Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry Notes
Date ______Topic______
------Notes------Sectors of the Floral Industry:
Wholesale Careers:
------
------
Formulas Points, Key Ideas, Main
------
------Summary of Main Ideas------
------
Why advocate?
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry Notes
------Notes------Wholesale Careers (cont):
------
Formulas
------
Main Ideas, Key Points, Points, Key Ideas, Main
------
------Summary of Main Ideas------
------
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry Why advocate?
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry Notes
------Notes------Retail Careers:
------
------
Formulas Points, Key Ideas, Main
------Why advocate?
------Summary of Main Ideas------
------
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.1
Floristry Careers
Flower Packer Cut Flower Manager
Floral Designer Flower Shop Owner
Floral Sales Bookkeeper Representative
Flower Delivery Person Data Processor
Floral Shop Office Floral Supply Manager Worker
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.1
Plant Science Careers
Forester Agronomist
Ecologist Naturalist
Plant Geneticist Environmental Scientist
Landscape Architect Soil Scientist
Field Adviser Entomologist
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.2
Floristry Industry Sectors: Wholesale
A wholesale florist will purchase flowers, floral products, and supplies. They often are imported from countries all over the world. These products are then sold to the retail florist.
There are many job opportunities available at the wholesale florist level, especially in some of the larger firms. A listing of some of the major careers and their duties follows.
General manager—The general manager oversees the operation of the business. This person is responsible for hiring, firing, and managing personnel preparing employee work schedules, setting salaries and commissions, overseeing the purchase of supplies and flowers, and keeping the profit margin in line.
Cut flower manager—The cut flower manager hires, fires, and manages personnel when the manger is absent. This person buys all cut flowers and cut greens, oversees, the cutting of flowers and cleaning of coolers, and keeps perishable products moving.
Supply manager—The supply manager hires, fires, and manages personnel when the manager is absent. The supply manger buys all supplies and sees that shelves are stocked. This person coordinates all holiday shows, prepares flyers for specials and shows, oversees advertising, and informs all employees of upcoming specials and new pricing updates. The supply manger is in charge of inventory, including adding new items to the inventory, maintaining correct price structures on supplies, closing out old products, and keeping inventory in line with current trends. He or she also designs displays.
Office manager—The office manager mails out statements and invoices, writes checks, and maintains the payroll and customer credit. This person also handles accounts payable calls and makes collection calls.
Receptionist—The receptionist answers the telephone and directs calls. This person also sets up new accounts, greets customers, and answers questions.
Sales representative—The road sales representative travels on a route to florists in a given area to visit their shops and take orders. This person also delivers orders.
Bookkeeper—The bookkeeper keeps the books of the business.
Data processor—The data processor enters data into computer files and prints out invoices for customers.
Flower packer—The flower packer packs orders to be shipped out to florists.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.2
Delivery person—The delivery person delivers flower orders to florists in the immediate area. He or she may also care for potted plants.
General personnel—General personnel help unpack flowers, fill orders, keep the store clean (especially the coolers), rotate flowers, wash out buckets, stock shelves, and complete walk-in customer sales.
Job Skills at the Wholesale Level
Each of these occupations requires different skills. The manager and the cut flower manager need good communication skills to deal with customers and employees. They must also have excellent business management abilities and math skills and be able to maintain good customer and employee relations. The manager needs to have good leadership skills as well. In addition, the supply manger needs to have design skills and artistic ability. The sales representative and road sales representative need to have sales ability. They should also be knowledgeable about their products, use of supplies, and plant identification.
The office manager and bookkeeper need clerical skills as well as excellent organizational skills. The receptionist needs good communication skills, especially telephone skills.
The data processor needs to have excellent data entry skills because it is essential for this person to quickly and accurately type out invoices for waiting customers.
The flower packer needs skills in handling flowers as well as making quick and efficient use of times. A wholesaler sends out the majority of their flowers in the early morning. It is imperative that florists receive their orders in good condition in time for the day’s business.
The delivery person needs good driving skills and must be able to make minor repairs to delivery vehicles. Again, efficiency is essential for this job in order for deliveries to arrive at their destinations as quickly as possible.
General personnel need sales skills as well as organizational skills. They are often called upon to do a variety of duties and to help out where needed.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.2
Floristry Industry Sectors: Retail
A retail florist will provide a variety of products and services. Among the products offered for sale are: fresh cut flowers, flowering potted plants, foliage plants, fresh cut arrangements, balloons, and gift items. A delivery service is also usually provided. Funerals and holidays provide the largest percentage of their business, with the four biggest holidays being Valentine’s Day, Secretaries Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas.
