Forty-two years ago, Rob Knowles spent Valentine's Day working at a flower shop located at 315 North Main S. Flowers by Oppermann, as it was called, saw a bit more traffic than normal, Knowles said, but really it was "just a normal day."
"You had a few more deliveries. You bought a few more flowers. If you had 50 deliveries, you had a pretty busy day," he said.
The 16-year-old had no idea he would spend a lifetime of Valentine's Days arranging flowers, with 30 years spent at his namesake shop, Rob's Flowers and Gifts. He also didn't know the holiday, traditionally reserved for husbands and wives, would see more than 30 times the amount of deliveries in 2018 than in 1976.
"Now, you see 1,200, 1,500 deliveries. It's just remarkable," Knowles added. "Forty years ago, your wife got something for Valentine's Day, maybe a girlfriend but that was very unlikely. Now, everybody gets flowers. Your kids, your boyfriend, your husband. And it's not just flowers anymore, it's gift baskets and food baskets and candles."
His son, Andy Knowles, who now owns Rob's Flowers and Gifts, said today, he expects the shop to make more than 1,500 deliveries between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. He called Valentine's Day "the Black Friday of the flower business" and said to accommodate the rush, he temporarily added 20 members to his staff.
"Valentine's Day is the busiest one day, meaning that we do the majority of everything in about a 12 hour period," Andy said. "We'll have a total of seven vans out with two people in each van, a driver and somebody to run the deliveries."
Knowles said in addition to the delivery orders, about 300 arrangements will "walk out" of the store with customers and of the 1,500 deliveries, around 30 percent will be placed Valentine's morning. To survive the madness, Andy has learned to embrace the "organized chaos."
"We've done this for so long, we have a system," he said. "When we start that morning, 98 percent of the orders taken through the 13th will be complete and ready to go when the drivers get there at 7 o'clock in the morning."
And while the team of 27 people are efficient, Andy said long days and long nights February 13 and 14 are simply "part of it."
"The 13th, I will be in the building by 5 a.m. and I've been known not to go home," he said. "I've stood at my design counter for 48 hours between the 13th and 14th before. More than likely, on the 13th, I'll be in the store working by 5 a.m. If I'm lucky, I'll go home around 3 (a.m.) Valentine's morning long enough to shower and come back. I'll be back in the store between 4 or 5 (a.m.). Valentine's morning"
Andy laughed when talking about how he and his wife celebrate Valentine's Day and said, "We don't."
"It's not for us," he said. "Our tag line has always been," Helping you express life's most important moments," and Valentine's is just another one of those important moments."
For some, the important moment comes once per year when placing an order for a dozen red roses for a husband or wife. For others, it's creating arrangements to resemble their wedding bouquets.
Andy's father said he remembers a time when a customer asked him to incorporate an engagement ring into a Valentine's Day delivery.
"I remember we put the ring up into a flower and the card said, 'Here's your ring. Let's get married,'" Knowles said.
"We've delivered a lot of engagement rings through the years," Andy added.
Andy said preparations for today began in November with a phone call to South America. He said the first thousand red roses were booked and guaranteed by Thanksgiving Day.
He said the pace at the store typically begins to quicken at the beginning of February when Valentine's greenery arrives around the first, and even more when the roses arrive a week later.
Andy said a common misconception is that florists make "beaucoup money" on Valentine's Day. He said due to increase costs throughout the industry, it is simply untrue.
"A lot of times, we're actually making a little less profit than we do the rest of the year," he said. "For instance, a dozen roses every day at my store are $70. Since February 1, they've been $79.95, but that's because the farm raised the price. The roses we're dealing with are from South America. To get them to the country, they come in on planes. Well, they have to have extra planes, so UPS and Fed Ex charge the grower more and it's all back to supply and demand."
Andy said the 1,800 red roses he ordered will be distributed between Feb. 13 and 14., and that most of them will be incorporated into dozens.
Despite the long hours and intense organization necessary for a successful Valentine's Day, Andy said he doesn't find it too stressful. He said the only stressful aspect, at least for him, is the weather.
"That's the one thing that bothers me every year," he said. "If there's snow on the ground, we can't really get the deliveries out very well. Or if there's no school... Of our 1,500 deliveries, about 400 of them will be to the schools."
Andy said temperature is also a key factor in the day's success. If the temperature falls below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, each arrangement must be wrapped to protect it from the cold. He said the perfect Valentine's Day is sunny and between 50 and 60 degrees.