the door. Williams says the pandemic has made this small business' survival a bit hard."We did have a decline in house accounts we service some of the major hospitals and those were shut down, so that was a little tough," said Williams.Williams adds that surviving the pandemic is all due to the nine employees she has. She proudly states she hasn't laid anyone off even though her business has taken a hit."I think the employees are the backbone of the business. They are the ones that make it happen... So I will do everything in my power to make sure that they are taken care of in return," said Williams.According to the S... https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/chandler/local-flower-shop-shares-story-of-surviving-the-pandemic-on-this-small-business-saturday

From blocking aisles to hiding Christmas decorations, Winnipeg's big retailers stash non-essential goods - CBC.ca

Retailers had until Saturday to remove them from shelves or rope them off, but many had done so by Friday. Blue containers and tarps block customers at a Winnipeg Walmart from accessing a section of the store. (Ian Froese/CBC) The Safeway in Osborne Village had cleaned up their flowers, stuffed a giant snowman balloon into a bag that looked too small and draped plastic where the Christmas decorations and greeting cards were sold. Blight said the floral arrangements brightened her day. She rushed into the store Thursday to buy a poinsettia, in case it wasn't there by Friday. "It's very sad," she said of the lack of greenery at Safeway. "Flowers make every space look cheery." At a Walmart in Winnipeg's Garden City neighbourhood, some aisles are blocked by boxes of chocolate, cereal and dog food. In some places, they treated plastic or tarp as if it was a wall. About a third of the supermarket was inaccessible, such as the furniture, home decor, bedding, sporting goods and office supply areas. It was rows and rows of goods you can no longer buy. "I didn't think it was for real," Tahnee Flett said. "Only essential things? How can you just buy essential things?" She wanted new Christmas decorations and a television, but she returned to her vehicle with her shopping list intact. Tahnee Flett left Walmart Friday afternoon with $200 'worth of junk' rather than the Christmas decorations and new te... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-new-shopping-restrictions-non-essential-goods-blocked-off-1.5810683

Berkeley Florist Remains Bitter That It Can't Do Curbside Sales While Whole Foods Sells Flowers Next Door - SFist

Bay Area has been growing as the initial virus panic fades, and after eight weeks in which big-box retail stores and grocers like Walmart and Whole Foods have been allowed to remain open, often selling "non-essential" goods.On Monday, flower shops in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties will get to reopen for curbside pickup and sales along with the vast majority of other retailers, but the same will not yet be true for three other Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley where stricter, Phase 1 sheltering orders are remaining in place a bit longer (pending any new revised orders from those counties' health officers). That isn't sitting well with Ashby Flowers co-owner Marcy Simon, whose Berkeley shop sits next door to an Amazon-owned Whole Foods location, where flowers are also for sale. Ashby Flowers has been allowed to stay open for deliveries only — KPIX reports that other flower shops elsewhere in Alameda County have begun doing curbside pickups but that is not clear from the most recent county health order issued last week. The City of Berkeley's public health department, which acts independently of ... https://sfist.com/2020/05/14/berkeley-florist-bitter-about-curbside-retail-rules/

10 Florists Delivering Vibrant Bouquets for Mother’s Day - The New York Times

May 10. (It’s best to order by Tuesday.)An arrangement of anthurium and painted plumosa by Calma, in one of the studio’s Blob vases.Credit...Emma FishmanA pairing of faux palm fronds and faux yellow oncidium.Credit...Elizabeth JaimeCalma, MiamiThe florist Elizabeth Jaime, of the Miami studio Calma, specializes in tropical, Art Deco-inspired arrangements made with statuesque flowers that often have an artificial look: shiny anthuriums, birds of paradise and dried fan palms. But recent changes in flower availability have prompted her to experiment with softer, more romantic compositions with a focus on striking palettes. For Mother’s Day, she will choose blooms in shades of bright pink and yellow, a scheme inspired “by the start of spring,” she says, “and also brighter times.” In order to support other small businesses affected by the coronavirus, she has partnered with the local spa Sana on a wellness gift bundle, in which one of her bouquets will be accompanied by rose-hip body oil and a dry brush kit, as well as the pizzeria Stanzione 87 on a set that includes a bottle of rosé and a spice-infused olive oil. Bouquets from $75.An assortment of specialty orchids, arranged by Fox Fodder Farm.Credit...Nicole FranzenA bouquet of seasonal spring blooms including daffodils, hyacinths and scented geraniums.Credit...Nicole FranzenFox Fodder Farm, New York, N.Y.In March, as businesses in New York began to close, Taylor Patterson, the founder of the Brooklyn-based floral design studio Fox Fodder Farm, which specializes in textural, naturalistic compositions of mostly locally sourced blooms, was sent a photo of one of her arrang... https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/02/t-magazine/mothers-day-flowers-delivery.html

