hey, my q isn't specifically on florists but any kind of smaller retail shops (which most florists i've been to fit the bill). first of all, exactly how big is your shop? physical size, employees? any uniforms? is there a breakroom, employee lockers?
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I would really, really like to give you an accurate answer to this question but I don’t have it because I am honestly terrible at guessing things like that. In terms of numbers anyway. Otherwise, I’d say a sizable living room or a classroom that’s maybe a bit too small. There is no set size as to how large a floristry can be, it is most often related to the money available and a big company, of course, has more of that than a lone person. So you can find tiny-teeny shops about the size of a kid’s bedroom or ones large enough to accommodate 30 high schoolers but those are kinda the minority.
Uh… with a bit of guesswork here, I’d say you will need about eight to ten people in your story to make the store run smoothly. That is taking appointments, vacations and unexpected sickness into consideration, on top of people already having different hours. Not everyone will work 40 a week, that was actually reserved for apprentices and bosses for the longest time at my workplace. Everybody needs some time off and extra hours should be avoided if possible outside of peak season.
If you want to try a little exercise write a fictional work schedule for your story, but I’ll give you a fair warning it easily gets frustrating. I’ve had to do it like thrice during my apprenticeship to learn the general concept and I’ve hated it all three times. You’d need to take into account that people will have to show up before the store actually opens to prepare whatever needs to be prepared and that someone’s gotta do the till after work on top of what I mentioned above here, but essentially you now have everything you need to do that.
Yes, we do have “uniforms”, but I think of it as much as a uniform as a construction worker might consider their working clothes a uniform. Which is not at all. I kinda like having working clothes, but they are not mandatory by every florist shop. I would recommend giving your florists, if you have them, aprons anyway. Preferably with pockets and ones that either stop above the knee to allow shorter pants without it looking like there are no pants at all, or full length. Pants that end before the apron tend to make it look like the legs are bare all the way.
Gloves are kind of mandatory for this kind of work, so they are always a given. There aren’t exactly recommended shoes, but your characters would benefit from not wearing heels or shoes that are open in any way like sandals because exposed skin is a terrible idea when working with things that can break (pots and glass vases) and thorns and spines.
Floristries should have at the very least a backroom that can double as a breakroom or a quiet place to talk to grieving customers who usually do better when separated from the general public. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a floristry where the backroom didn’t double as a breakroom. Lockers don’t have to be a thing, but we sure got some. The least the employees need is a type of closet which can store jackets and a number of smaller bags.
I hope this has helped you with writing your shop.
The smallest florist shop that I worked in was probably about the size of an efficiency apartment, or at least my first apartment. That would make it around 400 sq ft, I think. It had a small show area where customers could come in, a little alcove for consults, the back room where we did the designs was probably about 10′ by 15′. There was a small two door glass front cooler between the back and the front to show finished designs and the walk in cooler was probably 5′ by 6′. I’m pretty sure there was a bathroom and the owner’s office, but I don’t really remember those specifically. The owners worked there and they had a head designer, then me and one or two other part time designers. For prom and the major holidays they pulled in more part timers and the owners’ teenage kids.
Most places I’ve worked have been at least a bit bigger than that, probably about 20 foot wide and 20-30 foot deep, plus another 15 or so feet deep for a backroom that includes storage, bathroom and office. That was for retail places other than florists. Florists tend to need more room that isn’t customer facing because that’s where we work, and there are special storage requirements where foam, containers/vases, and various tools and equipment supplies need to be stored in a cool dry place and the flowers need to be kept refridgerated and potentially humid. We also need to have space for office work separate from the work space so that the books don’t get soaked in floral water or something on accident, and we need room for consultations for weddings and funerals, plus bookshelf/display space near that with examples and options that people can use to pick what they want.
Most small shops I’ve worked in, florist or otherwise, did not have a separate breakroom. We took breaks in the back room if we took breaks at all (not always the case when there’s a big holiday or wedding) and we just left our stuff there as well, someplace out of the way. There might be a designated shelf or area for putting personal belongings, but that’s about it. Florist shops usually had lower staffing requirements because the head designer or owner (sometimes the same person) generally worked all day every day the store was open and then had someone to help with deliveries in the afternoon and another person or two to help out usually in the afternoons when it was teypically busier. Even the slorists that I worked at with larger floor space had about 5 total employees including the owners. Florist shops are also more likely to be closed at least one day of the week than other retail locations, and retail shops seem to rotate managers and staff more with the expanded hours and have at least 2-3 people at all times.~*Mod Den*~
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