{"id":153212,"date":"2026-02-12T17:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153212\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:22:09","slug":"tampa-flower-shop-marks-40th-valentines-day-after-starting-as-anniversary-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/153212\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa flower shop marks 40th Valentine’s Day after starting as anniversary surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Busy <\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – For Christine Vasconcelo, Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a> isn’t just the busiest workday of the year. It\u2019s a four-decade-long family tradition built on a romantic gesture.<\/p>\n

As Bloomingdays Flower Shop on North Florida Avenue in Tampa<\/a> gears up for the big day, Vasconcelo is reflecting on the shop\u2019s 40th Valentine\u2019s season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ: Dave & Buster’s offers chance to win diamond engagement ring by playing ‘Human Crane’ game on Valentine’s Day<\/a><\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The business began when her mother, then a homemaker, took up floral design classes but wasn\u2019t happy there, Vasconcelo said.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“My dad was like, ‘well, we’re going to do something different,'” Vasconcelo said. “So, for their anniversary, he bought her a flower shop.”<\/p>\n

Her mother passed away in 2012 from ALS and Vasconcelo took over the business. Her 85-year-old father still comes in every day.<\/p>\n

MORE: Costco drops fresh lineup of Valentine’s treats and savory bites for shoppers: report<\/a><\/p>\n

This week, the shop is a whirlwind of activity, resembling a floral version of Santa\u2019s workshop. Walk-in fridges are packed to the ceiling with pre-assembled arrangements.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

The shop has had to evolve with the times. While lots of pre-orders are already on the books, Vasconcelo noted that the rise of delivery apps has fundamentally changed their workflow.<\/p>\n

“With Uber and DoorDash being a big factor, those numbers can significantly increase,” she said. “We have the quickest prep time [for those apps], so we have to have everything done and ready to go.”<\/p>\n

The shift to a weekend holiday also changes consumer behavior. Vasconcelo observed that weekend celebrations often lead to more last-minute foot traffic from those heading to dinners or parties.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

READ: McDonald\u2019s unveils McNugget Caviar Kits ahead of Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a><\/p>\n

She said this year, to help last minute people, they\u2019re bringing back “Bloomingdays After Dark,” extending its hours to accommodate the “procrastination crowd.” The shop will remain open until 10 p.m. on Thursday and Saturday, and until 11 p.m. on Friday.<\/p>\n

Despite the holiday’s reputation for high costs, Vasconcelo said the shop tries to shield customers from the worst of the seasonal price hikes.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“In this industry, we have supply and demand,” she said. “Demand goes up, prices go up. It comes from the grower all the way down, but we try to keep it very reasonable.”<\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

As the Saturday deadline looms, the message from the shop is simple: Whether you planned weeks ago or are pulling in at 9:59 p.m., they\u2019ll have a rose waiting.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story was provided by Christine Vasconcelo, the owner of Bloomingdays Flower Shop.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Holidays<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – For Christine Vasconcelo, Valentine\u2019s Day isn’t just the busiest workday of the year. It\u2019s a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,629,1186,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-153212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-fl","9":"tag-hillsborough","10":"tag-holidays","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-tampa","13":"tag-tampa-headlines","14":"tag-tampa-news","15":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}