With Pinterest dreams and Martha Stewart moms, millennial customers have plenty of ideas — and florists are the pros tasked with crafting those fantasies into reality. Laura Daluga, AIFD, owner of the Department of Floristry, can help florists learn to guide their customers from Instagram inspiration to real-life fabulous on May 20 in Detroit during the Society of American Florists’ 1-Day Profit Blast, sponsored by Nordlie and Kennicott Brothers Company.
During “Exceeding the Design Demands of Today’s Gift Givers,” Daluga will encourage florists of all ages to embrace the fastest growing consumer market out there: millennials.
“Millennials are always going to embrace the sustainable lifestyle and a collaborative spirit, it’s part of who we are as a generation,” said Daluga, a millennial herself, whose session is sponsored by Smithers-Oasis. “What’s interesting over the past year or so is seeing this shopping perspective has made its ways into most everyone’s lifestyle. DIY and the ‘Made-for-Me’ movement — where customers want personalized designs — are so pervasive in our everyday lives.”
What’s more is Daluga is bringing her marketing and design insights to a hometown crowd in Detroit. Having grown up and now operating her business in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Daluga has a lifetime of local knowledge to share about the flora-culture of the upper Midwest.
“The Detroit area market has a real vacuum of brick-and-mortar florists and even more so floral designers,” Daluga noted. “Pair that with a booming tri-city overview (Detroit-Toledo-Ann Arbor) and you’re looking at a 500-to-1 wedding to florist ratio. Meaning for every one florist, there are 500 potential weddings each year.”
During her session, Daluga will dish on how participants can set themselves with those wedding couples and with customers throughout the year, with tips on:
- The evolution of the “raw, natural” design look, from “roadside” to “refined” and how to capitalize (and profit) on the style
- How to create a bespoke bridal bouquet
- Make a 60-second armature that costs $.05 and adds $5 of visual value to an everyday bunch
- Develop a wine-and-design class with fast, easy designs anyone can make
- Tap into consumers’ desire to have fun and give back, with a demo on how to create the “Blue Water Drop” — a mini floral sculpture with the overall shape resembling a drop of water in an aqua blue bowl, with blue hydrangeas and blue orchids.
In addition to Daluga’s action-packed demonstrations, SAF’s 1-Day Profit Blast in Detroit features “Smart Selling” with Tim Huckabee, a Floral Management columnist and the president of FloralStrategies, LLC; “Mastering QuickBooks for Quick Profits,” with Michael Pugh, AAF, owner of Pugh’s Flowers; and “Driving Local Orders to Your Shop” with Rakini Chinery, AAF, AzMF, owner of Allan ‘s Flowers; as well as a Supplier Showcase.
Don’t come alone! Bring the whole team to the SAF 1-Day Profit Blast in Detroit on May 20 at the Doubletree By Hilton. Tickets are just $99 for each additional registrant from the same company. Participants get early bird savings when they reserve their spot before May 4. For more information and to register, click here.