With Valentine's Day this Saturday, the Southern Standard is ready to spread some love.
Our customer appreciation day, featuring hotdogs and drinks at our office on 105 College Street, is today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In addition to free food, customers can benefit from heart-warming deals on newspaper subscriptions, including a one-year subscription for only $54. That amounts to just 35 cents an issue.
The Standard will also be having several giveaways at the end of customer appreciation day. The grand prize is a package that includes dinner at Gondola, a huge box of chocolates, and assorted flowers.
It's sure to be an exciting day as people scramble to make their final preparations for Valentine's.
“It’s one of the busiest days of the year for florists,” said Katelyn Wortman of Tiger Lily Florist. “We sell over 1,000 flowers for Valentine's Day. With Valentine's being on Saturday, Friday will be a very busy day for us, but we will still have a lot to do on Saturday.”
Hot this year are a dozen roses and rainbow roses.
“Mostly we do a dozen roses, but we do get requests for mixed arrangements as well,” said Wortman. “Rainbow roses are very popular. People really seem to like those.”
While Valentine’s Day comes in first for florists, it’s second for card giving. According to the Greeting Card Association, 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular greeting card-giving occasion, behind Christmas.
The chocolate box has been around for more than 140 years. The first Valentine’s Day box of chocolates was introduced by Richard Cadbury in 1868. Americans purchase 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate annually.