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Red roses all the way

Speaking to Khaleej Times, the owner of Jenny Flowers, Jenny Joseph, said that though the demand for flowers this Valentine's Day has been same as last year's, bookings have mostly been made for the women back home. "I have mostly received orders to send single red roses and bouquets to wives back home in India," he said.

Mr Joseph, who refused to quote prices terming them a trade secret, said that more than 14,000 roses will be sent out for lovers on the D-day. "More than 70 per cent of the bookings made are for the delivery of single roses and the remaining are arrangements and bouquets," said Mr Joseph. He also said that the flower shop offers gifts as an attraction with the bookings.

"I feel there will surely be a 30 per cent increase in sales of red roses on the same day," he said, adding that because it was a weekend in between, most customers are expected to come today. "Many people also place orders on Valentine's Day," he said.

The owner of Al Ghadeer Flower Shop, Ali Merchant, said that the growth in bookings for flowers has been normal, at 20 to 30 per cent this year, same as last year's. "Every Valentine's we have 150 to 200 bookings for delivery of red roses," he said, adding that by today we will have already delivered 160 orders.

Mr Merchant also said that the red roses were imported from Kenya and were in great demand from people in the age group of 16 to 25 years old.

The owner of Dubai-based Flower Basket, Punathil Hamza, said that an increase of 30 to 40 per cent was expected in the sales of flowers this year. "This is the busiest day for us in the whole year except on Christmas day," he said. Mr Hamza said that all the flowers were freshly imported from Holland on the same day. "We already have a booking for more than 100 deliveries today.

Quoting the price, Mr Hamza said that there has been no increase in the normal prices with regard to the popularity of the day. "A single rose is available for Dh8 with ornamentation while with decorations it comes up to Dh10. A bouquet consisting of a dozen roses is available for Dh100 only," he said.

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