Only Flowers Left Alone... "Tears Over the Lost February Boom"

Yangjae Flower Market Stores Quiet
Various Events Like Graduation Ceremonies Held Remotely
Valentine's Day Overlaps with Seol
Peak Season a Thing of the Past, Merchants Sigh

On the 9th, the flower market in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, appeared quiet.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] "There is absolutely no special demand from graduation ceremonies or Valentine's Day. It seems the entire flower industry has collapsed after one year of COVID-19."

The flower industry has been hit hard by the resurgence of COVID-19. Various events such as graduation ceremonies are being held non-face-to-face (untact) this year, making the February demand boom a thing of the past. Valentine's Day also coincided with the Lunar New Year holiday, leading to a significant drop in flower demand compared to previous years. Merchants sighed over the dismal sales situation and sometimes gave bitter smiles.

◆ The biggest peak season turns into the biggest off-season = On the 9th, Kim, a merchant met at the Yangjae Flower Market in Seoul, said, "Normally, this would be a busy time, but it’s not at all. Sales have dropped a lot, to about one-third of what they were before COVID-19," adding, "Graduation ceremonies are held non-face-to-face, so hardly anyone buys flowers. These days, only people who want to take photos at home come to buy, and if not, we just close up shop."

The underground flower market in Yangjae Flower Market, which mainly serves retail customers, was too quiet to be called a peak season. Recently, most sales have come from online and phone delivery orders. Numerous flowers were left piled up in each store, waiting for customers. With so few customers, merchants were listlessly trimming flowers. Their faces were filled with worry.

The situation was especially severe in the cut flower industry, where flowers have a short lifespan. Potted plants last longer, but cut flowers have their stems and leaves trimmed and cannot last more than a week. If they are purchased but not sold, they end up in the trash, causing losses for merchants. Jeong, who has been in the flower business for 27 years, said, "Even if cut flowers don’t sell, they are used for wreaths during events, but these days there are hardly any, so we are suffering big losses," adding, "This is the hardest time I’ve had in my business. Sales have been cut in half, and I’m only using the savings I had because I can’t make money."

◆ Wholesale markets also see a sharp drop in sales = The fresh flower wholesale market, which deals with retailers nationwide, still had some visitors. However, compared to previous years, it was less than half. Among people busily moving around asking prices here and there, the expressions of wholesale company workers were also gloomy. They could not avoid the sales impact caused by COVID-19.

According to the aT Flower Business Center, sales in January this year were 4.95158 billion KRW, showing a decline for the first time in five years. This is a 22.9% decrease compared to the same period last year. In January, sales were 3.83608 billion KRW in 2017, 6.03499 billion KRW in 2018, 6.34475 billion KRW in 2019, and 6.42228 billion KRW in 2020. The transaction volume in January this year was 1.2 million stems, down 8.36% from last year.

A representative from the aT Flower Business Center told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "Sales have dropped compared to the average year, and COVID-19 has had a big impact. Large-scale events like graduation ceremonies were all canceled or held non-face-to-face, causing a big blow," adding, "We believe the worst consumption cliff has passed this year, and we expect flower consumption to increase again with vaccine distribution."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.