Document text
Florists' business is blooming Photo by Bob Pennell Customer service and availability are the keys to success in the flower business, say Judy and Rick Samuelson, who have expanded to three shops in Southern Oregon. Shop owners see customer service as key to success By CHRIS BRISTOL CENTRAL POINT -- For almost 40 years, Rick Samuelson has devoted his life to flower power. "Take somebody a flower, and see the response," he says. "It's the thought that counts, which might explain why men like getting flowers as much as women. Even when flowers die, the memories live on." As a professional florist, Samuelson is in the business of taking people flowers. With two locations in the Rogue Valley and one in Grants Pass, he has quietly emerged as one of the top floral entrepreneurs in the region. His company, Southern Oregon Florist, delivers from the California border north to Azalea in Douglas County, and east from Eagle Point all the way out west to Cave Junction in the Illinois Valley. And he wants more, thanks to a little concept called economies of scale. More shops. More customers. Especially more flowers. "We're always looking for more florists, too," he says. "Experienced designers are hard to come by." Born in Scotland and raised in California, Samuelson started in the business 38 years ago, when he was just 15 years old. He worked for a florist in Orange County for 13 years, then headed north for Grants Pass, where he opened Rogue River Florist. It was there that he met a special customer. "I married my florist," jokes Judy Samuelson, his business partner and wife of 21 years. She is a tireless advocate for the profession, often speaking in high schools about floral design as a career. Soon after their marriage, the Samuelsons sold Rogue River Florist and moved to Bend for one year. Then they moved to the Bay area, where Rick managed Sunnyvale Florist. Not long after that, they bought the shop. And not long after that, they bought Chet's Florist in Grants Pass, Judy's hometown. Tiring of the commute, the Samuelsons sold the Sunnyvale store in 1989 and moved to Grants Pass. In 1991 they bought Central Point Florist, and in 1998 they added their third store with the purchase of Ashland Flower Shop. Today the company has 41 full-and part-time employees, with nine delivery vans and annual revenues of about $1.5 million. About half the employees work at the downtown Central Point shop, which was extensively remodeled last year. The Samuelsons say much of the success of traditional floral shops depends on customer service. Supermarkets are fine for impulse purchases, they say, but supermarkets don't do deliveries and usually aren't set up for special orders and big events. "We want happy, long-term customers rather than just somebody popping in because we're the cheapest place at the moment," Rick says. "If we're not a service business, then we don't have anything else that (supermarkets) don't offer." Which is not to say that small shops have nothing to fear, he adds. Competition is fierce everywhere, which has the market effect of benefiting consumers by forcing businesses to run lean and mean. For that reason, Samuelson says, he wants to buy at least one if not two more shops in the area to improve delivery times and to increase his buying power. The company gets most of its flowers from California, but it also regularly imports from South America. A quarter of the roses come from Ecuador. Buying in greater volume gives him more flower power to negotiate better prices. Lower costs, in turn, mean lower prices to his customers. "I've got to buy better, sell for less," he says. "You can't just make pretty arrangements anymore. You have to make a profit.'' Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA