STAFFING FLORAL DEPARTMENTS SEEN AS BIGGEST CHALLENGE

NANCY BRUMBACK

As more supermarkets add full-service floral departments, finding qualified people to staff those departments looms as the biggest challenge, according to a number of supermarket floral directors.

Even though chains frequently do not staff the floral desk for the full time a store is open, especially in a 24-hour store, supermarket flower shops do keep longer hours than most florists and need to cover a couple of shifts seven days a week.

The floral directors said they prefer not to depend on produce department clerks to handle cut flowers and plants any more than absolutely necessary.

Another major issue is developing the proper merchandise mix between cut flowers, plants and gift ware items for the supermarket setting, noted these executives.

Here's how a number of supermarket floral directors see their greatest challenge:

Patty Nicoletti floral buyer Fleming Cos. Phoenix

The biggest challenge is probably finding labor.

Since there are so many large chains in a small area here, there is a lot of competition and not a lot of customer loyalty. Therefore, service is important and we have to get that across to the customer.

In addition, since floral is not a separate department but part of produce, when labor needs to be cut, floral tends to get cut first.

Glenn Mueller general manager Dierberg's Florist Chesterfield, Mo.

Keeping the turns up on products is the most important challenge. Getting the right mix of merchandise on the sales floor -- green plants, flowers and gift ware -- is the key to that. We need to make the department look attractive and offer quality merchandise at reasonable price points.

We have increased the labor in our departments because we are very service-oriented. As sales increase, we need to increase labor.

Larry Olson vice president Minneapolis Floral (leased departments in Lund's, Cub, New Market stores) Minneapolis

Personnel is our biggest challenge. Because we operate leased departments, we have to keep people available in the stores. We staff a 24-hour store for 12 hours a day, requiring about five people per store. Unemployment is very low in our part of the country, and it is difficult to find people. We also try to make our floral department emulate the rest of the store. A lot of supermarket floral departments are too gifty; they don't fit the image of a supermarket. It's also important to build the everyday business. You need to have good sales the week after a big holiday. It's no good to do a huge holiday business and nothing the next week. That takes planning. You have to have the right merchandise coming in during a holiday period for the next week.

Rich Glauser floral merchandiser Seaway Food Town Maumee, Ohio

Labor, without a doubt, is our biggest issue. We have a very low unemployment rate, and it is difficult to find and keep qualified people.

Our departments are staffed 24 hours in some stores. During holiday periods we have a third shift in stores that are located near factories that run all night.

Terry Landrey director, floral merchandising Marsh Supermarkets Indianapolis

Now that we have extended the shelf life of floral products, my biggest challenge is getting the right personality in the right store. There's a huge difference in stores. It is important to match staff personalities with the demographics of a store's customers, since this is a service business.

Don Fillis floral buyer United Grocers Portland, Ore.

It's tough finding qualified people to run a grocery store floral department. It's completely different from running a regular florist shop. The staff has to understand mass merchandising techniques.

Some of our stores are still trying to run floral departments with box boys and produce clerks, but there has been a lot of improvement in floral department staffing in the last couple of years.

Sue Glenn floral specialist Genuardi Supermarkets Norristown, Pa.

The biggest challenge is probably labor. You have to make sure you get the quality and quantity of help needed. We have most of our floral departments open from 7 a.m. to 10 or 11 at night.

Donna Shultz manager, floral operations Ukrop's Supermarkets Richmond, Va.

We have just set up a separate floral operation, so our big challenge is to learn what we have to do throughout the year. In the past, we've had practically nine individual entrepreneurs running our nine full-service floral departments. Now we're trying to be consistent in pricing, types of products and quality across the board.