A Florist's Point of View

     I have been thinking a lot lately about Black Friday.  When did this happen?  When did consumers decide this was a great idea?   I am sure the employees of the giant corporations do not receive any benefit from being at their appointed station at some crazy hour of the night.  I have not even mentioned the battle for the on-line shopper.  On my Amazon account they have been advertising for weeks. Trust me, those random on-line businesses have no interest in you or if what you bought is what you wanted.  My thought is what if all those shoppers shopped locally in the East Texas area.  Think back to 1975, the choices were limited as to where you would buy your gifts.  The Flower Box and The Flower Market were both flourishing businesses then.  

     One of the things I try to tell people about my job is the relationships we have with our customers go beyond the surface.  We have all been working here for years and years.  We have sent baby door bows to the hospital and we have made wedding bouquets for that same baby years later.  When you shop locally your community benefits from the bond of friendship.  A florist is not the only store that could tell this story.  Think of a baker that made the wedding cake, the baby shower cake, and then the wedding cake for the baby.  Our customers are more like family, they have known us since we were all young. Haha.  

     These are pictures of both shops in the mid 1970's.  This brings back a lot of memories for me.  Who would have ever thought all these years later I would be working here all my adult life.  

     I know as a consumer in today's world it might be hard to believe, but we enjoy seeing our customers. When they call or come by the shop there are always the obvious questions of "how have you been?" etc.  We love to celebrate with them, we also mourn with them.  Some of our customers have been coming to The Flower Box since they were in high school and going to their senior prom in 1950.  I guess what I am trying to convey to you is not all purchases can be made on a random internet site.  Yes, I have a website and I receive a lot of orders through it.  But, at the same time I have many many customers call from my website to discuss what they want to purchase.  You see, a floral purchase is special.  It is different than just ordering a blouse off of a website somewhere.  When you purchase flowers, the designer is going to convey your feelings into a special bouquet.  This cannot be bought off a website after someone in a foreign country has handled or mishandled your order.  The foundation of my job is to take your words, your thoughts, feelings, ideas and emotion and put that into a physical form for the world to see.  Whether you purchase roses, plants, tapestries, angels, a cross or something you imagined and we created, it is special to you.          When you purchase from a local florist, bakery, pharmacy etc you know you are in good hands because you have a relationship with them.  

     A picture on a random website does not always mean your local florist can create what a computer generated.  This generation of flower buyers have been tricked.  A computer can produce an amazing picture.  Our real life flowers have flaws, spots, in other words they are not perfect.  Please take this into consideration when you receive a bouquet that I created after you ordered from tim buck two.   I try my best, but I am no comparison to computer perfection.

     This holiday season as you are gathering your presents please consider shopping local.  There are a multitude of shopping adventures withing a 100 mile radius of Tyler.  You would have the most unique gifts under your tree.  We could create the most beautiful centerpiece for your table.  The main thing is you would create a relationship with people in your community you would have never met through a computer screen or on a black Friday mad rush.  You will stimulate the East Texas economy, you will help local families provide jobs for the community.  There are numerous reasons to shop local.  My favorite one is so we can meet you and celebrate all the upcoming events in your life.  Consider shopping local this coming year as much as you can.  We do not need to send our $$ to foreign countries so they can pay their phone operators a meager portion and then the corporation keeps the rest.  I hope if you read this you can understand a little more about our mission here.  If you can imagine it, we can create it.

Sherry