Opinion
The newest edition of the Lake and Mendocino Counties Valley Yellow Pages, The BUY LOCAL phone book, is putting the local florist at risk.
According to them you have 10 choices of florists in Middletown, 1 in Hidden Valley Lake, 10 in Upper Lake, nine in Nice, four in Lower Lake and 13 in Kelseyville. This is outrageous!
I called every number. They are all answered by a recording saying, “It's a great day to send flowers.” You end up at a florist concierge out of Florida!
Just like 1-800, Just Flowers and all other gathering companies, they just take your order and your local dollars and then they call the “real” local florist and offer a small portion of your hard-earned money. They keep the rest.
Please educate the ones you love who send flowers. It's getting really hard to shop local with scams like this one!
I wrote the following story about three months ago and posted it to my Facebook page to help educate the consumer.
This is a true story; I can't make this stuff up.
A man sits at his desk on a Thursday and thinks: “My wedding anniversary is next Monday. I should get my wonderful wife flowers.”
What happens next? He goes online, thinking he'll save time and money.
He picked a Just Flowers, 1-800-Flowers, FTD, etc. ... He paid $95 for flowers and delivery, received confirmation and forgot about it. What happens next may surprise you.
On Monday at 4:45 p.m. I received a call from the online company. They placed an order with me for $45 including delivery. Yes, you read right, ONLY $45! They kept the other $50.
Online companies are not florists; they are just a gathering place. They don't care about the consumer but I do!
When I delivered the flowers that evening I could see the disappointment on the man's face. So I quietly asked him if this was what he ordered.
“Yes,” he said, “but I thought it would have been larger, given I paid almost $100 for it.”
I was as shocked as he was. I knew the online companies took a portion but more than half?
So it is my goal this year to help educate the consumers on just how important it is to support the local floral businesses. You will save time and money.
Tina Chiotti-Stewart owns Middletown Florist & Gifts in Middletown, Calif.
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- Written by: Tina Chiotti-Stewart
The dinner was a big success with over 90 Land Trust supporters attending.
Land Trust President Pete McGee wishes to express his appreciation to everyone involved with the event, as well as to those who attended to support the land trust’s projects in Lake County.
Thanks go to Marie Beery and her able staff for hosting and presenting the dinner. Marie has been hosting this fundraising dinner for the Land Trust for many years and it is greatly appreciated.
Sponsors of the event were Foods Etc. of Clearlake and Big Valley Properties, Kelseyville.
Delicious Lake County wines for the evening were donated by Six Sigma, Wildhurst Vineyards, Tulip Hill Winery, Steele Wines, Moore Family Winery, Brassfield Estate and Langtry Estate. Dessert was donated by Bruno's Shop Smart Store.
Many thanks also to Tom Nixon and Doug Kauffman who entertained during the social hour with excellent guitar playing and singing.
The Lake County Land Trust is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of important natural habitats in Lake County.
The trust owns and operates the Rodman Slough Preserve near Upper Lake, Rabbit Hill Park in Middletown, and is currently working on other projects throughout the County.
For more information, go to www.lakecountylandtrust.org.
Roberta Lyons is a member of the Lake County Land Trust Board of Directors. She lives in Lower Lake, Calif.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
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