In a retail flower shop, the owner is often the manager as well. If owners are unfamiliar with the floral industry, they may hire a manager, at least until they feel comfortable running the shop. In many retail shops, employees may be trained to do another job. For example, the floral designer might also be the sales representative for the shop.
If a manager is hired, he or she will hire and train employees, supervise designers, sales people, and delivery people, order flowers and supplies for the shop, prepare employee work schedules, price products to be sold, and oversee sales promotions and advertising. The manger may design as well.
The floral designer creates and constructs floral designs and arrangements. This person will often design displays within the shop or in the window.
A florist shop sales representative waits on customers in the store, takes telephone orders, offers advice to customers, and may package orders. This individual also unpacks and processes cut flowers and potted plants and may care for potted plants. The sales representative may design arrangements as well.
The delivery person for the flower shop delivers finished arrangements and plants to customers and may find it necessary to repair any arrangements that were damaged in delivery. The delivery person routes deliveries, checks with customers by phone to see when they will be at home to receive orders, and keeps the delivery van clean and in good running condition in order to represent the shop well. In many retail floral shops, the delivery person is also responsible for taking care of the potted plants in the shop.
The office worker sends out statements, takes care of paperwork as needed, and orders supplies as approved by the manager or owner.
The bookkeeper keeps the books of the business and monitors the cash flow. This person needs to report to the manager on a regular basis concerning the financial health of the shop.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.2
Jobs Skills at the Retail Level
The shop owner and manager need good business and communication skills as well as the ability to maintain employee and customer relations. The manager of the shop also needs to have good leadership skills.
The floral designer needs artistic abilities, communication skills, and sales abilities. The designer must be a fast and efficient worker.
A flower shop sales representative often needs the same skills as the floral designer. The same person often fills both roles, though some larger shops hire separate sales representatives to wait on customers and answer the telephone. The sale representative should know how to care for potted plants.
The delivery person for a retail shop needs the same skills as the delivery person for a wholesaler as well as a few other skills. The retail delivery person needs some design skills because repairs often need to be made to arrangements that were damaged in transit. This person must also keep the delivery van clean and in good working condition. Knowledge about the proper care for potted plants is needed for this position.
The office worker and bookkeeper both need organizational skills, clerical skills, and accounting skills.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.2
Floristry Industry Sectors: Continuing Professional Development
There are many places where more professional training or continuing education can be obtained. Some of these include design shows, design schools, wire service workshops, and college courses.
Wholesale florists often hold open houses several times throughout the year. They showcase what is new to the industry and hire top designers to share new design ideas with other florists.
In addition, some schools offer concentrated courses in floral design. They will often meet for a period of several weeks in which students learn a variety of different design techniques.
Various universities offer short courses ranging from a day to a week. These classes often include a large trade show as well.
The major wire services or floral organizations hold programs and workshops. Professional organizations such as the Society of American Florists (SAF), the American Floral Marketing Council (AFMC), and the American Institute of Flora Design (AIFD) hold workshops for their members. AIFD has a very selective membership of designers who have been required to pass difficult entry requirements.
Wire services such as Florist Transworld Delivery (FTD), American Floral Services, (AFS), Redbook, Teleflora, Florifax International, and Carik Services, Inc. also hold programs and workshops.
The Society of American Florists, which sponsors annual meetings, is an excellent organization for a florist to join. In Missouri, the Missouri Florists’ Association holds annual meetings with well attended workshops and design competitions.
A number of magazines are specifically targeted to the floral industry, and they often feature new designs and products.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.3
Floristry Industry Sectors
As a tribe, read your handout and fill out the appropriate row in the chart below. Be prepared to share your findings with the class in a creative way (song, rhyme, skit, etc.). Finish your chart with information from the other tribes’ presentations.
Tribe Description Jobs Available Skills Needed Misc. Facts
Wholesale
Retail
Continuing Education
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.3 KEY
Floristry Industry Sectors
Answers will vary; however, the chart below is a good starting point.
Tribe Description Jobs Available Skills Needed Misc. Facts
Wholesale Purchase products Managers, Sales Management, from all over and Reps, Book Keeper, communication, sell to retail. Packing and leadership, Delivery Personnel organization,
customer relations
Retail Purchase products Managers, florist, Management, from wholesale and designers, clerical communication, sell to the public. staff, delivery organization, leadership, floral
design, customer relations
Continuing Provide the Design shows, Education opportunity to design schools, wire further education service workshops, magazines, college classes
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.4
Floral Career Scavenger Hunt
Using National FFA’s My Journey Career Exploration, AgCareers.com, The Occupational Outlook Handbook, or floristry textbooks, research three floral industry-based careers that interest you. Fill in the chart below about your career choices with at least 8 of the 10 rows completed for each column.
