A few examples of beautiful, custom arrangements we can create for you and your loved ones this Valentine's holiday.
Order arrangements for your loved ones now!
Where do you turn when you need to send a gift that will lift spirits, give hope, bring joy, and even console a broken heart? You turn to your local florist. When you shop at your hometown florist such as ours you are more than a transaction, more than a profile number.
We have served the Manhattan, KS community for more than 70 years and in that time Kistner’s Flowers has watched couples get married, start families, we have watched those families grow and we have even wept with them suffering the heartache of losing a loved one.
We are not just a business that has a singular goal of turning profits but has in our core the utmost belief that we are all part of a community that gives and takes in a beautiful and symbiotic relationship; not unlike soil, sun and air that our beautiful flowers and house plants need to grow and thrive.
Unfortunately, in the world we live in, shopping and community support is mostly online in a computer-driven society where faces are not seen and names are unknown. When you order flowers from a company online that is not the florist in your hometown it is more than likely an order gather. These are online companies with no tie to our cities and towns and are strictly there to take money and push pictures that are not unique or innovative, therefore robbing florists across the globe of their ability to be creative, to get to know the person ordering and understand the need and desire that the flowers are to convey.
This special connection that can happen between a customer and a local florist is lost in the “I’ll pick the best of the worst” ordering tactic forced on the consumer by these order gatherers. Each floral order is special to us; it is a moment and memory to celebrate or mourn. A birth, a wedding, a career change, a simple gift that says I am thinking of you and appreciate you, or a goodbye to those we love. The order gatherers do not and will not give you that. They give you a less than personal experience and over charge for fees that your local florist will never see. One of the top complaints we hear by people who have used an order gatherer is that they spent “X” amount of dollars and the floral arrangement looked less than the value they spent. That is because the florist designing the flowers is not paid the amount you spent. Yes, you heard us correctly! Typically, 30% of the money you spent, goes directly to the order gatherer that could care less about repeat business or ask about your day and sincerely want to know the answer. It is the local business, whether a florist or any other retail business that suffers in this equation having to fill an order 100% while only being paid 70%.
Are we saying online shopping is bad, absolutely not! Most businesses, including our own, have websites that you can shop from and order whenever it is convenient for you. What we are saying is utilize these sites and services provided by your local community and friendly faces that are your friends, family, and neighbors. So, for Valentine’s day this year we encourage everyone who takes the time to read this to celebrate Valentine’s Day and shop local. Eat at your downtown Poyntz, Candlewood or Westloop restaurants. Stay in the Aggieville or Blue Earth Plaza hotels, enjoy a staycation and absolutely, definitely, pick up flowers at Kistner’s Flowers and let us learn your name, celebrate your life’s ups and downs and continue to be part of this amazing community and together we will make Manhattan an even better community.
Matt & Bronwyn
