Women's Day 2016

Lane DeVries, Sun Valley

Tuesday, March 8^th is Women’s Day 2016. I can’t believe it has been six years since Sun Valley started talking about this opportunity to increase flower sales in the first part of March. Over the years, I’ve given countless presentations and spoken personally with hundreds of people, explaining the potential that Women’s Day holds.

Our efforts have paid off in two key areas.

Sun Valley’s sales of tulips and other flowers in week eight and nine have been rising steadily as our Women’s Day marketing efforts have reached deeper and deeper into consumers buying patterns. There is no other factor in the marketplace I can attribute to this growth. Women’s Day is placed squarely between Valentine’s Day and Easter, so it is perfectly positioned to keep the momentum of Valentine’s Day going right through spring. This was the vision six years ago: to keep our production at a steady level, and not have a precipitous gap in sales while waiting for Easter and Mother’s day.  With a broad swath of support across the industry, this vision is coming to fruition. Thank you for taking the time and effort to participate, and I sincerely hope you are seeing the bump in sales that we are. In an industry with (sometimes) different interests, it is gratifying to see us all working together for the common good.

Secondly, we are truly blessed to work with flowers. Is there any other product on the market that brings such joy, has no adverse health effects, and which are generally bought to be shared? With Women’s Day, we have had an uphill climb to create awareness, but as you know, people love to receive flowers. It is a fundamental state of the human experience. So as people learn about Women’s Day and participate in Women’s Day, we are seeing that they will likely continue participating in the event. The effect of this day keeps flowers in the home and office, and gives consumers more time to appreciate flowers and to get accustomed to flowers as part of their lifestyle – which leads to more sales.

Yes, this is a marketing effort, but the growth is organic as consumers enjoy this new opportunity to share flowers. I’ve heard some criticism saying that we are building a “Hallmark Holiday” and I have thought about this quite a bit. Occasions such as Grandparents Day, Boss’s Day and Administrative Professionals’ Day were created without the help of Hallmark; they were created by individuals and groups that had a need to celebrate and honor a particular part of society. This is exactly the history of Women’s Day. It started in the United States in 1909, and immediately swept across the globe. It is a day to show our honor and respect for women.   

To Hallmarks’ credit, they were able to seize an opportunity and offer their product to a consumer base that was looking for help in expressing themselves.

As an example, Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade, a stay at home mom from West Virginia, initiated a campaign for a single day in which to honor grandparents. Mrs. McQuade started her campaign for a nationally recognized day in 1970, and after nine years of working tirelessly, including taking her message from her home in West Virginia to Washington D.C, she achieved her goal. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first Sunday after Labor Day each year as National Grandparents Day.

At this point, Hallmark saw an opportunity to increase sales and to ride on the coattails of a movement which was being championed at a grass roots level. This is good business, and it mirrors what we are doing as we promote Women’s Day. Women’s Day is an established grassroots holiday; we are here, offering flowers as the best way to celebrate this holiday.

Again, thank you to all the WFFSA members and supporters that are working diligently to create awareness and promote Women’s Day. When we work together, the sky is the limit.