Much fewer options to buy Valentine's Day flowers in the Netherlands than six years ago

There are fewer options to buy flowers for your loved one for Valentine's Day in the Netherlands this year than six years ago. The number of flower and plant stores in the Netherlands has dropped drastically from just under 4,400 shops in 2019 to 3,880 this year. This came forth from numbers provided by the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) and analyzed by ANP.

Almost every province has fewer flower and plant stores than six years ago. The most significant drop was in Flevoland, where the number of shops has dropped by 20 percent from 70 stores in 2019 to 56 at the beginning of this year.

Only Zeeland has seen an increase in the number of flower and plant stores compared to six years ago, although this number has also dropped slightly in the last two years.

Marco Maasse, chairman of the Dutch Florist Association (VBW) recognizes the decrease. He thinks that one of the main reasons for this is the business owners going into retirement.

Keeping the stores open is often “a challenge,” according to Maasse. This is sometimes done by an enthusiastic employee, but it is often the case that a different florist takes over the store, Maasse claimed.

The declining number of florists was an important reason for Topbloemen.nl to deliver more orders themselves, said director Edwin van Arkel of Topbloemen.nl. The flower sales platform currently delivers over half their orders throughout the Netherlands from their locations using their own deliverers.

“We simply cannot get it done using local florists who meet our quality requirements.” He added that florists are also struggling with higher prices and higher wages and that they often cannot charge their customers the extra costs of this.

Peak days like Valentine's Day are “nice pick-me-ups” for florists, said van Arkel. However, sales are down by eight percent compared to last year. “This is largely due to the fact that Valentine's Day falls on a Friday this year. Couples often see each other in real life on the weekend, and that means there is less reason to send something to each other.”

Due to the " still high demand," and the limited supply, the most luxurious red rose at Topbloemen.nl now cost 4.50 euros each, which is one euro more expensive than is usually the case.

It is currently “very busy” at the international flower delivery service Fleurop, said the company’s manager Christian Quint. He is responsible for the product range on the website at Fleurop. The flower platform is busier than last year, he said.