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 Feature Story
the AJ's
difference
by Monica Humbard
Arizona chain offers fabulous florals and service in a stylish
setting.
AJ’s Fine Foods, an 11-store gourmet market headquartered in
Phoenix, Ariz., has elegant surroundings, exquisite
products—including fresh, upscale floral offerings—and superb
service that combine to, in the words of AJ’s motto, let
shoppers “experience the difference.”
The mood is set even before customers walk in the door. Outside
each store, a large patio area that is often festooned with
floral displays welcomes shoppers. Says Becky Paulson, AJ’s
floral and store presentation coordinator, “In Arizona, the
weather’s so beautiful most of the time, we’re able to display
so much outside.”
 DELIGHTING
THE SENSES
Inside, there’s much more for customers to feast their eyes on.
Lori Turner, floral manager of the Chandler, Ariz., store, has
heard customers’ first reactions when they enter her store: “You
have people walking in the door just going ‘Wow!’—the oohs and
ahhs—and then somebody in the group will say, ‘I know, that’s
why we wanted to bring you here, just to show you how pretty it
is.’ ”
They are reacting to the abundantly stocked 3,500-square-foot
floral department, which is at the entrance of each store; the
soft, warm lighting; the beautiful tile floors; the brick and
wood accents; and the softly playing music. As they progress
into the store, shoppers’ senses are further stirred by the
aroma of chef-prepared gourmet dishes in the Bistro, which
promises an “international culinary adventure” for lunch and
dinner.
What’s more, shoppers will find sashimi-grade tuna in the
Seafood Grotto and Kobe beef in the Butcher’s Corner. A huge
selection of fruits and vegetables is available in the Farmer’s
Market. In the Boulangerie, customers can satisfy their sweet
tooth with one of AJ’s signature fruit tarts. The fare is all
designed to satisfy the palate of the most discriminating foodie.
BUYING FROM THE STEM TABLE
The full-service floral department, called AJ’s Floral Boutique,
has the products and service to satisfy discriminating floral
consumers, many of whom are buying for home décor. Several of
the stores are in growing, upscale areas, with high-priced homes
whose owners spend $100 to $200 every week at AJ’s to fill them
with flowers.
 Many
of the customers choose their flowers from the focal point of
each department, a 4-foot-by-6-foot stem table, which is filled
with a tantalizing array of cut flowers, from tropicals to
lilies. Near the stem table is a designing table, where
customers can see the designers create arrangements from the
stems they choose, adding to the ambience.
Ms. Paulson says AJ’s sells some ready-made bouquets, but mostly
customers buy off the stem tables, “whether it’s ginger or
birds-of-paradise, Gerbera daisies—whatever they may want. That
way they can just grab what they want, the colors they want, and
since I have designers right on staff, we can either arrange it
for them or wrap it in cellophane. We price it, wrap it and put
a nice raffia bow on everything, and off it goes.”
Ms. Paulson says tropicals are the best sellers, such as
Oncidium orchids from Hawaii, Proteas and gingers, each for $6 a
stem, and birds-of-paradise for $4. “It could be because of how
long they last,” she says of tropicals’ popularity. “It’s also
those Southwestern colors because everyone’s home is those
colors.”
In addition to custom designs, shoppers will find arrangements
to “grab and go” in the departments’ walk-in coolers.
Arrangements sell for $39.99 and up, averaging $69. A customer
favorite is a dozen roses for $79.99.
The boutiques also sell blooming and green plants on custom-made
wooden stair-step merchandisers that match the décor of the
stores. Ms. Paulson says 60 percent of sales come from fresh
flowers, including arrangements and stems, 30 percent from
plants and 10 percent from hard goods.
 A
SUCCESSFUL OPERATION
The Floral Boutiques contribute a healthy 3.9 percent toward
total store sales. Ms. Paulson credits a supportive corporate
environment and professional floral staff for the operation’s
success. “Everybody is so pro-floral,” she says. “It makes such
a difference.”
The corporate support includes having the labor hours to staff
the departments from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. AJ’s,
whose parent company is Basha’s, a family-owned chain based in
Chandler, pays good salaries and benefits, attracting talented
designers who appreciate the corporate culture. “Because we’re
treated so well, we really try to value our employment and make
them as successful as possible, because it, in turn, ensures our
own personal successes,” says Linda Beeckman, floral manager of
the Mesa, Ariz., store. “So it’s a win-win situation.”
Corporate executives have helped out at the store level, further
endearing them to the staff. Ms. Beeckman tells of a vice
president who worked in her floral department during Valentine’s
Day last year. “He worked just as hard as he possibly could and
was a real team player,” she recalls. “How could you not respect
someone like that? That’s awesome—to come at the absolute worst
time and volunteer to help.”
