Valentine’s Day blooms busy for flower shops

By Lethbridge Herald on February 13, 2023.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Designer Naomi Knoch creates a floral arrangement ahead of Valentine’s Day on Monday afternoon at Flowers on 9th.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – apulido@lethbridgeherald.com

For many, Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate their love for each other and for many years, flower arrangements have been the way people show they care about their significant other. 

For Marquis Flowers, this way of showing love through flowers dates back to 1931 when they first opened their doors in the Marquis Hotel building which was located in downtown Lethbridge. 

Lead floral designer for Marquis Flowers, Trish Slywka said she has been with the business for over 30 years and Valentine’s Day, even though it is their third busiest holiday of the year, it is their single busiest day of the year. 

“Since Valentine’s Day is just one day, it is busy for that one day, but the other holidays are busy for almost two weeks,” said Slywka. 

She said that even throughout the  pandemic, they received orders for flower arrangements for Valentine’s day as they were able to do no contact deliveries. 

“Through the pandemic we were doing delivery, but we always called before we deliver just so people know we’re coming, because we can’t leave flowers outside for too long in freezing cold weather,” said Slywka. 

She said many still prefer roses to express their love during Valentine’s Day, anywhere from a single rose to a dozen. 

She said their flower shop has changed locations twice after leaving the  Marquis Hotel. 

“After the hotel, they moved to 6 Street and they were there for probably 30 years, and then we moved to our location on 3th Avenue and we’ve been in this location probably for about 13 years,” said Slywka. 

Slywka said that their busiest holiday is Mother’s Day and their second one is Christmas, as they are busy for more than one day during those two holidays, something that was echoed by Flower’s on 9th’s owner Sharon Ulrich. 

Ulrich concurred that roses are the most popular flower on Valentine’s Day, but said she also gets asked for specialty flowers like orchids or tiger lilies. 

“I would say the majority is roses, mostly red and then there’s some people that like yellow, or white or pink, but I would say red is still the traditional go to for Valentine’s,” said Ulrich. 

Flowers on 9th has been in business since 1953, changed ownership in 2001 and again in 2015 when Ulrich became the owner. 

Ulrich said that for her business, Valentine’s Day starts getting busy a few days early as orders come in for floral arrangements, but on Feb.14 is definitely busy. 

“Valentine’s Day is the single biggest day of the year in the sense that most fellows come in last minute to buy flowers on that special day for them. Lots of our clients like to buy on the day, so we have tons of walk-ins and it’s like a zoo in here,” said Ulrich. 

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