A Blossoming Business And
A Tradition To Keep
By Pepin
Panay Mud Pie embarks on the blossoming month of May with Babes Flower Shop on the spotlight. Located at Iloilo’s City Central Market, this sixteen year old business establishment has brought a lot of colors to the lives of the Ilonggos for many years now.
“Roses, Anturiums, Malaysian Mums, and Chrysanthemums – we’ve got all the beautiful flowers that you could ask for,” exclaimed Nanay Jackie, a 40 year old flower vendor who is more than proud of what her small business had attained in more than a decade of existence. She considered herself as a flower expert and an effective businesswoman.
But her business has not been as vivid as her pretty flowers. Often times the profits are insufficient to feed hungry mouths back home and to pay for overdue bills. Increasing prices of flowers from her suppliers in Cebu, Baguio, Negros Occidental, and Guimaras also cause a terrible distress on her business. Not to mention, oil price hike and the nonstop increase in the cost of basic commodities and services prompted her to keep tight on her budget and do well on her business.
“People think that we earn more during Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, but they do not know that it is really hard to convince customers to buy our products,” she added. She was quite upset because she can’t do anything about people who already ignored the flower-giving tradition during special occasions. For years, social media and the mobile phone technology have simplified this old habit in various ways.
In fact, the young generation right now can just upload a photo of red roses, add a three-word greeting on it, and tag it to fifty friends in their social media page. This is an ultra-modern concept of flower-giving that allows them to save time, effort, and most of all money.
But Nanay Jackie is not losing hope for her business. Time will come that people will realize the importance of giving flowers as gifts during birthdays, anniversaries, and Valentine’s Day. “It is still different when you give a stem of red rose to your love ones, because the genuineness of your intention is there and the essence of true love is there.”
Today, Babes Flower Shop is not only selling individual stems of roses, carnations, and daisies, but it also offers flower arrangement for church weddings and other special occasions for a very reasonable price. Other products and services include bouquet arrangement, flower arrangement for funerals, and floral corsages.
Contact Numbers:
(+63)920-6959108
(+63)918-4505044
(+63)999-5094473
