This year I decided to have a Valentine’s Day Pop Up Shop. I scheduled without a lot of thought behind it. If I hadn’t just pulled the trigger, though, I would have over thought things and then most likely not held it. So I had to commit.

The reason I haven’t done a pop up shop, for Valentine’s Day, in the past is because it takes a lot of planning. I have to order flowers way ahead of time and they are pricey. And to be completely honest, it’s too close to Christmas and my brain just isn’t into the hearts and roses yet. But this year I really wanted to do this and so I did!

I did a few things differently than I do for my Mother’s Day Pop Up Shop. This time I was open for two days, my thinking was that people may come in on Thursday and have them delivered on Friday. That didn’t happen. 😐 I doubt I will do that again, however I’m not ruling it out completely.

The other difference is that I preordered my flowers. I’m a visual and tactile person, so this is actually a hard task for me and takes a lot of brain power for me. For my other pop ups I usually go to SF Flower Mart and pick up what I want to work with. I can see and touch them. However, I wanted to order the roses ahead of time to ensure that I had enough.

I did pretty good in my ordering and I knew the flowers would work well together…and they did. Was my ordering flawless? Nope. I was a little light on greenery and I wish I had ordered some big dark leafy greens. But I’m still thrilled with the results.

The downside to ordering is that it’s hard to adjust (especially because I ordered a little late in the game). After I announced the pop up and I had placed my order I found out that when Valentine’s falls on a Friday, flower sales are lower because people tend to go away for the weekend instead. Then coupled with Presidents Day being on Monday the weekend became a three day weekend. Anyone traveling isn’t going to want to buy flowers on Friday to have them sit for three days while they are away. This is noted for 7 years from now! As I was saying, once I ordered it’s harder to change. If I had just gone to the flower mart I could have adjusted how many flowers I purchased.

On design day, my friend Janis from @livingminiatures offered to help. I don’t think she thought she would be doing design work, but I put her to work and she did awesome!! Her help was so appreciated. We did 27 arrangements together and I got to bed at a decent time.

I did more advertising than I’d ever done before. I did a Facebook page ad. I only spent around $30 for a small outreach. It seems to have reached people who haven’t heard of me. Next time I’ll do a more focused parameter and increase the frequency and see how that goes. I tried to post more on my social media accounts as well as on some Facebook groups that I follow.

I did receive feedback from a friend that she wasn’t seeing my posts and the only way she knew about the event is because my mom sent her the info. So I’m going to start building an email list so you can get info easier and it won’t be reliant on seeing Facebook posts. So if you want to get on my email list, send an email telling me so. Marmaladeskyfloral@gmail.com.

So you’re probably wondering how well the shop did….let’s just say, I’m writing this during the event.  It wasn’t a barn-burner.  I sold 41% of my stock.  Which sounds good…and is good, but when you look at the numbers it was only 11 arrangements.  I definitely wanted better attendance.  However, I never look at these things without finding ways to improve for the next year and also finding the silver lining.

The silver lining this time was Sunset Senior Living Center. I took my left over arrangements to them on Saturday and the staff and patients were so appreciative. Made me feel really good and now I know to donate to them in the future.

To those of you who came to then event, thank you! I am always appreciative of your support and always enjoy seeing you.

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Facebook: @marmaladeskyfloraldesign
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Website: marmaladeskyfloral.com
Email: marmaladeskyfloral@gmail.com

May your day be filled with love, happiness and flowers!