Florist's in store trade blooming

Shoppers at Countdown's Victoria Ave supermarket in Wanganui are using a new service, getting help from a qualified florist in the flower section.

Victoria Rhodes has returned to her home town and is now running the flower section for Fresh Direct, the company that has been providing flowers to the supermarket chain.

Ms Rhodes started less than a fortnight ago but said already turnover had doubled. After Easter weekend, she will be joined by Joan Melville, a fellow florist.

Store manager Braden Crossan said the flower area in the store had always been popular but now it could offer a point of difference.

"So now we not only have flowers for sale, customers can come into the store, make the request for what particular flower arrangement they want, and our in-store florists will make it up for them," Mr Crossan said.

Only 10 other Countdowns around the country had taken on an in-store florist but he was sure others would follow suit.

"It's a great point of difference for the customers for those special days in the year such as Mother's Day and birthdays," he said. Ms Rhodes is to provide flowers for a local wedding this weekend as a direct result of being on site in the Victoria Ave store.

She has been a florist for 26 years, running her own shop in London's Trafalgar Square and operating similar outlets in Tauranga and Perth before returning home to Wanganui.

She said she had been in charge of the flower section at the Victoria Ave store but was excited about this new opportunity. "We've doubled our turnover from the first week, so we've been very busy and we've been going through huge volumes of flowers," she said.