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February 14, 2010

Retailers hope recession is over for Valentine's Day shoppers

By Lisa Byers

Two simple things must be remembered when it comes to purchasing gifts for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.

“If you cut down on Mother’s Day, you’re not going to get anything to eat the rest of the day,” said Judy Janiak. “If you cut down on Valentine’s Day, you’re not going to get love the rest of the day.”

It appears people may be heeding Janiak’s advice.

According to Janiak, co-owner of Cobblestone Cottage and Gardens, LLC with Dan Hunter, the poor economy has had little affect on business for holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. In fact, Wednesday the floral and gift shop, located at 828 North Cottage St. in Meadville, was busy filling pre-orders and preparing arrangements for its display cases for the expected weekend rush.

“People aren’t really holding back,” Janiak said. “Roses go up to $80 with a vase (for Valentine’s Day) and they don’t even bat an eye when you tell them the price.”

Hunter said generally after Valentine’s Day he has to run a sale on roses to get rid of the excess ordered. But late last week, he was already anticipating having to order more. So, so much for opting for a simple arrangement of carnations rather than a dozen long-stemmed roses.

“Those arrangements are for home,” Janiak said of the smaller arrangements. “Everyone wants to show off in front of their co-workers. So for work, they’re bigger. And if they are opting for smaller arrangements, they seem to be going for smaller roses.

“Probably 20 percent of our customers, though, do set a certain price range. They give us a dollar amount they want to spend and we work around that. Still, price really hasn’t deterred anyone.”

A Bloomberg report published Wednesday indicated the National Confectioners Association expected chocolate and candy sales for Valentine’s Day to increase by 0.8 percent this year — but that might not be saying a lot, as the drop a year ago was by more than 10 percent. A spokeswoman with the company said in the report that sales will climb to an estimated $935 million from $928 million.

It’s welcomed news for businesses like Cobblestone Cottage and Gardens, LLC, where Valentine’s Day is considered the “big day.”

“Valentine’s Day is very big,” said Janiak, who said she and Hunter had to lay off almost half of its staff last year because of the financial crunch. “Guys are buying for their daughters, their mothers, girlfriends, wives, kids. It’s a very big day.”

Area restaurants said business on Valentine’s Day is anticipated to be about the same as last year, though business in general has been down.

Stacy Bruestle, co-owner of Stacini’s Restaurant at 1081 S. Main St., Meadville, said Thursday the restaurant already had a number of reservations for Valentine’s Day, but expected the bulk of them to be called in Friday and Saturday.



Lisa Byers can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at lbyers@meadvilletribune.com.

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