Coming Up Roses

Growing Valentine's Day Sales at Tiger Garden

Employees of Tiger Garden have been working around the clock as Valentine’s Day sales for the CAFNR floral shop were up this year compared to last.

The campus floral shop is closing in on their goal of 500 arrangements, said Kim Martin, Tiger Gardens’ supervisor and instructor of plant sciences. She estimates they had around 250 pre-orders.

For the holiday the shop was decked with red and pink tulle, ribbon and plenty of roses. Decorated chocolates laid for sale alongside bouquets. Available arrangements ranged from classic rose bouquets to elaborate flower arrangements complete with fish tank vases.

Every Tiger Garden employee was expected to work every hour that they could. Normally students work 10 hours a week, but in the days leading up to Feb. 14, many students worked 10 hours in one day, Martin said. Workers filled orders until 1 a.m. Feb. 14, then resumed a few hours later.

The shop, which began delivering around the city of Columbia about two years ago, was busy with plenty of campus and off-campus deliveries. Martin said she thought part of why the shop was busier this year was because Valentine’s Day was in the middle of the week.

Martin estimates that the shop ordered about 2,000 roses in preparation for the holiday. Like most floral shops on Valentine’s Day, roses were the most popular arrangement sold at Tiger Garden this year.

The only advertising Tiger Garden’s did for the Valentine’s Day holiday was an ad in the recent MU Info email. However, as the check-out line at the shop indicated, plenty of students have decided to make Tiger Garden their floral shop.