Love priceless in Galway as sales of flowers shoot up

Date Published: {J}

By Dermot Keys

The recession may have taken its toll on many households but it seems that you just can’t put a price on love in Galway.

This is the time of year when florists are inundated with men desperate to find some Valentine’s Day flowers for their nearest and dearest. It is traditionally the busiest day of the year for the industry but few would have expected the same level of sales in these difficult economic times.

Money may not be able to buy you love but one local florist revealed that he expected this year’s sales to surpass his sales for last year.

“It’s going to be better than last year,” Mark Killoran of College Road Florist in Galway.

“I thought that it would be down. Because of the budget, I thought that the money would be gone out of the economy.

“I’m very pleased. It’s gone very well.”

There is no question of people skimping when it comes to spending money on flowers and the €75 Grand Prix option was proving very popular yesterday. Those who didn’t want to spend that much were still buying cheaper options, such as half bunches of roses, or bunches of tulips or daffodils.

“We have a loading bay in the College Road premises. People are pulling in and then pulling away again. They are in such a rush, they haven’t time to smell the roses!”

Mark has of course seen it all before in his time. This is his 31st Valentine’s Day working in The College Road Florist and he laughs when he notes that nothing would surprise him about the day at this stage.

One thing for sure is that romance doesn’t seem to be entirely dead, even when the economy is in a decidedly unhealthy state.

A number of florists were too busy yesterday to take our calls, explaining that it was their “busiest day in the year.”