Floral shops in Hope and Prescott are all reporting brisk business this week, with some saying the rush for Valentine’s Day gifts for loved ones is as heavy as last year’s and some saying heavier. We asked staff and owners at several stores what they were experiencing and how they were faring.

At Hope Floral & Gifts on 501 South Main, owner Wendel McCorkle said there’s a clear preference in the kind of flowers ordered this time of year. “Roses are always big sellers for Valentine’s. Red is the most popular, and then the color, the bi-color, come in second. But we've got pinks, yellows, confettis, whites. Lilies are always big. Anything that’s a little bit different,” he said Monday afternoon, two days after receiving 1,300 roses to sell to customers.  But that was under half the order, he said.  He is expecting about 1,700 more.

Comparing this year’s demand to last year’s, McCorkle said, “It's looking better than last year. Wow. Folks are calling in early.”  

To fulfill all the orders, McCorkle said he will add to his staff starting Wednesday when a total of 15 will be busily sorting and placing flowers and putting together packages. Deliveries will also be made to many schools and workplaces in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day and the day itself.

At The Picket Fence on 200 East Second in Hope, Jillian Woodruff explained what the business does. “We do flowers, decorate cupcakes, put together snack packs, answer phones, whatever you need,” she said.

The Picket Fence will be delivering its gifts to 15 school campuses, Woodruff said, but that will be finished after Thursday. “Since Valentine's Day is on a Friday, all of the schools are going to be done on Thursday … So we can focus primarily on the adults and all the flower arrangements and things like that for Friday.”

Asked what items are selling the best, so far, Woodruff said, “We've got all of our sweet treats. And so we've got candied apples, and then all of our chocolate-covered strawberries, they always sell out super fast. And then every Valentine's Day, we have our signature flower arrangement, and we do a new one each year.” You won’t see a picture of this arrangement on their website, though. Woodruff said it will be a secret until deliveries are made. 

The Picket Fence’s staff will grow to 15 during Valentine’s Day week, Woodruff said.  As for accommodating procrastinators, “we will make flowers up until we close on Friday, and that'll probably be around five or six o'clock.” But she admits ordering early is best. 

“Don't wait till the last minute. Your loved ones would love something pretty on Valentine's Day, and we would love to be able to help anybody with anything they need, whether it's flowers or snack packs or sweet treats,” Woodruff said.

In Prescott, Charlotte Rose Flowers & Gifts is operating from the owner’s home in a time of transition to a new store that will open at 528 East Ross Street by Mother’s Day. Angela Wren Hendrix is taking orders over the phone at 1 870-602-1558.

Hendrix said she has been busy with a variety of offerings for her customers. “[We’re] doing flowers, candy buckets, snack packs.”  Deliveries will go out all over Nevada County, to Spring Hill and Texarkana.

The most popular items include what you might expect. “It’s the same way with all the other shops here in town. We sell a ton of buckets for the kiddos and of course tons of roses. Yes. I mean, we do mixed arrangements as well, but roses are always your top seller,” Hendrix said.

At Prescott Flowers & Gifts on 228 East Vine, just west of the Nevada County Courthouse, Kaylea Martin said this year her store is busier than it was last year.  “We've got way more options than we had last year,” she said. “We tried to think outside the box on different gift ideas. So I think that's another reason we've seen an influx. We have something different and more creative than we did last year.”

Martin showed some examples, including gift packages that come with footballs and basketballs for the athlete of your heart.  Others on display have ties to hobbies like barbecuing.   Martin said the trend is toward more Valentine’s Day gift-giving to men. “We sell almost as many for men as we do for women,” she said.

Martin said her store begins preparing to meet the Valentine’s Day demand soon after Christmas and to assemble the arrangements, gift baskets and packages will have “the best staff we've ever had, so we can crank it out.”

Valentine’s Day has a unique status among holidays for Martin, not just because it’s the most profitable of holidays for her store. “How many times a year do we actually tell our spouse we recognize them and say we love you, and get them something.  We have Christmas andwe love our spouses, but do we say that enough? So Valentine's to me, you recognize them, and you say ‘I love you. Thank you for everything you do.’”

Martin adds that the staff will continue to make items to fill empty places on the store’s shelves all week, so even latecomers will be able to find gifts for their sweethearts. But don’t forget Prescott Flowers & Gifts is a good place to get coffee, too.

A few blocks north on 111 West Elm at Effie’s Flowers, Erin Beaird said her best seller was a dozen roses. “The ones that order the dozen, they order early,” she said. “And then your ones that order single and double, they order later.”

Beaird called Valentine’s Day “the big one” among holidays for her line of business and said Effie’s gets started preparing in early January. Her store offers snack boxes, flower arrangements, stuffed animals and much else.  Decorative religious items are also available, including ceramic churches and angels just in time for Easter.

Beaird said she would be open this week until 6:00 p.m.  Last-minute shoppers are welcome.