The approach of Feb. 14’s commercialized love-fest has some students and businesses fearing the worst.
Though Valentine’s Day is typically thought of as a boom holiday for the greeting card, chocolate and flower industry, some local store owners were not so sure.
“Business will be really bad,” said Boston City Florist designer Mike Sosa.
He explained that in general, students rarely buy flowers from his shop, especially on the weekends.
With Valentine’s Day on a Sunday this year, Sosa said he doesn’t expect a lot of traffic.
“The bottom line is we won’t get much business because Valentine’s Day is on a weekend, and students will be out of town and won’t come here to get flowers,” he said. “They would care about Valentine’s Day if it was during the week.”
Lor Bradwell, a florist at Flowers, also expressed concerns.
“We are kind of worried about Valentine’s Day being on a Sunday, which is why we’re giving 20 percent off on presales,” she said.
She said has managed to sell 75 preorders so far, but added that business at the Newbury Street shop has not been particularly favorable in the past months.
“The shop is one of three flower shops in the area, and we happen to be one of the slowest and newest,” Bradwell said. “It’s Newbury. People window-shop and don’t actually buy anything.”
Students expressed mixed feelings regarding the holiday. While some had romantic ideals, others saw Valentine’s Day as yet another consumer extravaganza the average college student cannot afford.
“It’s never too expensive to get someone flowers on Valentine’s Day,” said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Cristina Miñana, though she recognized this wasn’t in every student’s budget.
CAS sophomore Justin Hochhauser, however, said he had already bought flowers for his girlfriend on the Internet, as he does every year.
“I bought them through the Internet using 1-800-flowers.com because it’s much easier and they already have things prepackaged,” he said. “I knew what I wanted. They show and guarantee what your bouquet is going to look like.”
Hochhauser said the majority of his friends also buy their flowers online regardless of how much money they plan to spend and where they will be on Valentine’s Day.
Other students said they dislike the holiday in general, and BU Central will be hosting an Anti-Valentine’s Day party on the night of Feb. 13.
“I don’t really like Valentine’s Day,” said CAS sophomore Katherine Murphy. “It’s fine for other people to get flowers and everything for the occasion, but I don’t really buy into it.”
School of Management sophomore Kimrey Van Perre said she doesn’t think Valentine’s Day was a favorite among college students and that she doesn’t think she would buy flowers or any other paraphernalia on Feb. 14.
“It’s not a very popular holiday. Some people like to celebrate it, but I don’t think it’s a huge deal on a college campus,” she said.
CAS sophomore Jennifer Victorica said she wouldn’t be purchasing flowers either.
“It’s definitely not as popular as St. Patrick’s Day,” she said.
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