This Valentine Week, Shop Till You Drop!
Love is already in the air with Valentine Day around, and what better way than to express your love through gifts, flowers and spending some quality time with your partner!
A bouquet of red roses, or a customised ‘Love Basket,’ or even a special date for two; the city restaurants and shops have ample options in hand to make the day special for couples.
In fact, the sales have already picked in the run-up to the Valentine week, and gifts and flower shops are the most crowded places during this week.
“A bouquet of roses is the best way to express your feelings. No wonder, on Rose Day, which was on February 7, the demand for the flower was an all-time high. Though red rose is a favourite, other variants like the yellow rose are also popular,” says a florist, who has a shop near a premier college in the city.
“Not only on Rose Day, flowers are gifted even on Propose Day and Valentine Day. So basically, the entire week is business time for us. In fact, at times, the business during Valentine week is much better than even wedding season,” he adds.
For the gift shops too, the Valentine week is the most profitable time for business. “After the concept of e-cards and mails, the greeting cards business had gone several notches down. But, Valentine week is the only time when the greeting cards are in great demand and we do good business,” says Shashi Dewan, who owns the Archies Gallery gift shop in Saheed Nagar.
“The business is so good that we have separate cards for the different days that are celebrated in the run-up to Valentine Day. Besides greeting cards, we also have special gifts designed in accordance with the special days,” he says.
In fact, expanding business options, the gift shops have come up with innovative ideas. While chocolates, teddy bear and greeting cards dominate the sales, the gift shops have come up with a ‘Love Basket’ concept, where a person can choose three to four gifts and design his own ‘Love Basket’ for the partner.
“Love Basket adds a personal touch while choosing a gift for your partner. So, a lot of people prefer to purchase it,” says Shashi. Interestingly, as popularly believed, the youngsters are not the only customers flocking the gift and flower shops during the week.
“Not just youngsters, I have had middle-aged couples come to my shop and pick gifts for their partners. In fact, I have even welcomed customers in the 60-65 years age bracket,” he says.
Apart from gifts and flower shops, this week is business time for the restaurants and cafes in the city as well. Several restaurants have planned a ‘Valentine-themed’ candle-light dinner for couples. Special dinner packages are being hosted by Hotel Hindustan International, Barbeque Odisha and Delhi Darbar, to name a few.
A few restaurants have also designed special menus in accordance with the week. ‘Sizzling Hub’, a newly-opened multi-cuisine restaurant in Baramunda, has ‘Rose Mocktail,’ ‘Murg Teddy Kebab’ and ‘Darling Mocktail’ on its platter, besides an array of other dishes. Similarly, a few cafes have introduced ‘Love Bites’ contests for the couples in the Valentine week.