Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related supplies to professionals in the trade. Retail florists offer fresh flowers and related products and services to consumers. The first flower shop in the United States opened prior to 1851.
Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant material and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floral design is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Floral designs, called arrangements, incorporate the five elements and seven principles of floral design.
FTD LLC (FTD), also known as Florists' Transworld Delivery, is a floral wire service, retailer and wholesaler based in Downers Grove, Illinois, in the United States. FTD was founded as Florists' Telegraph Delivery in 1910, to help customers send flowers remotely on the same day by using florists in the FTD network who are near the intended recipient. It was based in Detroit, Michigan and then moved to Southfield, Michigan prior to its move to Downers Grove. It originated as a retailers' cooperative and began a process of demutualization in 1994. It operates two main businesses: The Consumer Business sells flowers and gift items through its websites and The Floral Business sells computer services, software and even fresh cut flowers to FTD and Interflora affiliated florists.
Flower delivery is a service in floristry. In many cases it is conducted through websites which allow consumers to browse online catalogues of flowers. They are often delivered to a third party, the recipient of the gift. Historically, these were coordinated through telegraphs and later telephones before the advent of the World Wide Web.
Interflora is a flower delivery network, associated with over 58,000 affiliated flower shops in over 140 countries. It is a subsidiary of Teleflora, a subsidiary of The Wonderful Company.
ProFlowers is a flower retailer in the United States. It is an e-commerce company that sells products shipped from growers, suppliers and its own distribution facilities to consumers. ProFlowers is headquartered in San Diego, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of FTD Companies.
Teleflora is a floral wire service company which brokers orders to local florists for delivery. It has been a subsidiary of The Wonderful Company since 1979.
The floral industry involves flower production, distribution, design, retailing, and other aspects of flower markets. Floriculture as an industry began in the late 19th century in the United Kingdom, where flowers were grown on a large scale on vast estates. The present day floral industry has achieved significant growth rates during the past few decades. In the 1950s, the global flower trade was less than 3 billion USD. By 1994, it had grown to 100 billion USD. In recent years, the floral industry has grown six percent annually, while the global trade volume in 2003 was 101.84 billion USD.
Bloomex is a national Canadian floral company offering various floral and gift arrangements throughout Canada, Australia and the United States via its online order system. The company, headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, is privately held by its founder and president, Dimitri Lokhonia.
Bunches Florapost Ltd. is a flowers by post company based in Newstead, Nottinghamshire.
The Texas State Florists' Association (TSFA) was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Since its inception, the TSFA has grown into a professional trade association that covers many branches of the floral industry. Its membership base includes a diverse assortment of people in the floral industry, and it is involved in professional services and marketing in support of floral interests, state legislation, and the provision of educational opportunities. It represents the Texas floral industry, and has members in ten additional states. The organization hosts an annual convention, the first of which occurred in 1914. The TSFA sponsors the Texas Certified Florists Program, and publishes a monthly magazine named The Bloomin' Texan.
Euroflorist is a Swedish flower delivery chain founded by Peter Jungbeck in 1982 as Svensk Blomsterförmedling in Malmö, Sweden. Renamed to Euroflorist in 1990, Euroflorist began offering flowers online in 1995. In 2010, Euroflorist acquired the UK based flower delivery service eFlorist/Teleflorist. In November, 2015 Euroflorist bought out its British competitor iFlorist. In 2021, the investor consortium Euroflorist 2.0 AB have jointly acquired 100% of Euroflorist, the leading European e-commerce company for flower delivery. Behind Euroflorist 2.0 AB are Magnus Silfverberg, former CEO of Bisnode and Betsson, and Johan Tjärnberg, CEO of Trustly, and a consortium of co-investors including Richard Båge, Jakob Tolleryd, NEA Partners, Inbox Capital and Tagehus.
The Rose Festival is an annual exhibition of roses and florist arrangements which takes place in Kutno, Poland.
Philip Breitmeyer was a florist, one of the founders of Florists' Telegraph Delivery, and the mayor of Detroit, Michigan.
Cut flowers are flowers or flower buds that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is usually removed from the plant for decorative use. Typical uses are in vase displays, wreaths, and garlands. Many home gardeners harvest flowers from their own gardens, but there is a significant international floral industry for cut flowers. The plants cropped vary by climate, culture and the level of wealth locally. Often the plants are raised specifically for the purpose, in field or glasshouse growing conditions. Cut flowers can also be harvested from the wild.
BloomNation is an American online floral marketplace with about 3,500 florists delivering to nearly 5,000 cities across the country. As an “Etsy-type” site for flowers, customers connect directly with local florists whose flower arrangements are highlighted in the marketplace. The florists upload their own real photos of their floral design as no stock catalog images are allowed. In the marketplace, customers can browse flower arrangements and reviews from participating florists all in one place.
Arena Flowers is a flower and gifts retailer based in the United Kingdom. Arena Flowers’ first website was launched in 2006. Arena Flowers is an e-commerce company that sells flowers originating from England, the Netherlands and Africa as well as through bilateral fulfilment agreements worldwide.
The Aquarelle.com Group is a French ecommerce company specialising in flower delivery. Based in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, the organization is privately owned and led by the founders, Henri and François de Maublanc.
Wesley Berry Flowers, Inc. is an floral, gifts, gourmet foods, and plants retailer in the United States.
Winston Flowers is a third-generation, family-owned and -operated floral retailer. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the company has four Massachusetts retail shops—Boston, Massachusetts; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; and Wellesley, Massachusetts—and one in Greenwich, Connecticut. The company's design studios in Boston's South End and Long Island City, New York offer daily delivery to Greater Boston, New York City, Fairfield County, and Westchester County, with the capacity to fulfill orders across the continental US through a network of partners.
