Business has never been stronger; new shops are cropping up in the three countries to meet ever growing demand. The flowers are beautiful but the industry behind it has become totally cut throat with intense competition in a business where there is serious money to be made. In honor of women's days' this week's Insider focuses on the florist trade with reports from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
RIGA - Florists are everywhere in the Baltics. Small flower stands 's often no more than an old lady with a few buckets full of roses 's decorate nearly every street corner.
"It [the market] is quite strong, because there are very many shops here, especially in Tallinn," Marianne Oosvale of Marianne's Flower Shop told The Baltic Times.
Despite high inflation Balts generally have more money, and when they have money they spend more of flowers.
"(It's) a luxury business, they are not for everyday, only for special occasions," Oosvale said.
The same is true in Lithuania, Geliu Fabrikas has some of the most famous and noted flower stores in Lithuania. Darius Laurinavicius, director of the company, said the industry is still developing but was no longer a periphery industry.
"People buy flowers 30 percent more, Lithuanians love flowers but couldn't buy so many in the past because they just didn't have the money," Darius said .
The huge number of shops and growing market, however, has led to cut throat competition among flower shop owners. Since every shop sells nearly identical products, competition in all three Baltic states often comes down to who can provide the best service with the most convenience.
"We have only a couple of big players, but a huge amount of tiny shops. Quite often you can see one [shop] right in front of another, they are just trying to drive each other out of business. Competition is very strong. But no company has the competitive advantage, because there are only a few wholesalers, and so the competition is based on things like service," said Helena Vorobjova, a flower shop owner in Riga.
Laurinavicius said that the flower industry in Lithuania is far more competitive than it is in Western countries such as Holland, Italy and Spain. He also said, however, that the intense competition is causing some companies to focus so much on the business, that they lose sight of the inherent beauty of the flower business.
"Maybe there are some florists or companies, like Interflora, which make too much of a business only of flowers, they do not [make] good things, not beautiful things," he said.
Oosvale confirmed that the same was true in Estonia 's but she was sure to point out that not all businesses are trying so hard they forget what it was all about in the first place.
"For them [big flower business] it is just a product like anything else, you sell flowers just like anything else. But the small shops still try to make an art out of it. If you want to make a present for someone, you want it to be something special," she said.
While Laurinavicius and Oosvale wouldn't point to specific business practices some people are resorting to in order to get ahead, Vorobjova was more than happy to highlight the immoral business practices of some companies.
She said many companies spray special fragrances in the air in their shops, and it is these perfumes 's not the natural smell of the flowers 's which make the shops so fragrant.
Moreover, she said that there are many little tricks a florist can use to make the flowers seem brighter, healthier, and more alive. She explained how using warm water or special chemicals can make the flowers seem to glow when they reach the end of their life, but as soon as a customer takes them home and puts them in normal water they die.
"Flower shop owners have little tricks to make them [the flowers] look better, last a little longer... and then when the customer gets them and puts them in water they die right away," she said.
Vorobjova was sure to point out, however, that things have been getting better lately, and that while these tricks were common some years ago, fewer shops still use these sorts of "tricks" today.
With March 8 's international women's day 's fast approaching, all shops whether big or small, honest or immoral, are getting ready for a huge influx of orders. International women's day was an extremely important holiday during Soviet times, and the traditions are deep-rooted in the Baltics (see story next Page).
"The most difficult is to order the right amount of flowers, because we never know how many we will sell. This year [womans day] is a weekend and now the challenge will be the day before," Oosvale said.
Laurinavicius said the most difficult were the special orders, some of which can amount to massive amounts of work.
"People want the best, and it is hard to make for our florists now. For example, one year a man ordered 1000 roses for his girlfriend," he said.
With already stiff competition and few ways that a company can set itself out from the crowd, this years women's day is bound to bring out the best, and the worst, of Baltic florists.
