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Valentine's Day Brings Shopping Frenzy
It's flower shops' version of Black Friday
By Heather Hintze
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ANCHORAGE - For a flower shop like Bagoy's, Valentine’s Day is like Black Friday.
“We had a lot of planning in advance and worked late last night for about five hundred deliveries today,” said owner Chanda Mines. “Yeah, five hundred.”
Employees worked until midnight on the 13th to get all the orders ready. Another 75 or so bouquets were expected to go out the door with people who left the shopping down to the wire.
“I waited until the last minute because we originally weren't going to do anything but it's Valentine's Day, of course so it's always fun to surprise her,” said Kenneth Mitchell, who picked up some impromptu roses to surprise his wife during her lunch break.
The singing Valentine quartet Breaking Point from the Midnight Sons Chorus also stopped by Bagoy’s to stock up on flowers, even though they tried to prepare for the big day.
“When we go out and sing these Valentine's we have guys that say, 'How am I going to do this? I haven't got any flowers or chocolates; I haven't done anything. This is the most amazing thing four guys singing to my lady, I can do this right now.' So we get all these last minute orders who just have to have it,” said Phil Cheasebro, the director of the Midnight Sons Chorus.
The flower market at Fred Meyer was also a holiday hot spot.
“I'm buying flowers for my mom because I don't have a car and I don't have the time with practice and school so I decided to wait until the last minute to get my mom's Valentine's present,” said Maria Ipatova.
While some went with the obligatory bouquet, others got a little more creative.
“My son-in-law is deployed so my husband sent me a check and told me to buy some crab legs for Valentine's Day so I'm getting those then thought I'd pick up some more things for my daughter and grandchildren,” said Thrisha Auge who came up from Oklahoma to visit her daughter.
“I’m getting things that are special to her. She's a fitness competitor so I'm getting her little eyelash things, sugar-free gum, chocolate to celebrate when she gets done with her competitions, flowers and standard stuff in that regard,” said Ben Kennah who said he just got back from Mardi Gras, which was why he was doing his shopping so late.
While they say it’s the thought that counts, on Valentine’s day, those thoughts better be accompanied by a little something extra… even if it is last minute.