STAYING CURRENT ON TRENDS
The staff rewards that corporate trust with professionalism and
excellent customer service. Ms. Beeckman comments, “We really
are like a floral shop dropped into a gourmet market.”
The designers, many of whom worked in upscale traditional floral
shops, keep up on the latest trends by going to trade shows and
seminars, visiting floral shops when they are in other cities
and reading design and home décor magazines. “We try to stay on
the cutting edge of design,” Ms. Beeckman says. “We try to keep
up with current trends not only in the industry in general but
what’s going on as far as design in L.A. and New York. We
introduce [the trends] to the public by offering new, innovative
ideas and concepts at very reasonable prices.”
The designers, who are adept at talking with customers to find
out exactly what they need, will create arrangements for clients
while they shop. “Someone will walk in and say, ‘I’m having a
party tonight. I just want some type of a centerpiece. These are
the colors I want,’ ” Ms. Paulson relates. “And while they’re
shopping, we can make it for them.”
The designers also make sure to offer care tips to customers to
help ensure their purchases thrive in the Arizona climate. The
products have care cards, but Ms. Beeckman says, “We pride
ourselves on trying to keep a florist on the floor at all times,
so the 12 hours a day that we’re staffed, there’s usually
someone here,” giving extra advice to customers.
BUYING THE RIGHT PRODUCTS
The floral managers also pride themselves on providing the
florals that customers will want. The floral managers do their
own buying from three wholesalers in the area, who make
deliveries twice a week to ensure products are always fresh.
 Ms.
Paulson procures products for promotions because of the bigger
buying power, but on a daily basis, it’s the floral managers’
decision. “It’s ownership,” she says. “They bring in what they
want, sell what they want. We have no schematics. Every store is
a little different because they have such different
personalities.”
Ms. Turner, the floral manager of the Chandler store, is good at
gauging customers’ tastes—and sometimes giving them a little
nudge in the right direction. Her store opened nearly six years
ago, and tropicals initially weren’t big sellers, but she kept
putting them out. “Now people come here just for the tropicals
because they know they can find them here, and they can’t find
them a lot of other places,” she says.
Customers also come to Ms. Turner’s and the other AJ’s Floral
Boutiques for party, funeral and wedding work. The chain does 35
to 40 weddings a year, most of them small to medium size. “A
couple of the country clubs recommend us to their customers,”
Ms. Turner adds.
LUCRATIVE GIFT BASKET BUSINESS
In addition to their floral products, the floral departments
offer fabulous gift baskets that are made at the stores
according to shoppers’ wishes. “We put in all of the gourmet
items—all the beautiful fruits and cheeses and crackers” and
more, says Ms. Paulson.
The gift baskets sell for about $69.99 and up, sometimes much
higher. Ms. Beeckman tells of a partnership with a wine
distributor who was promoting Italian wines. “We produced
beautiful baskets that looked like Tuscany—deep, dark, reeded
baskets, lush linens and gourmet foods that were shelf stable,”
she says. The baskets had price points of $125, $175, $300 and
$500, and they sold well, she reports. Her store also makes
custom gift baskets for a hospital’s doctors, in the $300 to
$500 range.
 GETTING
THE WORD OUT
For promotion, the floral departments get space every week in
the company’s newspaper ad. In addition, AJ’s buys a monthly
column in the Arizona Republic, which is the largest newspaper
in Arizona, with an average daily circulation of 454,580
readers. In the column, called “What’s New at AJ’s,” Ms. Paulson
highlights the flower or plant of the month. “They give me some
nice advertising money,” she says of her company’s executives.
“It’s been really good for the floral department.”
For in-store promotions, the departments change the
merchandising focus monthly. Ms. Paulson and the floral managers
meet in November and plan the monthly promotions for the entire
year. In January, for example, they decided to have a “White
Sale.” They brought in white blooming plants and flowers such as
Hydrangeas and callas. The idea was “to get rid of that red and
green for Christmas. It’s a fresh, clean look,” Ms. Paulson
says. The art department from parent company Basha’s makes
banners and signage for promotions.
The well-planned promotions, fresh florals and innovative
designs are all part of the emphasis AJ’s puts on quality and,
especially, customer service. “That’s where that whole
‘experience the difference’ thing comes in, where we’re highly
attuned to customer service,” Ms. Beeckman says. “It makes a big
difference in our sales and our success.”
To enjoy the rest of this issue, please go to the
Subscriptions page and get your
copy of Super Floral Retailing today!!!
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