After 125 years, Manatee company delivering fresh flowers differently - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

If the flower you're looking for isn't at the main office ready to be shipped out to a retailer near you, it's probably at their 30-acre greenhouse facility, which sits on 300 acres of land near Palma Sola Bay. It's at 11703 40th Ave W, Bradenton, just off Cortez Road before the bridge to Anna Maria Island.The greenhouses are a wonderland of blossoms. Turn one way and you might find yourself hedged in by rows of tulips. Stumble backward and you could suddenly be staring into a purple sea of peonies and bougainvillea.The company ships to a variety of retail chains and independent garden centers. You can find Manatee Farms products at more than 150 retail florists throughout Florida, 50-plus independent garden centers from Naples to Central Florida, and at supermarkets, such as Albertson’s and Safeway, as well as wholesalers and brokers nationwide.Flowers and feelingsThough the business depends on executing the logistics of delivering fresh products, Preston is equally comfortable talking about the value of what Manatee Fruit Co. brings to its customers.“Flowers are a business of feelings," he said. "There’s a saying that flowers are the language of love, and they really are. When you think about the unspoken word, the word you can never really say, you can say that with flowers.“Flowers fulfill that moment when no one really knows what to say, and we’ll always need that.”That's the message of the company's latest transformation.Hurricane Irma slowed the rollout of the company's re-branding effort last year, damaging several buildings, including greenhouses and a packing house that was built in 1926. But by April the new Manatee Farms brand was fully formed and public with a new look, feel and focus as well as  name.Cortez Floral and Manatee Floral, two companies under the umbrella company Manatee Fruit Co., were consolidated.Beyond fresh, sustainably grownManatee Farms now is offering “choices that matter” to consumers that care about how the products they buy are produced. The goal is to attract, engage and inform consumers and to be as transparent as possible about where and how their flowers are produced.Robert McLaughlin, chief sustainability and marketing officer for Manatee Farms, has largely spearheaded the re-branding.“This is the decade of responsible choices, and that resonates with consumers,” McLaughlin said. “We focus on eco-friendly flowers and plants, ensuring that they are certified so that we can ensure that every flower is held to certain standards.”According to Manatee Farms, its eco-friendly flowers also are good for the people who work on the farms that grow them and means that “every purchase helps improve the lives of farmworkers by providing fair wages, health care benefits, education programs and employment of women.”The company requires that farms they work with have sustainability certifications, such as USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance or Fresh from Florida. According to the company, certified farms employ 60 percent women and are far more likely to offer higher wages and produce higher standards of living for their workers.Many of these farms also use integrated pest management as opposed to heavy pesticides, meaning that more common-sense, long-term practices are used to achieve the same results. Examples are vacuuming pests out of plants and using organisms like spiders to eat harmful pests, such as thrips, which puncture and damage plants.Getting the word outIn an effort to create a more direct link between customers and its product, the company is placing interactive digital kiosks in some stores that can help educate consumers about where their flowers come from.“We want to create a source for the consumers so that we’re reaching out in different ways and allowing access to all this information right in the retailer,” McLaughlin said.The ultimate goal is to attract customers, engage them, inform them and send them to the retailers that carry the Manatee Farms brand.Fo... https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20180611/after-125-years-manatee-company-delivering-fresh-flowers-differently

Florist delivers $4,000 worth of flowers to long-term care facilities - CityNews Edmonton

COVID-19 pandemic is giving back in a big way.Florist Myriam Binette is donating $4,000 worth of flowers to “red zone” long-term care facilities, where most of Quebec’s fatalities have taken place.It’s the exact amount her flower shop Binette et Filles made in sales over the last month. “Today we have 125 bouquets, and yesterday we had about 75 bouquets,” said Binette. “It’s a way to say thanks, a big thanks.”Binette started working at the flower shop in Montreal’s Jean-Talon Market 50 years ago with her father.“It’s the first time the Market is closed for Mother’s Day weekend,” she said. “I never remember the market closed for this day.”Meanwhile in Montreal’s east end, Mario Lento is finding his own way of spreading joy on Mother’s Day – while still respecting physical distancing rules and guidelines.Lento, a singer, drove down to his mother’s seniors residence and serenaded her outside.“I just want to sing for my mom and for the rest of the people that I know,” said Lento. “So I said, let’s go and have them smile and sing along with me.”Lento has been singing in restaurants for over 20 years. He says there’s nothing like music to help make this year’s celebration unlike any other... https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2020/05/10/florist-delivers-4000-worth-flowers-long-term-care-facilities/

