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Mother’s Day escapes economic woes
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| Fely Sams, owner of Orchid Alley shows off some of the boxes that wait to be shipped to the Mainland for Mother’s Day, Monday. Sams said the last day for shipping live orchid plants is Wednesday, but they will ship on Monday, again. Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island |
By Dennis Fujimoto - The Garden Island
KAPA‘A — Despite the economic downturn, mothers won’t be forgotten, said Fely Sams, owner of Orchid Alley in Kapa‘a.
Normally, Mother’s Day, which falls on Sunday, is one of her busiest shipping days for live flowering orchids.
“I didn’t know what to expect with this bad economy,” Sams said. “The orders were slow in coming, and it seemed like Mother’s Day was going to be affected like everything else.”
But all that changed Monday morning when the phone started ringing and the e-mails sprouted orders for Mother’s Day.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Sams said. “This is normally one of the busiest weeks for shipping and for a while, I thought it was going to be bad, but I guess no matter how bad things get, people never forget their mothers.”
Sams said Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are reserved for processing orders that are shipped to the Mainland for Mother’s Day.
“We save all the West Coast orders for Wednesday,” said Deedee Gorospe, a helper with Sams for six years. “The East Coast orders usually go out Monday and Tuesday. What we don’t want to happen is to have the box stuck in some warehouse when Mother’s Day happens.”
That means Sams is reluctant to take any orders that are shipped after Wednesday.
“But we can ship Monday after Mother’s Day,” Sams said. “We usually have a lot of people shipping the Monday after Mother’s Day, and it’s just as busy as the week before Mother’s Day.”
Gorospe attributes that to people getting paid on Friday before Mother’s Day, and coupled with the tight economic situation, anticipates next Monday to have a good number of orders.
The good fortune at Orchid Alley continues to blossom as Sams received extra help this year in the form of Bradley Zacek Jr. of New York, a landscaper.
“Business is down this time of the year, so I thought I would come over and help Fely for a month,” Zacek said between helping customers and processing order sheets.
That additional help has resulted in Sams being able to open up an Orchid Alley gift shop featuring photographs, artwork, mugs, and other orchid-related gifts.
“She’s always had the merchandise,” Zacek said. “It was just getting a space open where she could display them.”
Once the orders for the Mainland are taken care of, Sams said she will focus on the local Mother’s Day.
“There are a lot of new varieties, especially in the oncidiums, or popcorn orchid,” Sams said. “This year, there’re more orange, reds and pinks. It seems like the orchid breeders have been listening to what people like.”
In addition to the Kapa‘a shop, Fely’s husband Neill will be taking part in the annual Mother’s Day Orchid Show and Sale that starts Friday afternoon at the Kukui Grove Shopping Center hosted by the Kaua‘i Orchid Society.
That show opens at 1 p.m., Friday and runs through 6 p.m., the late opening time allowing for the judging of specimens to take place by American Orchid Society certified judges.
Saturday’s show opens at 9:30 a.m. and runs through the afternoon.
Unfortunately, Orchid Alley has no Web site where prospective shoppers can view the availability of orchids.
“We’re working on a Web site right now,” Sams said. “We’ve had an ad running for about a month to get people aware of what we have. If they haven’t seen the ad, they can always call and we can talk them through what is available.”
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
Normally, Mother’s Day, which falls on Sunday, is one of her busiest shipping days for live flowering orchids.
“I didn’t know what to expect with this bad economy,” Sams said. “The orders were slow in coming, and it seemed like Mother’s Day was going to be affected like everything else.”
But all that changed Monday morning when the phone started ringing and the e-mails sprouted orders for Mother’s Day.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Sams said. “This is normally one of the busiest weeks for shipping and for a while, I thought it was going to be bad, but I guess no matter how bad things get, people never forget their mothers.”
Sams said Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are reserved for processing orders that are shipped to the Mainland for Mother’s Day.
“We save all the West Coast orders for Wednesday,” said Deedee Gorospe, a helper with Sams for six years. “The East Coast orders usually go out Monday and Tuesday. What we don’t want to happen is to have the box stuck in some warehouse when Mother’s Day happens.”
That means Sams is reluctant to take any orders that are shipped after Wednesday.
“But we can ship Monday after Mother’s Day,” Sams said. “We usually have a lot of people shipping the Monday after Mother’s Day, and it’s just as busy as the week before Mother’s Day.”
Gorospe attributes that to people getting paid on Friday before Mother’s Day, and coupled with the tight economic situation, anticipates next Monday to have a good number of orders.
The good fortune at Orchid Alley continues to blossom as Sams received extra help this year in the form of Bradley Zacek Jr. of New York, a landscaper.
“Business is down this time of the year, so I thought I would come over and help Fely for a month,” Zacek said between helping customers and processing order sheets.
That additional help has resulted in Sams being able to open up an Orchid Alley gift shop featuring photographs, artwork, mugs, and other orchid-related gifts.
“She’s always had the merchandise,” Zacek said. “It was just getting a space open where she could display them.”
Once the orders for the Mainland are taken care of, Sams said she will focus on the local Mother’s Day.
“There are a lot of new varieties, especially in the oncidiums, or popcorn orchid,” Sams said. “This year, there’re more orange, reds and pinks. It seems like the orchid breeders have been listening to what people like.”
In addition to the Kapa‘a shop, Fely’s husband Neill will be taking part in the annual Mother’s Day Orchid Show and Sale that starts Friday afternoon at the Kukui Grove Shopping Center hosted by the Kaua‘i Orchid Society.
That show opens at 1 p.m., Friday and runs through 6 p.m., the late opening time allowing for the judging of specimens to take place by American Orchid Society certified judges.
Saturday’s show opens at 9:30 a.m. and runs through the afternoon.
Unfortunately, Orchid Alley has no Web site where prospective shoppers can view the availability of orchids.
“We’re working on a Web site right now,” Sams said. “We’ve had an ad running for about a month to get people aware of what we have. If they haven’t seen the ad, they can always call and we can talk them through what is available.”
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
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