Honey Bee Bakery Valentine’s Day cookies are seen Thursday. DM Photo | Kayle Beatty
With Valentine’s Day approaching, love is in the air, and Oxford businesses are here to help residents celebrate. For some establishments in the city, the week preceding Valentine’s Day is not just a hectic one — it’s their busiest time of the year.
“We do about a month’s worth of business in this one week,” said Gail Miller of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
Miller stated their most popular product with students was the classic chocolate dipped strawberry.
“We’ll have all of our employees in this week, and a couple thousand strawberries will be dipped. By Saturday evening, the store will be empty,” Miller said.
Miller also remarked that chocolate dipped apples were a secondary favorite, and that the store has procured over 600 apples in preparation for Saturday.
Chocolate isn’t the only industry that sees a boom this time of year. Floral businesses in Oxford have also been making preparations for the 14th all week.
“We have to have aggressive pricing due to the demand this time of year because growers double their prices, and we have to increase our labor for the large amount of deliveries,” said David Maron, manager of Oxford Floral.
Maron said he noticed a large amount of Gerber daisies, tulips and mixed arrangements being delivered on campus, pointing out that mixed arrangements were especially compact for dorm rooms.
Despite the business of this holiday, Maron noted that profit margins were actually less due to high prices from the sellers. In addition, profits were affected by the day of the week. On years such as this one, where Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday, many people will choose to go out of town or do something other than have fresh flowers delivered for the holiday.
Some businesses in Oxford are more accustomed to experiencing seasonal rushes, however.
“This is a busy time for us but not more so than every other holiday,” said Shannon Adams, part owner of Honey Bee Bakery.
To prepare, the small bakery has come up with a number of decorative cookies, the most popular of their creations being their “sassy” cookies, which are embossed with quirky phrases such as “Bae,” “in your dreams” and “IRL, you fine.” Adams also noted that Honey Bee is offering a special select menu for Saturday, including chocolate covered strawberries, Belgian chocolate cupcakes and a few other delectable hors d’oeuvres.
In the US, Valentine’s Day is a not just a holiday of love but one of capitalism.
According to a report on Valentine’s Day consumerism done by CNN, consumers spent approximately $18.6 billion for Valentine’s Day 2013.
Of course, not everyone in Oxford is participating in Valentine’s Day promotions. While other students may be concerned with landing a reservation at Snackbar, freshman Elizabeth Hocevar has other plans.
“I’m going to the basketball game this Valentine’s Day,” Hocevar said. “And the next day, my boyfriend and I are making brunch together.”