Flower growers see sales wither as planting season launches - CBC.ca

British Columbia — the second-biggest flower and plant producer — Alberta and Manitoba and have allowed garden centres to keep running, while Quebec deemed them essential along with nurseries as of April 15, though not in time for Easter. Kuyvenhoven, who with his wife co-owns a $2.5-million business selling potted Chrysanthemums and indoor calla lilies — largely to U.S. distributors — on a pair of farms west of Toronto, says clogged supply chains south of the border remain a problem. 'I haven't slept in five weeks' "U.S. customers for a time closed their distribution systems to floral and so the main grocery chains were not purchasing plants," he said, which was hard on growers of cut flowers such as roses and tulips. "If a truck can take 24 skids and four skids were flowers, the flowers came off the trucks and they put more food on the truck — which we completely understand. The only challenge is, when you're growing flowers as we do, they also have a shelf life," said Kuyvenhoven, who bought his business from his parents in 1990. "Now we're now facing liquidity issues...I haven't slept in five weeks." Flowers Canada Growers says exports to the U.S. make up about one-third of greenhouse flower and plant sales, which hit $1.6 billion in 2018, according to Statistics Canada. Nursery sales topped $500 million. While garden centres can continue to operate across much of the continent, growers wonder whether bouquets and flower pots will remain on the shopping list of consumers struggling to make rent amid soaring unemployment numbers and a looming recession. Kuyvenhoven is hoping that families confined to their homes for most of the day will choose to spend what they've saved from unpurchased vacations and lattes on plants for their vases and flower beds. "That's part of what's carried us through downturns in the past," he said. Growers associations are in talks with federal and provincial governments over potential financial relief, with Flowers Canada Growers asking for a "cash injection" as well as extended debt repayment plans secured in part by Ottawa, Kuyvenhoven said. So far, the federal government has extended a stay of default for eligible farmers until Oct. 31, giving flower and potted plant producers an extra six months to pay off federal loans that would have been due at the end of April. Ottawa has also granted exemptions on air travel restrictions to temporary foreign workers and invested $50 million to help farmers fly in labourers on charter trips. "New flights are being booked ever day," the agriculture department said in an email. Back at the greenhouse, VanZanten mulls the overripe lilies and orchids. "Flowers do make you happier, they do actually lift your spirits...but there are farms that can't bounce back from this," he said. "This all happened at the wrong time."... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/flower-growers-hamilton-1.5546023

Timeless Flower Design Proudly Presents Their Signature Collection - Elegantly Preserved Floral Arrangements and Flower Bouquets to Make Spring and Summer Last Longer - Benzinga

She launched her company, Timeless Flower Design on February 14, 2020 and has been selling her preserved flower bouquets online ever since.Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 02, 2020 --(PR.com)-- Caryn Lim, floral designer/owner of Timeless Flower Design, has been involved in the wedding industry in Montreal, Quebec for more than 15 years. Over the past eight years she has provided full floral design services for numerous local and international clients.At the end of each wedding or social event, she has always felt wistful discarding fresh flowers that were only on display for a few hours as table decor at the venue. It seemed such a waste to throw away elegant fresh floral arrangements that had been artfully designed and meticulously stored in a refrigerated cooler to await the special occasion.“Why not make bouquets people will enjoy for longer than just one evening?” This one thought inspired Caryn to design an entire collection of preserved floral bouquets that will last far longer than any fresh flower arrangement. She launched her company, Timeless Flower Design on February 14, 2020 and has been selling her preserved flower bouquets online ever since.Knowing that preserved flowers are a growing current trend, Caryn researched the preserved & dried floral design industry. She discovered that preserv... https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/20/04/r15724293/timeless-flower-design-proudly-presents-their-signature-collection-elegantly-preserved-floral-arra

7 Flowery Spots In & Around Montreal You And Your Bestie Have To Discover This Spring - MTL Blog

To plan your trip, click here.Espace Pour La Vie; Jardin Botanique  Where: 4101, rue Sherbrooke E.When: Every day; 9 a.m. — 5 p.m.Cost: Adults: $21; Quebec Resident: $16.25; Quebec Student: $12.50 Check out the calendar for your favourite flower blooms!Atwater Market Where: 138, ave. Atwater When: Every day (check the website for times) Cost: Free Learn more about the flowers and vendors!May your spring be filled with millions of colours, Montreal!... https://www.mtlblog.com/things-to-do/canada/qc/montreal/7-flowery-spots-in-and-around-montreal-you-and-your-bestie-have-to-discover-this-spring