The Rising Cost of Delivery

Just the other day we had a call from a very nice lady.  She wanted to send flowers to her daughter that lives here in town.  We told her that would not be a problem and we would be glad to help pick out the perfect gift.  She asked, "What do you charge for delivery?"  We stated our local delivery price of $8.99.  She then let me know that she had no problem paying good money for flowers but refused to pay that for delivery.  We hate to loose business, it's just not good to turn folks away.  In this case we had no choice, in order to keep our business running, delivery is something we must charge for.  So here is a little run down on why we charge what we charge.

We cover over 884 square miles of delivery area.  We deliver to Moweaqua, Dalton City, LaPlace, Blue Mound, Maroa, and even Illiopolis.  This is a very large delivery area.  We have a really nice formula that we plug in all of our information into and it spits us out a nice figure for delivery charges.  It takes into account:

Drivers Salary (no matter how hard we try, the van just refuses to drive itself).

Insurance

Price Per Gallon - Miles Per Gallon

Vehicle Costs ~ Oil changes, new tires, brakes, and so on.

Vehicles worth and resale value (remember they are not worth as much the second they roll off that lot).

So when you figure a trip to say Illiopolis, you not only have to figure the gas prices you also have to figure out the salary you are paying the person behind the wheel.  Being a small shop we may even have to wait to deliver other orders until the van returns.  Or in some cases we will send out a second vehicle for in town deliveries.  The cost increases when you are using more then one driver and vehicle.  

This all being said, and probably boring you to death.  We take a long hard look at how we charge for things.  It would be easy to offer "free" delivery, but this would effect the cost of our other products.  That "free" has to be made up somewhere.  We believe that the cost of the things you purchase from us should not be inflated to cover delivery costs and the likes. 

We love delivering!  It is the best part of our day to see the big smiles and hear the compliments when someone receives our flowers.  Delivery is a convenience.  You do not have to take time out of your busy day, use your gas, and take your lunch hour to run flowers to your loved one.  Let us do that for you, it is our job and we enjoy it so much.  

Join Petal Point Rewards Club Today!

Petal Point Rewards
The Secret Garden is proud to introduce their new Petal Points Rewards Program.  For every purchase you make you will earn point to use on your future purchases.  To get you started on earning points today we are offering you 500 bonus points for any purchase you make in August.  Call today to start earning your points ~ 875-9038 or see us on the web at secretgardendecatur.com

The fine print:

Petal Point Rewards are not applied for past orders.  Only purchase made after July 19th 2010 will count towards your Petal Points Rewards. 
Minimum Order: We do not require any minimum purchase to earn points on your purchase.  From time to time bonus points may be awarded for purchasing certain promotional products or services. You will receive 5 points for every one dollar that you spend.
Fees for Membership: Petal Points Rewards is free to all members. There are no sign–up or monthly fees.
Redeeming Points:  Once you reach 2,500 points ($25.00) you will be given the option to apply your points to your purchase.  You may choose to roll your points over but the maximum number of points you can hold in your account is 5,000 points ($50.00).  Points can not be used towards weddings or wire out orders. 
Cash Value:  Petal Points do not hold any cash value and are only good towards purchase made at The Secret Garden.  Your points are not transferable to anyone.  Petal Points do not expire but we do reserve the right to make changes to the program at any time.  Petal Points earned at The Secret Garden are only redeemable at The Secret Garden.  Petal Points earned at any other location are not redeemable at The Secret Garden.


If you have any questions regarding this exciting new program please contact me directly at 875-9038 or secretgardendecatur@gmail.com

Thanks and enjoy! ~Lori

Gearing up for another busy season

Mother's Day is on the way and we have already started the count down here at the store.  We are figuring out ways to say I love you, Thanks Mom, and Happy Mother's Day!  We have started designing this years unique arrangements.  These arrangements are exclusive to The Secret Garden and hand made by our designers.  This year we have decided to honor our Moms by naming the arrangements after them!  

We will have, Linda's Loving Blooms, Betty's Touch of Elegance, Billie's Lady Bug Landing, and Evelyn's Butterfly Garden.  These designs will be of limited quantity and we suggest you order early! 

Mother's Day is a day to tell your mom that you love and appreciate all she has done for you.  Mom's young and old look forward to all of those fun hand made crafts from kids and grandchildren.  If the day of Macaroni art are behind you we can help!

Mother's day had it's start in early greek times and found a home here in America over 150 years ago.  It has changed and evolved into one of the most loved Holidays of our time.   Here is the full story brought to you by 123holiday.net:

Contrary to popular belief, Mother's Day was not conceived and fine-tuned in the boardroom of Hallmark. The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.



In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."



Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.



In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."



Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.



At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.



Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. In fact, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers.


So this Mother's Day make sure you take a moment to tell your mother how much she means to you. 
For those of you who have suffered the loss of your mother we are very sorry for your loss and encourage you to spend the day with your memories.  We offer a wide assortment of memorials that will let you express your love.  


We will post some great pictures later today of our Mother's Day 2010 collection!  Thank you for stopping in.