The Business of Love : Valentine’s Sales Don’t Rival Christmas’ but Merchants Are Heartened by Profits

For three hours, Bonnie Simonian was all frills, feather boa and makeup.

Simonian played the role of fashion model at Freeze Frame, a photo studio at MainPlace/Santa Ana, where makeup artists and hairstylists prep and pamper customers before guiding them through glamour photo sessions.

The Orange resident posed along with daughter-in-law Shontele and granddaughter Jordan for a Valentine’s Day portrait to be delivered today to Simonian’s husband, Richard, and son, Jeramy. “We wanted a photograph with the three most important women in their lives,” Simonian said.

Simonian was one of about 30 customers--about twice the store’s normal daily customer count--who were lured into the store Feb. 5 by a $9.99 “Valentine’s Day Special.”

Freeze Frame’s profit is driven by sales of photographs, so the $9.99 special is especially sweet for the studio because customers generally end up spending a minimum of $92.50--and as much as $700--for photo packages that run the gamut from wallet snapshots to 8-by-10 glossies.

For the Simonians of the world, Valentine’s Day means love and kisses. But for recession-weary Orange County retailers and restaurants, the business of love increasingly means dollars and cents.

Retailers were uncertain late last week how sales would be affected by the calendar quirk that positioned Valentine’s Day in the middle of the long, Presidents’ Day weekend.

Chris Bruce, owner of Dana Party Supplies in Dana Point, said last week that he is “hoping it will mean a long, busy weekend.” Shop owners also anticipated that the weekend will make it easier to meet customer demand because there will be more “shopping days.”

But Bruce cautioned that revenue could slip “if because of the wonderful winter storms, all of the skiers use the long weekend to head into the mountains.”

Restaurant and retail operators also are edgy because consumers generally haven’t shaken the malaise that continues to haunt Southern California’s economy. “I really feel as though people are unwilling to spend liberally,” Bruce said. “But, as was the case at Christmas, I think they’ll get caught up in the Valentine’s sentiment and be willing to celebrate.”

Similarly, a wholesale florist acknowledged early in the week that sales leading up to Valentine’s Day were slow. But then he asked not to be quoted “because people read that sort of thing and then it tends to become true.”

But by the end of the week, with Valentine’s Day drawing closer, “everybody gets into the swing of it and buys,” said San Clemente Florist owner Valerie Zabat-Fran.

Retailers, aware that many consumers are concerned about needless spending, are working harder for sales on Valentine’s Day, Graduation Day and other lesser occasions.

“Outside of the (Christmas) holidays, there are 350 more days in the year where we have to make a living,” said Marty Hall, a Rochester, N.Y.-based florist and president of the National Florists Assn., which represents 2,700 minority-owned floral shops.

Freeze Frame is also working harder for the customers’ dollars. Rather than simply photographing customers, the shop attempts to make clients feel glamorous. Simonian appreciates the effort: While her husband gets the photograph, “I’m also doing it for the experience, I’m doing it for the fun of it. It’s entertaining.”

Freeze Frame “artist” Richard Caouette, who handles both makeup and hairstyling, knows that his customers want to be pampered.

“When they come in, they want to look like themselves, but better,” Caouette said. “They want to look glamorous. I feel great when they (see the proofs) but don’t know which one to pick. That’s when I know I’m successful.”

Most customers are nervous when they enter the shop, and Santa Ana resident Sueann Jones, who wanted a photograph for her boyfriend, was no exception. Makeup and hairstylist Joe Montelongo continually reassured Jones that the unusually heavy makeup and “big” hairstyle would photograph well.

“My hair feels so heavy, I never wear it like this,” said Jones, who typically wears her hair long and flowing. But Jones eventually opted for a photograph in which her hair is teased upward--and the makeup appeared to be completely natural, just as Montelongo predicted.

Some companies are rethinking their sales strategies in an effort to grab a bigger chunk of the retail revenue driven by the day that began as a commemoration of a 3rd-Century martyr.

For example, card manufacturers described Valentine’s Day as the second-largest card-sending holiday in the United States, with an estimated 1 billion cards changing hands. Only Christmas, when 2.3 billion cards are given, surpasses Valentine’s Day in the amount of cards.

But American Greetings Corp. is “doing very well” with a Spanish-language line of cards and a series that is designed specifically for black consumers, spokeswoman Laurie Henrichsen said. The Cleveland-based company is also offering more of the humorous cards favored by young men and teen-agers.

Flowers remain the Valentine’s Day gift of choice for lovers, friends and family members, according to a Gallup Poll commissioned by the Society of American Florists. Dried flowers are growing in favor, but the Society predicts that Americans are sticking with traditional favorites. About 140 million roses and 160 million carnations will be exchanged during this weekend.

Candy sales--especially chocolates--soar on Valentine’s Day. “It’s enormous,” said Larry Trop, co-owner of Trops the Chocolate People at South Coast Plaza. “We’re projecting one-day sales (on Saturday) of $10,000 for our one location. Normally, we do $600.”

Trops’ sales are driven by tradition: Candies are “almost always heart-shaped . . . with simple red, white and pink colors,” Trop said. “For the adventurous, we do have silly things we can print (on the chocolates) like ‘to my love-stud from your cuddle-muffin.’ ”

Trops opened a lobby kiosk at a nearby commercial building in Costa Mesa late last week in an attempt to catch office workers who weren’t able to break away for last-minute shopping.

