CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Flowers are part of Valentine’s Day traditions for lots of people.
When Larkin Lin, the owner of Paul’s Flowers in Charlottetown, got a message from a woman looking to get a rainbow rose to carry on a tradition she started last year with her newborn, his heart was warmed, he said.
“I’m so touched by that every time I look at those messages.”
Even after almost a year, the COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting lots of businesses, but florists and restaurants in Charlottetown made out relatively well on Valentine’s Day.
Roses
Alan Preston, co-owner of Hearts and Flowers with his wife Janet, found sales this year to be a bit surprising.
Normally, when Valentine’s Day falls on the weekend, particularly a Sunday, it makes for a slow day for florists, he said.
“Weekend Valentine’s, people have the opportunity to go out to dinner and enjoy in other ways, which may not involve flowers.”
But that wasn’t been the case this year, said Preston.
“It’s been super busy. People have been ordering in advance.”
Lin agreed, though he said his customers seemed to be spending a little less on average.
“Roses are still the major product this year, but where they order usually a dozen roses, this year they’re getting a half-dozen.”
While Preston hadn’t noticed less spending, he had noticed more people ordering plants as opposed to flowers, which he contributes to a rise in green thumbs since COVID began, he said.
“And a tremendous demand for P.E.I. tulips.”
Going out
Most restaurants downtown were booked pretty solid through the weekend, with many having Valentine’s Day specials to entice folks to get out, though Steve Murphy didn’t think they needed much encouragement.
“Honestly, I wonder if people have had enough of staying home. This is their real chance to just get out.”
Murphy co-owns Slaymaker & Nichols Gastro House with his wife Christine McQuaid. Last year was the first Valentine’s Day they were opened and they carried forward some lessons learned, said Murphy.
“When we extended it last year by one day, it really worked, so we decided to do this sort of Valentine’s Day week to give everybody a chance.”
Their special was available to order from Wednesday to Monday, which also helped offset limited seating due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Like other restaurants, they were forced to turn people looking for reservations away, he said.
“(There are) more people on the waitlist than we were able to squeeze in for service … it’s a problem, but it’s a good one to have.”
Daniel Good, assistant manager at Piatto Pizzeria and Enoteca, said his restaurant had to do the same.
Even though Piatto was booked up all weekend, Good wasn’t sure if the restaurant would fare as well as it did last year.
“The seating is the big thing. The fact that we’re limited to how many seats we can have in the restaurant ... definitely puts a limit on sales that we can hit,” he said. “But in terms of people calling and making reservations, it’s equally as busy.”
Still, he was looking forward to helping folks celebrate the day, he said.
“There’s a couple days a year that you really don’t want to screw up — Valentine’s Day and New Year’s.”
Michael Robar is a reporter with The Guardian. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @MichaelRobar.