V Day: Retailers forecast busy Valentine's Day

Feb. 14—An already brisk week for Valentine's Day business is expected to hit full speed today, according to some local retailers.

"It's very much a last-minute holiday," Travis Crytzer said of those seeking flowers and related gifts in today's celebration of love and romance. Crytzer is the owner of two area flower and gift shops — Loeffler's Flowers and Gifts in Meadville and Blossoms and Blooms Boutique in Linesville.

"We already have over 130 (flower) deliveries scheduled" for Valentine's Day, Crytzer said at his Meadville shop late Monday afternoon. "People are ordering in advance. It's more than we've had previously leading into the holiday."

Crytzer expects to have about 400 flower Valentine deliveries scheduled between the two locations by today.

It's been brisk the last couple of days, too, at Stefanelli's Candies.

"All day, it's been busy," Melissa Amacher of Stefanelli's Meadville location said.

"We've had 106 customers so far," she said just after 3 p.m. Tuesday during a momentary lull in business. "It exciting and it's making the day go super fast."

A non-holiday-driven business day usually means around 25 to 30 customers, according to Amacher.

The two or three days leading up to and including Valentine's Day always are brisk for the company and six locations, noted Stacy Kessler, one of the managers of the candy company.

Kessler and her sisters Connie Guthrie, Andrea Kregel and Erika Beveridge operate the company that's owned by their parents, Joe and Kathy Stainbrook of Meadville.

Stefanelli's has four Erie shops plus Linesville in addition to Meadville.

"It's very intense compared to other holidays in that of a short time frame," Kessler said. "We're happy it's busy. We want and we embrace it."

It's a period of highly concentrated sales compared to other holidays, according to Kessler.

"People don't think about it for months," she said of Valentine's Day. "With Christmas you have all that anticipation (of the holiday) for two or three months."

Both companies have put on extra staff to deal with the Valentine's Day crush and rush of business.

Crytzer, who normally has three floral designers in the Meadville location, has ramped up to eight while Linesville has ramped up from two to four.

He has three delivery vans at each location — each staffed with a driver and a runner to make deliveries.

"We map out and group them (deliveries) together," Crytzer said.

Stefanelli's adds extra staff about mid-January each year as it gears up for Easter candy production, Kessler said.

A few days before Valentine's Day, it makes a temporary shift for all-out production of chocolate-covered strawberries.

"This year, we were able to get extra help for all our storefronts to box up the chocolate-covered strawberries," Kessler said. "Everybody's excited to have an extra hand."

Both Crytzer and Kessler said supply chain issues have eased compared to a few years ago, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's not at pre-pandemic levels, but we're having an easier time getting ingredients and getting our packaging and stuff compared to a few years ago," Kessler said.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.