Pioneer Imports and Wholesale has been waiting on a shipment of Chinese-manufactured silk flowers and plants for almost two months. The fall...
USDA Revises Grower Aid Rules
Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is making changes to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) —...
Tailor COVID-19 Policies to Fit Business Needs, Culture
The FDA’s decision Monday to grant full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides business owners one more reason to consider mandating...
Delta Variant Spreads Uncertainty
The Delta variant of COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty for business owners, but for many florists one thing is certain: whatever the impact...
Safety Protocols in Place for SAF Orlando 2021
The Society of American Florists announced safety protocols focused on keeping convention attendees healthy amid a surge in Covid cases. “The safety...
COVID Through My Eyes: Shutdown Spurs New Business Venture
Editor’s Note: This is part of an ongoing series highlighting floral industry stories of change, grit and perseverance — and biggest lessons learned...
COVID Through My Eyes: Redesign and Reflect
Editor’s Note: This is part of an ongoing series highlighting floral industry stories of change, grit and perseverance — and biggest lessons learned...
COVID Through My Eyes: A Positive Outlook to Weather the Storm
Editor’s Note: This is part of an ongoing series highlighting floral industry stories of change, grit and perseverance — and biggest lessons learned...
Vaccine Mandates: Cautions and Concerns
With COVID-19 vaccines becoming widely available to all age groups, the idea of making vaccination a requirement for employment has a strong...
COVID Through My Eyes: Pandemic Forces Delegation
Editor’s Note: This is part of an ongoing series highlighting floral industry stories of change, grit and perseverance — and biggest lessons learned...
Navigate New Rules of the Post-COVID Workplace
As vaccine availability and the lifting of restrictions enables a return to more normalcy in the workplace, small business owners have a new set of...
SBA Opens New Round of PPP Loans
Applications are now open for a new round of Paycheck Protection Program PPP loans, giving floral industry business owners the chance to apply for a...
Stimulus Relief Package Includes Additional PPP Funds for Small Biz Relief
The bipartisan COVID-19 relief stimulus package passed by Congress on Dec. 21 includes $284 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program and $13...
SAF-Endorsed Small Biz Relief Gains Traction
A bipartisan group of members of Congress on Dec. 1 released the framework for a $908 billion COVID emergency relief package — and it addresses many...
2 Ways to Promote New Practices, Services
With COVID-19 cases on the rise in some areas of the country, already high anxiety levels are inching up even more. That means it’s a good time to...
Industry Financial Pro: PPP Changes Add ‘Flexibility’
If you’ve succeeded in securing a Payment Protection Program loan, maybe you’ve heard that the rules for getting that loan forgiven, so you do not...
Pa. Florist Rallies Community to Honor Essential Workers
From the first days of the pandemic, Tim Farrell, AIFD, AAF, PFCI, of Farrell’s Florist in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, has been making vases of...
Changes to PPP Act Extend Staffing and Forgiveness Timelines
Late last week, the president signed into law the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act, which relaxes some of the original PPP rules for loan...
3 Tactics for Better Emails During the Pandemic
“Hope you are well!” “Hang in there.” “May the force be with you.” If you’re struggling with how to begin and end emails lately, you aren’t alone....
Safety Tips for Your Staff and Customers
During the pandemic, your employees’ and customers’ health has become your top priority. During a recent Society of American Florists webinar,...
Arkansas Florist to Talk Staff, Customer Safety
Should you be taking your staff’s temperature daily? What does a socially distant design room look like? How do florists — trained to be welcoming...
Florists Rethink Physical Spaces
Valerie Lee Ow looked around J. Miller’s Flowers and Gifts in December and saw so much to celebrate: loyal customers packed into the business, ready...
‘Leadership Exchange’ Explores ‘What’s Next?’
What do Mother’s Day results tell us about the floral industry’s “new normal”? How will our operations change? And, what will be the impact of...
Florists Share Tips on Reopening Safely and Strategically
Retail florists are learning a new choreography of retail — getting up to speed as restrictions lift and supply chains shift. SAF Now editors and...
How to Streamline Delivery and Pick-Up
Contact-free delivery has always been the domain of florists, the experts in “door dash” before it was an app. This pandemic provides an opportunity...
5 Tips on Ramping Up Cleaning
The role of Mr./Ms. Clean is now everyone’s job — and florists are finding new ways to share the load and promote all that they are doing, to...
Financial Pro: Focus on Cash Flow, Labor
As the owner of a floral business, what can you do, not just to survive the COVID-19 pandemic but to come out on the other side, ready to make a...
Florists Turn Attention to Grads
Now that Mother’s Day is over, floral industry members are turning their attention to traditional spring/summer milestones that could be...
Flowers Receive Prominent Coverage for Mother’s Day
Days after leading a Society of American Florists webinar on generating media buzz, Jackie Levine found herself giving interview after interview...
5 Early Takeaways from Mother’s Day 2020
The run-up to one of the floral industry’s biggest holidays was chaotic and filled with uncertainty —especially for florists in states with strict...
SAF Advocates for Wholesaler Tax Relief on Credit Defaults
As COVID-19 continues to affect the balance sheet of floral industry businesses, SAF reached out to Congressional leadership this week to highlight...
