Nic Faitos, owner of Starbright Floral Design, will soon test a 24-hour schedule for his entire operation, including delivery.
Emergency rooms. Big box stores. Fast food chains. You might expect these places to be open 24 hours a day. But in New York City, people can find plenty of smaller businesses with the lights still on in the wee small hours of the morning — including a local flower shop.
Building on an idea to staff his shop with overnight design shifts to get a jumpstart on the next day’s business, Nic Faitos, owner of Starbright Floral Design, will soon test a 24-hour schedule for his entire operation, including delivery.
Faitos sees the strategy as a way to “maximize the use of space and reduce rent cost” of his 7,000-square-foot shop. “Since we are here, an occasional order to deliver at night only has incremental costs,” he explained
Faitos, who usually closes the shop at 8 p.m., said they’ll do a “trial run” of the longer schedule for Valentine’s Day and through weekends in March. (Included in that trial: a cost analysis to make sure labor costs are in check.)
“It will take some time to ramp up the staff and test waters,” he said.
Plus, deliveries at 2 a.m. make sense in the City that Never Sleeps, he told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s a great way to make an apology,” he explained. “‘I had too much to drink! These flowers precede me! Don’t be mad!’”
If nothing else, the unorthodox move has generated great, positive press in high profile places — not only the Journal but also Crains New York. “The press seems intrigued by the idea, and I am not one to shy away from great press,” Faitos said.
Sound wild? Faitos is something of an expert when it comes to managing holiday deliveries. Read more of his tips.
