CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Local flower shops across the region are preparing for an increase in sales for Valentine’s Day. At least that’s the case for Charleston Cut Flower Company along 5th Avenue on Charleston’s West Side.
The shop owner and manager there, Michael Gregg, said while they actually do most of their business for Valentine’s Day the actual day of, he encourages people who are still doing some last minute shopping for their sweethearts to come in as early as they can. 
“Valentine’s Day will be the busiest day, because most everyone waits until the last moment, and that kind of makes everything a little more difficult, especially with deliveries,” Gregg said.
However, he said as of Tuesday, many of their deliveries have already been made for Valentine’s Day.
Like most flower shops on the special day dedicated to the celebration of love, Charleston Cut Flowers offers a couple of different specials for the day.
They offer the Charleston Cut Flower Special, which Gregg said is a mixed flower bouquet that comes complete with a rose and a Valentine’s pick. He said while the bouquet runs about $59, if customers bring it back at the beginning of March, they will replenish the bouquet with fresh flowers, which he said is like getting two bouquets for the price of one.
Gregg said they’re offering plenty more for the holiday besides your average mixture of rose and carnation bouquets this year.
“We have succulent dish gardens, we have a lot of different blooming plants like orchids or anthurium plants, and they can do like snack and candy baskets with teddy bears and we have the plush animal bears,” he said.
Upon being in operation since 1903, Gregg said between it and Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day remains one of their busiest days of the year.
He said it’s due to the fact that the long family-owned business always makes sure customers receive the best service possible, especially on such a major occasion for flower-buying.
“We like to think we’re the best shop in the Valley with the most talented designers, and we’ll do a good job, and we’ll take care of our customers,” said Gregg.
Gregg said while they’ve seen Valentine’s sales dwindle a little bit due to ongoing rising inflation prices and people spending more on necessities as opposed to non-essential items such as flowers, they aren’t concerned about not hitting their typical mark of those sales this year.
According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. consumers are projected to spend a total of $2.6 billion on flowers for Valentine’s Day, an increase compared to 2022.