Real Tales From Fly Me ToThe Moon Florists

I 've been keeping a journal of interesting, amusing and unusual things that happen at Fly Me To The Moon Florists.  I've decided to share some of these stories with you from time to time, because owning this flower shop is truly an adventure.  The stories are true, but I'll withhold a few details to protect the innocent.  

I wish I could come up with some great graphic image to accompany each post in this series. If you have any ideas, please let me know.  Anyway, here goes:

 

 

Tale #1: "You're Not Really A Florist Are You?"

flo-rist - n. One in the business of raising or selling flowers and ornamental plants.

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition

As Art Linkletter used to say, "People say the darndest things."  We were in Fly Me To The Moon Florists, minding our own business doing things florists do.  A woman walks in, looks around for a few minutes and says, "You're not really a florist are you?" We were flabbergasted, but mostly amused by her question.

She claimed to have 17 years experience working in some unnamed Madison Avenue flower shop.  She was looking for a job. I considered telling her that it's usually unwise to insult the business for which you hope to work, but decided against it.

To this day, we're not quite sure why she thought we weren't real florists, but I came up with a list of possible reasons:

 

 

We don't carry flowers in garish colors God never intended.

• We carry an assortment of high quality fresh flowers in an amazing array of natural colors hand-selected from New York's flower district 2-3 times per week.

We don't sell "silk" floral arrangements wrapped in dusty plastic so they can't "breathe.

• We sell only fresh flowers and ornamental plants that need water to stay alive

We don't have a huge cooler of petrified flower arrangements created in 1966 in 19 different colors using the cheapest flowers available.

• We have a walk-in flower cooler "backstage" so our customers can experience our boutique flower shop without an ugly appliance taking up most of the space.
• Arrangements can be viewed on our website , at home or in the shop, and custom orders can be made in advance or on the spot.

We don't have an FTD sticker on our window or door.

• Our focus is on affordable, upscale, designer flower arrangements.
• People call us from all over the world to have flowers delivered in our area.
• Instead of using a wire service we refer our customers directly to quality florists located in the towns and cities in which they wish to send flowers, thereby cutting out the middle man.

So no, I guess we're not "real florists" in the traditional sense, but our customers seem to think that's just fine!

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[rain613@hotmail.com]

i really adored the knowledge and humor in you "not really florist" series. what i admire about you is that you are truthful. you're not afraid to talk about mistakes you made on your journey to knowledge.honesty is so important these days.looking forward to the next episode of....Not Really a Florist. :)