By Marianne Love, Correspondent
It may not be as romantic as a full-on florist shop in a classy shopping district, but the alluring fragrance of this cavernous wholesale warehouse near Van Nuys Airport, with rows and rows of flowers and three refrigerated coolers jammed with tubs of many different choices, definitely has a seductive attraction.
SoCal Flower & Supply, which also goes by SoCal Wholesale Flowers & Supplies, is busier than ever this Mother’s Day weekend, selling to retail florists and the general public. On Friday, May 10, which is official Mexican Mother’s Day — Dia de Las Madres — SoCal Flowers was bustling with customers. And some were planning to come back to this industrial area on Cabrito Road this weekend to get fresh flowers for Mother’s Day on May 12, observed in the U.S. on every second Sunday in May.
Husband and wife Genaro and Brit Valencia, from Mission Hills in the San Fernando Valley, chose two dozen dark red roses from the multitude of pink, orange, green — and even black — flower choices on hand. “I picked red because my mom likes red, and so does hers,” Genaro said about his mother-in-law.
The couple will be back again on May 12 for more flowers, Brit Valencia said, a repeat customer who appreciates prices that are “cheaper here than on the streets.”
Owner Francisco Rodriguez said he gets between 10,000 to 20,000 flowers delivered daily at his family-owned floral business, which opened nine years ago. He estimated the value of the flowers and supplies at $200,000.
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He says the family business is successful because, “I learned from my mom to provide customer service, honesty and politeness.”
The official holiday for honoring mothers began in the United States in the early 1900s. Some have criticized Mother’s Day as becoming too commercial. But you wouldn’t know it from the crowd at SoCal Flower & Supply, happily looking though the aisles of colorful blossoms for just the right ones.