This Year, Flowers And Other Items Cost A Little More For Valentine's Day; Those In The Know Explain Why
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Are you anxiously awaiting that special Valentine's Day gift?
The CBS 2 Morning Insiders got a look inside a shipping facility in the suburbs handling thousands of flower orders for that special someone. CBS 2's Tim McNicholas showed us Thursday morning how they're handling the rush – and why love costs a little more this year.
We were there as 2,300 boxes of flowers – enough to fill an entire trailer – zipped through this UPS facility in west suburban Hodgkins.
From there, they will head out to the homes of smitten recipients across the Chicago area.
"We enjoy playing cupid," said UPS spokesman Jim Mayer.
Mayer said the flowers are imported from Central and South America in cooled settings to keep the flowers fresh.
"We are forecasting that well ship 89 million stems this year," he said. "That's about 742,000 boxes, and that's about what we did last year."
That is despite supply chain challenges that have driven up flower costs across the country.
At Linda's Flowers, at 2439 W. Armitage Ave. in Logan Square, owner Gloria Becerra says she limited her Valentine's Day inventory this year to save money.
"The prices have gone up so much on the flowers," Becerra said. "Transportation has gone up so much."
Last Valentine's Day, Becerra charged about $75 for a dozen roses. This year, she said she had to raise the price to $85 due to increased transportation and shipping costs."
"It's hard to price our flowers at a level where people can afford getting a flower for their loved one," Becerra said.
And it's not just flowers. She said she has paid double what she did last year for some plush bears shipped from Los Angeles.
Linda's Flowers does not use UPS, but the shipping giant did have some insight on the prices.
"I don't know if I have a complete answer as to why individual florists might be seeing costs go up," Mayer said. "As we've seen around the world with supply chain issues, air capacity is very, very tight right now – and that may relate to some of that."
But evidently. love is not in short supply.
If you haven't ordered those flowers yet, experts say you should get on it. Linda's is not the only store carrying a slightly smaller inventory this year.