That kind of customer service is important, shop owners said.

At San Clemente Florist, Zabat-Fran and Store Manager Janni Vollebregt planned to press family and friends into service to prepare and deliver hundreds of Valentine’s Day bouquets on time.

The shop will also have additional in-store help--especially for male shoppers who “like suggestions on what to give,” Zabat-Fran said. The shop also creates special gifts, including a popular item that includes a container of Hershey’s Kisses that is topped by a floral selection.

While men historically give most of the flowers at Valentine’s Day, women increasingly view flowers as an appropriate gift, according to the Society of American Florists. Four of five men give flowers, but women are catching up: Almost one in two women now say that they give flowers to males.

Shop owners acknowledge that Valentine’s Day sales don’t come close to matching the bonanza generated by the long Christmas season. But lesser gift-giving holidays, such as Valentine’s Day and the Fourth of July “are definitely an important day,” said Bruce.

Dana Party Supply boosts sales volume by courting “non-traditional customers,” including teachers and parents from nearby schools and restaurant owners who use white, pink and red decorations to set a special mood on Valentine’s Day.

Retailers have to push to make those extra sales. Patricia Gonzales of San Juan Capistrano, a room mother for the kindergarten class of her daughter, Chantal, spent about $6 for glitter, paper hearts and balloons that were used to stage a Valentine’s Day party.

Those small sales are important because they generate traffic and bolster future sales during the traditionally slow post-Christmas season, Bruce said.

Valentine’s Day also helps increase receipts at restaurants, according to the results of a survey by the Washington-based National Restaurant Assn. About 20% of Americans surveyed ate dinner out on Valentine’s Day.

At Trattoria Spiga, a restaurant in South Coast Plaza, General Manager Abdel Hamid is searching produce markets as far away as New Zealand for the high-quality strawberries needed to top the restaurant’s Strawberry Isabella dessert.

While strawberries are an integral part of many Valentine’s Day desserts, they are crucial at Trattoria Spiga because this strawberry dessert “carries my wife’s name . . . it has to be perfect,” Hamid said. “The whole menu is from my heart. It’s not a (dollars) oriented menu for me, but a true Valentine’s menu.”

Valentine’s Day traditionally has meant more sales of women’s lingerie and related adult playthings, said Tom Moss, chief executive officer of the Pleasure Company, which offers a wide array of lingerie and “adult gifts” through its lone store in Irvine.

Buying habits have changed in the 10 years that Moss has operated his store. A decade ago, women were hesitant to enter the store alone, Moss said, because they didn’t know what to expect.

But Valentine’s Day now sets the shop’s one-day sales record. Typical weekday sales run between $1,000 to $2,000, but last year, the store hit a Valentine’s Day peak of $13,000.

Gifts of provocative underwear typically are purchased for women, but Boxer Bay, a Seattle-based retail chain, is using Valentine’s Day to sell men’s undergarments. The store offers 200 styles of men’s underwear, including white boxers decorated with red hearts and a “Cupid String” (G-string) for more adventurous shoppers.

Valentine’s Day “has been a very good day for us,” said Michael Levicki, manager of the Boxer Bay store at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. “We only have one window display because we don’t have enough merchandise to do more than that.”

Hearts, Flowers: THat Time of Year Again Flowers are still considered the best way to say “I love you” by a margin of nearly 2 to 1, according to a survey commissioned by the American Floral Marketing Council.

Flowers: 50%

Jewelry:28%

Perfume: 6%

Other: 16%

Equal Opportunity Cupid

Why more women are beginning to send flowers:

Romance: 49%

Cheer up: 16%

Get Well 12%

Other: 23%

Home Grown

It may be that the floral arrangement you send this Valentine’s Day was grown right here in Orange County. 1988 produced a bumper crop of flowers in the county, nearly double the production of 1991, the last complete year for cut-flower figures.

Production Value Year (in dozens) (in millions) 1987 265,681 $1.612 1988 958,828 2.017 1989 493,116 1.798 1990 421,308 1.444 1991 460,857 1.489

Source: American Floral Marketing Council, Orange County agricultural commissioner, American Greetings, World Book Encyclopedia; Researched by GREG JOHNSON and DALLAS M JACKSON / Los Angeles T1768777075

Valentine’s Box

About 140 million roses and 160 million carnations are expected to be sold this Valentine’s weekend. That’s more than one flower for every man, woman and child in the United States.

Valentine’s Day is second only to Christmas in holiday gift sales.

Humorous cards are popular among baby boomers and men.

Four in five men give women flowers, but women are catching up; nearly one woman in two gives flowers to men.

Lore Some authorities trace Valentine’s Day to the Roman festival, Lupercalia. During the Feb. 15 celebration, young men struck people with strips of animal hides to protect the village from wolves773871471 The early Christian church had a saint named Valentine. According to one story, a Roman emperor forbade young men to marry because he thought bachelors made better soldiers. A young priest 1851878757 The day has also been linked to an old English belief that birds choose their mates on Feb. 14. “The Parliament of Fowls,” 14th-Century poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, “For this was on St. 1449225317