5 Last-Minute Tactics for Mother’s Day Success
On the heels of hosting eight weeks of webinars about persevering through the COVID-19 pandemic, Society of American Florists CEO Kate Penn appeared...
For Florists, Evolving State Rules Create New Twists and Turns
By May 8, some 30 U.S. states and territories will no longer have stay-at-home orders — a count that includes those areas that never instituted a...
Ahead of Mother’s Day, Check Your Google Listing
Try using Google to search for florist listings in your city, or Google Maps to get directions or a phone number for your shop, and you might be...
Florists Share Strategies for Reopening
In a recent Society of American Florists webinar, representatives from retail flower shops that have closed and reopened their businesses during the...
Putting Downtime to Good Use
The dot com bubble, 9/11, the Great Recession — there have been several crises in Nic Faitos’ 25-year career, and he’s survived them all. But the...
As COVID-19 Restrictions Grow, Some Floral Businesses Receive Waivers
As business owners work to understand parameters of new local and state COVID-19 regulations regarding business closures, some floral industry...
SAF Secures Grower Aid through USDA
As floriculture continues to feel the devastating economic impact of COVID-19, SAF has successfully advocated to bring some relief to growers via...
Industry Groups Advocate for Additional PPP Funding
The Society of American Florists and several other floral industry organizations have rallied their members to ask Congress for additional funding...
SAF Creates Mother’s Day Resource Page
Mother’s Day 2020 will pose a host of challenges this year — but it could also be an important (and needed) sales opportunity during the crisis for...
SAF Launches Mother’s Day Webinar Series
From left to right: Bill LaFever, PFCI, of Bill Doran Company in Rockford, Illinois, David Armellini of Armellini Industries in Miami, Rodi Groot of...
SAF Advocates for Grower Aid through USDA
As U.S. floriculture producers see sales drop dramatically year over year due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Society of American Florists is actively...
SAF Answers Federal Aid FAQs
A $2 trillion stimulus package offers a lot of hope and help for floral industry professionals whose businesses have been upended by the COVID-19...
SAF Continues Push for Grower Aid
The Society of American Florists this week continued its push in Washington to ensure that industry growers receive a portion of the $9.5 billion...
Industry Leaders Discuss Holiday Supply Chain
The first few days of April brought signs that demand is beginning to pick up along the floral industry supply chain — a potentially encouraging...
Floral Professionals Navigate Shifting COVID-19 Rules
Floral industry professionals have seen a flurry of recent headlines related to state and national COVID-19 rules as President Trump reaffirmed his...
SAF Survey Shows Domestic Growers Reeling Amidst COVID-19
Domestic flower growers have seen an average of 40 percent drop in sales in recent weeks —and the bottom may be still yet to come for many growers,...
Financial Pro Talks Cash Flow, Labor — and Mother’s Day
As the owner of a floral business, what can you do, not just to survive the COVID-19 pandemic but to come out on the other side, ready to make a...
‘The Shape of Our Recovery Depends Entirely on COVID-19’
The U.S. economy is likely “already in a recession — the key is how long it will last,” said floral industry economist Charlie Hall, Ph.D., during a...
SAF Gives Primer on Federal Business Loans
Here’s one piece of good news in these unsettling times: the federal government has allocated substantial funds to help business owners get back on...
Florists Launch Creative Revenue Boosters During COVID-19
In Alexandria, Virginia, Helen Olivia Flowers has been hosting “virtual” workshops for adults and kids.[divide margin_bottom="10"] Online flower...
3 Tips for Talking to Your Team Amidst COVID-19
During a recent webinar human resource consultant Glenna Hecht of Humanist Consulting based in Dallas, Texas, shared these tips for leading your...
Business Survival Requires Cutting Labor Costs
For the best chance of weathering the coronavirus crisis, you must drastically reduce your labor costs — and you must act now, said floral financial...
Tactics to Recover and Rebuild Wedding Work
Social distancing to combat the spread of COVID-19 has postponed countless spring trips down the aisle, causing a lot of frustration and heartbreak...
COVID Stimulus Primer: Understanding the Relief Packages
[gap height="10"]A $2 trillion COVID stimulus package is now law—and it includes targeted relief for small businesses, and specific mention of...
SAF Creates COVID-19 Hub for Floral Industry Updates
The Society of American Florists has created a robust suite of online resources to support the floral industry through the COVID-19 crisis....
Floral Industry Expected to Benefit from Third COVID Relief Package
As the economic impact of COVID-19 entered a second week, Congress went to work on formalizing a third supplemental relief package — one that has...
‘The Problem Right Now is Demand’: Growers, Importers Talk Supply Chain Strain
Spring crops are planted. Trucks and planes are still moving — on modified schedules. But with states and municipalities strengthening social...
SAF Advocates for Continuation of Safe Floral Delivery
SAF made the case in a letter to governors nationwide that the importance of flowers to public health during stressful times—combined with...
Senate Passes COVID Relief Bill; H2A Visas from Mexico Halted
The Society of American Florists is closely monitoring the evolving government response to COVID-19 and its effect on the floral industry —...
In COVID-19 Crisis, Cash Flow, Labor Issues Top Industry Concerns
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has propelled floral industry businesses into a surreal new normal. Among the top concerns, according to volunteer...