Flower dealers in Malindi Town reported low sales of flowers and other Valentine’s gifts despite Wednesday being Valentine’s Day, owing to the economic slump being experienced in the tourist Town and the Country in general.
A Kenya News Agency (KNA) survey revealed that many fleshly cut flowers withered in various stalls due to less demand, forcing the florists to incur losses on a day they expected to make huge sales.
Patrick Macharia, a natural and artificial flower seller, narrated that he had sold very few flowers on Valentine’s Day compared to last year, as his customers attributed the trend to the high cost of living.
Macharia noted that the situation had forced him to sell flowers at a lower price than usual, whereby a small bouquet that used to fetch him Sh600 had sold at Sh400.
“Today being Valentine’s Day, we expected to make more sales unlike any other day, but that has not been the case. Customers are bargaining too much, saying that the economy is too harsh for them. We have been forced to sell flowers at low prices, where a flower that costs Sh600 goes as low as Sh400,” said Macharia.
Baraka Katana, an artificial flower seller, said that he has managed to sell a total of eight flowers only since this morning.
He added that he had to slash down the initial prices to attract more customers, but it did not bear fruit.
“The business is very low today. I have managed to sell eight flowers at a loss since this morning. Last year I made a lot of profit from this business, but today it was terrible; I think people don’t have money to buy the flowers,” said Katana.
Moses Owino, a Malindi resident, is among the few customers who managed to purchase flowers for their loved ones.
Owino said that he bought flowers not because he had a lot of money but because he wanted to make his family feel special and appreciated.
However, Alex Wanje did not mark the day, saying, “Valentine’s Day is a day just like any other.”
By Stella Kanini and Winnie Charo
