A Valentine’s Day Super Bowl parade has Philly’s florists and chocolatiers calling an audible
The celebration is falling on what is traditionally their busiest day of the year. Some owners worry it'll hurt walk-in sales, which can make up as much as 60% of their business on the holiday.
Ten Pennies Florist will be closed on Valentine’s Day. It’s a business decision that would be absurd any other year.
But in Philadelphia, this Valentine’s Day will coincide with another holiday of sorts, the Eagles Super Bowl parade. That‘s why the Center City florist is shuttering on what is traditionally the busiest day of the year.
The decision “was a very difficult one, but you know what, the Eagles won the Super Bowl. The parade is going to be right here,” steps away from the South Broad Street store, manager Nicole Miles said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“If we have to share Valentine’s Day with the Eagles,” she added, “we’re happy to do so.”
Even if that means preparing more than 200 orders a day early, she added.
“This is an unprecedented situation,” said Tony Walter Jr., owner of Lore’s Chocolates in Center City, which is going to operate “business as usual” on Friday and hope some customers still come by. “We’ve had all sorts of challenges, always, but this is just a man-made challenge.”
For Philly florists and chocolate shops, the Eagles celebration has thrown a wrench in their Valentine’s Day plans. On Friday, city streets will be closed, snarling traffic, and as many as a million Birds fans are expected to flock to the parade route.
Deliveries to Center City homes and offices will be difficult, if not impossible, and shop owners said they anticipate fewer in-person pickups, with customers now preferring to get their Valentine’s orders on Thursday or Saturday instead.
More worrisome than the logistical hurdles, some business owners said, is the possibility that the parade will hurt their walk-in sales, which can make up as much as 60% of their business on the holiday.
“Valentine’s Day is a big shot in the arm for a lot of flower shops,” said Frank Quinn, owner of Quinn’s Flower Shop in South Philly. “I just wish that the parade would’ve fallen on a different day. But it is what it is.”
Florists fret losing walk-in Valentine’s customers
Quinn plans to keep the shop open until 7 p.m. Friday, two hours later than usual, in hopes that some neighborhood residents will wander in on their way home from Super Bowl celebrations.
When Valentine’s Day falls on the Friday of Presidents' Day weekend, as it does this year, sales are usually down a good 10-15% compared to other Valentine’s Days, Quinn said. With the added distraction of the Eagles parade, Quinn said he expects sales to decline even more.
“People who day-of would otherwise be walking in, calling up, placing orders, no one is going to be thinking about that with the Super Bowl parade going on,” said Alexandra Georgiou, owner of Bonatsos Flower Shop in Center City.
Bonatsos plans to have staff near the Art Museum, handing out fliers with coupons and encouraging fans to stop by the Center City shop after the festivities, Georgiou said. But she wouldn’t bet on a flood of inebriated, green-clad customers walking in to buy roses after a long day.
Walk-in sales will be “basically annihilated,” Georgiou said. “It’s going to be a fraction of what we would have made.”
Even outside Center City, businesses expect an impact.
Kaitlin Orner, owner of Pomelo, a Germantown flower and plant shop, stopped taking orders for Center City as soon as the parade date was announced. She has since rescheduled all downtown orders that were placed before the parade was scheduled.
Now, she must prepare those orders Thursday, a day earlier than usual. Adding to the challenge, the shop is already a day behind because of the Super Bowl — her wholesale flower delivery, which usually comes in early Monday, was delayed due to the Broad Street celebrations after the Eagles’ win.
» READ MORE: Take a Broad view How Philadelphia celebrated their Eagles’ Super Bowl win in 360 degrees.
On Wednesday, Orner was surrounded by 500 roses, half of which she would usually sell to Valentine’s Day walk-ins. She said she‘s hoping for a busy Thursday so the shop can close Friday and staff can enjoy the parade.
”It feels like a decision was made without any input from the local business community,” she said. “We would love to be involved and celebrate the city with the city. Instead it feels like we’re navigating this crisis on our own.”
Officials with the Eagles and the city said they opted for Friday to avoid the snowy and rainy weather forecast for the middle of the week.
» READ MORE: Forecast for Eagles Super Bowl parade is chilly, but sunny and tranquil
Making the most of the parade
Other business owners that rely on Valentine’s Day are taking the parade conflict in stride. Some are simply optimistic, and other have adopted a wait-and-see shrug.
Ten Pennies, the South Broad Street shop that decided to close Friday, will still have staff outside selling single roses to parade-goers. Levain Bakery in Rittenhouse Square is giving out small drip coffees to anyone who buys a signature cookie.
Business owners noted that very few, if any, of their customers have canceled their preordered roses, bouquets, chocolate-covered strawberries, or macaroons, and the vast majority of them are OK with rescheduling. Some shop owners said they expect Valentine’s-related sales to get spread out over multiple days.
When Melissa Crandley, owner of Mecha Chocolate in South Philly and Haddonfield, heard the parade was going to be Friday, her first reaction was, “Ah man, I won’t be able to go.”
From a business perspective, she said, it’s just another hurdle that she can’t control.
“Things happen,” Crandley said. “We have to pivot.”
Walter, of Lore’s Chocolates in Center City, said, “I’d rather have the parade than a snowstorm,” which keeps almost everybody at home.
“We really don’t know how the parade will affect us,” said Pavia Burrough, design and employee relations director at Shane Confectionary in Old City. “I can’t imagine it will get in the way of folks celebrating their partner.”
At Stein Your Flower Co., owner and florist Patrick Kelly is confident that Valentine’s sales will remain strong for his Northeast Philly and Burlington stores.
“The challenges of this industry are kind of exciting,” Kelly said.
As of midday Wednesday, he didn’t know of a single Valentine’s order getting canceled because of parade-related rescheduling. Customers were understanding, he said.
“Everyone is all hyped up,” Kelly said. “I don’t think you could upset an Eagles fan no matter what you say to them right now.”