Frank's Flower Shop on Grafton Street has closed.
I can think of at least 6 flower shops in Worcester off the top of my head which have closed (or been absorbed by other shops which is the same thing) in the past 8 years since I opened Sprout - Houston's, Milton's, Frank's, Marche Marche, Fresia, Early's.
This is part of a sad national trend in how flowers are purchased. I just read on another florist's blog, that the Society of Ameican Florists has released some statistics - the number of retail flower shops is down from 1996-2006 by 24.3%. This is HUGE.
This is an industry sea change. Flower sales have been flat, so the size of the pie hasn't changed, but retail florists are seeing a smaller share of the pie as folks do more and more of their buying at big box stores.
I know at Sprout we try to compete on quality, creativity, price, and hopefully a more engaging shopping experience. But as people continue to shop with their feet or cars really, is it any wonder we're lacking a vibrant urban center?
Why would anyone want to open a mom-and-pop store right now?
0 comments:
Post a Comment