Career One Career Two Career Three
Job Title
Job Description
Job Responsibilities
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.4
Education Required
Possible Places for Education
Job Outlook
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.4
Potential Employers
Professional Organizations
Average Salary
Current Employment Available
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.5
2016 BBC Documentary The World’s Biggest Flower Market
1. What are some careers that you did not realize were a part of the floriculture industry?
2. What path does a flower typically take to get to market?
3. Do you think it is important for a florist to know the path? Why or why not?
4. What are two things that surprised you in this video?
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.6
Rose Flow Chart
Create a flow chart that follows the path of a rose from the grower to the consumer. Include each step in the process and signify if it is part of the wholesale or retail sector. You will be graded not only on the accuracy and detail of your path, but also on the creativity and appearance of your chart.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.6
Rose Flow Chart Rubric
Requirement Excellent Acceptable Poor
Creativity 5 3 1
Appearance 5 3 1
Accuracy 5 3 1
Detail of Path 5 3 1
Retail or Wholesale 5 3 1
Note to Teacher There are a number of paths the student can choose from. Here are some options, but these are not the only paths the students could choose from:
Option 1 Option 3 • Grower/Caretaker • Grower • Harvest • Harvest • Shipping • Shipping • Flower Auction • Wholesale Floral Company • Flower Broker Purchase • Shipping • Shipping • Florist/Supermarket • Wholesale Floral Company • Purchase by Consumer • Shipping • Florist/Supermarket • Arrangement • Purchase
Option 2 Option 4 • Grower/Caretaker • Grower • Harvest • Harvest • Shipping • Internet Purchase • Flower Auction • Shipping • Flower Broker Purchase • Consumer • Shipping • Wholesale Floral Company • Purchase by consumer
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.7
Promotional Career Poster Evaluation
Students select a career in the floral industry they are interested in pursuing. Students will create a promotional poster for that career and model it after a movie poster seen in theaters or in magazines. Poster must include the name and description of the job/career, as well as its responsibilities, education requirements, salary range, employment outlook, and employment options (retail, wholesale, etc.).
Students can use Internet, personal interviews, magazine or print information, etc. to gather facts for their poster. Students may use graphics they personally draw/create or can utilize graphics found online or in publications. Students will present posters to the class.
4 3 2 1
Attractiveness The poster is The poster is The poster is The poster is exceptionally attractive in acceptably distractingly attractive in terms of design, attractive though messy or very terms of design, layout and it may be a bit poorly designed. layout, and neatness. messy. It is not neatness. attractive.
Graphics - Graphics are all Most graphics Most graphics Many graphics Clarity in focus and the are in focus and are in focus and are not clear or content easily the content easily the content is are too small. viewed and viewed and easily viewed identified identified and identified
Graphics - All graphics are All graphics are All graphics Graphics do not Relevance related to the related to the relate to the relate to the topic topic and make it topic and most topic. easier to make it easier to understand. understand.
Job Description Job Description Job Description Job Description Job Description is clear and explains what the somewhat is present but concise and is job is but might explains what the does not really explained in a be difficult for job is explain what the way that anyone those not familiar job is can understand. with the floriculture industry to understand.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.7
Job Job Job requirements Job Requirement Job Requirement Requirements Requirements are explain exactly somewhat is present but clear and concise what the job explains what the does not really and explains requires but job requires explain what the exactly what the might be difficult job requires job requires in a for those not way that anyone familiar with the can understand. floriculture industry to understand.
Education Education Education Education Education Requirements Requirements are requirements Requirement Requirement is clear and concise explain exactly somewhat present but does and explains what the job explains what the not really explain exactly what the requires but job requires what the job job requires in a might be difficult requires way that anyone for those not can understand. familiar with the floriculture industry to understand.
Salary Salary range is Salary range is present and present but not realistic realistic
Job outlook Job outlook is Job outlook is present and present but not realistic. realistic
Career Options The sector this The sector this career is career is available in is available in is present and present but not realistic. realistic.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.8
Careers in the Floristry Industry Evaluation
1. What are the three sectors of the floristry industry, and what is the definition of each?
2. What are three careers that are available in the floristry industry?
3. If you were to have a career in the floriculture industry what would it be and why? Be specific.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry
Floristry: Careers in the Floristry Industry FL7.8 KEY
Careers in the Floristry Industry Evaluation
1. What are the three sectors of the floristry industry, and what is the definition of each?
Wholesale – purchases flowers from growers/auction then sells them to retail. Retail – purchases flowers from wholesaler and sells to the public Professional Development – provides continuing education for the public and those employed in the floriculture industry
2. What are three careers that are available in the floristry industry?
Answers will vary.
3. If you were to have a career in the floriculture industry what would it be and why? Be specific.
Answers will vary.
Floristry FL7 Careers in the Floristry Industry