JUNIATA, BLAIR COUNTY - Just one day before Valentine's Day, Ken Campbell bought some flowers for his wife.
"It's like that saying you hear," he said. "Happy wife, happy life."
There are millions like Campbell who will spend money on flowers, candy and cards for Valentine's Day.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend about $18.6 billion dollars on Valentine's Day gifts.
"It's our Super Bowl," said Andrea Hammel, owner of Peterman's Florist in Juniata. "There are lots of web orders, lots of phone calls and lots of walk-ins."
Over the past few years, Hammel has noticed a change that she says doesn't necessarily affect her business, but rather her customers. People are buying flowers online, and she says, not getting as much bloom for their buck.
"Often times many of those websites will take a service fee and send us the order anyway," she said.
Hammel says she first became concerned when she was filling an online order from a different web-based flower company that happened to be from one of her neighbors.
"They didn't realize if they called me directly they could save upwards of $15 to $20," Hammel added.
Hammel says that the online flower business isn't a threat to her business, but she's not certain people are aware of how many of the websites work.
As for Campbell, he prefers physically walking into a flower shop as opposed to going online, and he knows exactly what he wants.
"She's not into roses," he said. "She wants carnations so I'm getting her carnations."
According to Hammel, Valentines Day is rivaled by only one other holiday in terms of sales, Mother's Day.
"It's like that saying you hear," he said. "Happy wife, happy life."
There are millions like Campbell who will spend money on flowers, candy and cards for Valentine's Day.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend about $18.6 billion dollars on Valentine's Day gifts.
"It's our Super Bowl," said Andrea Hammel, owner of Peterman's Florist in Juniata. "There are lots of web orders, lots of phone calls and lots of walk-ins."
Over the past few years, Hammel has noticed a change that she says doesn't necessarily affect her business, but rather her customers. People are buying flowers online, and she says, not getting as much bloom for their buck.
"Often times many of those websites will take a service fee and send us the order anyway," she said.
Hammel says she first became concerned when she was filling an online order from a different web-based flower company that happened to be from one of her neighbors.
"They didn't realize if they called me directly they could save upwards of $15 to $20," Hammel added.
Hammel says that the online flower business isn't a threat to her business, but she's not certain people are aware of how many of the websites work.
As for Campbell, he prefers physically walking into a flower shop as opposed to going online, and he knows exactly what he wants.
"She's not into roses," he said. "She wants carnations so I'm getting her carnations."
According to Hammel, Valentines Day is rivaled by only one other holiday in terms of sales, Mother's Day.
