Bhubaneswar: In the last three days – one day before, one day after and New Year Day – the flower business registered a turnover of around Rs 1.5 crore in the state capital.
Last year’s New Year Day was a Sunday, and as it was holiday it considerably affected the flower business. But this year since it was a working day and with many people opting for fresh flowers to greet others, the flower business was satisfactory.
“Last year we suffered losses as New Year dawned Sunday. We did not get the business that we usually do as officials were busy wishing their seniors and colleagues. But this year as it was a working day we did good business,” said florist Baikunthanath near AG Square.
This year the demand for exotic flowers was encouraging. Despite an increase in prices, the people’s first choice was for flowers like anthuriums, carnations, gerberas, orchids, Asiatic lily etc. As expected, we had orders two days ahead of New Year and to meet demand we had to engage more hands, a florist at Unit I, Siba Prasad Das, said.
Bouquets decorated with colour mesh paper, glitter ribbons, baskets and even vases were in demand. Similarly long stemmed rose, gerbera and gladys wrapped in transparent sheet had youngsters as takers.
While the price of a bouquet ranged from Rs 25 to Rs 2,000, flower sticks were sold between Rs 5 and Rs 25, depending on their number and decoration.
Founder owner, Ramjee Flowers, behind Ram Mandir, Babita Agrawal, who has been in this business for 21 years, says when she started, flowers were hardly used for wishing another, be it New Year or Valentine’s Day. But now the trend of wishing each other with flowers has set in. People prefer flowers as it gladdens both the receiver and the giver, she added.
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