Page 12 - 5040_StrictlyBusiness

Corbin Flower Shop Owner Buddy Woods, at right, works
alongside his son Johnny Woods to prepare arrangements
recently. The business was started 58-years-ago
downtown, and is now located on Master Street.
take an hour or so. for the flower industry.
“it depends on if you are in a hurry People just don’t send flowers like
or somebody is pushing you,” buddy said. they used to do.
“it seems like the younger genera-
CHANGeS to bUSiNeSS tion doesn’t send as much as the older
Buddy said that when he first start- generation does,” Johnny said. “it is a lot
ed, it was almost entirely fresh cut flow- harder now.”
ers. Buddy noted that when he first went
“Now it is take home stuff, silk flow- into business, everyone knew everyone
ers, throws and wind chimes. it is just eve- else.
rything mixed in. it has changed just like “Now they don’t. Probably a lot of
everything else,” buddy said. people don’t even know their neighbor,”
Another change for the flower indus- buddy said.
try is the price for floral arrangements, Johnny said that another change is
which have gone up in conjunction with people don’t send flowers to people in
the price of the flowers and other materi- the hospital like they used to do.
als. “A lot of that is outpatient stuff. Peo-
When he first started, Buddy could ple just aren’t in the hospital that long,”
make arrangements costing as little as Johnny added.
$3.50 that people could take to the hos-
pital, and “not be ashamed of.” Now that Many a night, buddy used to meet 58 More YeArS?
same arrangement would cost at least trains at 1 or 2 a.m. to get mums and vio- So will Corbin Flower Shop be in
$30. las from Florida. business 58 more years?
“it really has changed. it is unreal. Johnny said the freight of getting the “We won’t be. He might be,” rhoda
You’d have to be in it to realize how much flowers is one of the biggest factors that said of Johnny.
it has changed,” buddy said. have driven up prices. buddy thinks that somebody will
buddy said that 90 percent of his probably still be in the flower business
inventory used to arrive on a Greyhound FeWer FLoWerS beiNG SeNt then, but it probably won’t be any of
bus or sometimes by train. Changing times haven’t been great rhoda and buddy’s grandchildren though.