May is a month of high spending and high prices. Instead of flowers, ‘pocket money or a meal’. Flower basket reservations also decreased by 70%. Cultivation farms cut in half in 10 years.
At 12:30 p.m. on the 7th, a day before Parents’ Day, Mr. Choi, a merchant at the Namdaemun Flower Wholesale Mall in Seoul, was constantly talking to customers. “It’s twice (half) cheaper than the local flower shop! “I heard it only costs 15,000 won.”
The stand at Choi’s store was filled with flower baskets with 5-6 large carnations. Five or six customers passed by, but all they said was, “I’ll take a look around.” As lunch time passed and the nearby office workers who came to see the carnations disappeared, the shopping district became more deserted.
Mr. Choi, who has been selling flowers here for 40 years, said, “Parent’s Day is not what it used to be,” and added, “There are only random customers, so only 2 to 3 out of 10 people who pass by buy flowers.” Flower merchants, including Choi, agreed that sales were down 20 to 30 percent compared to before COVID-19. Mr. A said, “If it were like before, we would be so busy that we wouldn’t even have time to talk,” and added, “Group orders are also decreasing.” Mr. Choi said, “Until last year, florists used to take 100 orders for carnation flower baskets on Mother’s Day, but this year they only received about 30 orders.”
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