Flower shops struggle against online competition

Article by: JEREMY GRANOFF , McClatchy News Service
Updated: February 16, 2013 - 8:59 PM

Florists are wilting as online flower stores seize a larger portion of the market for bouquets of Valentine’s Day roses and other floral arrangements.

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jd55604Feb. 17, 13 1:46 PM

Maybe the government should ban all internet commerce in order to force consumers into making all of their purchases from the more inconvenient and expensive brick and mortar stores. I suppose many years ago ice companies struggled against competition from refrigerator manufacturers but the rest of us benefitted greatly from their loss.

lallywFeb. 17, 13 2:06 PM

My husband ordered my flowers this year from one of these online retailers. The flowers were of very poor quality, never opened and died about 3 days later. Lesson learned, back to Our local florist.

gameniteFeb. 18, 13 5:16 PM

jd55604, Obviously not, but perhaps they -should- do something. Many people purchase online thinking that there is no sales tax. This is wrong, they are still responsible to track their online purchases and pay the appropriate sales tax when they file their state taxes. How many people do? A small percentage indeed. What the government probably _SHOULD_ do is require online retailers to collect a flat sales tax and pay the federal government reporting sales per state. This would be a method to level the playing field a small amount to Brick & Mortar stores as well as provide the states with revenue that they SHOULD be already getting. Another thing that might help is if more manufacturers establish MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) agreements not permitting deep discounting of their products. This would help maintain the value of their brand which deep discounters undermine.