To: Quinn, Owner
From: Ari, Shop Lead
Subject: Selling older flowers instead of throwing them out
[1] I would like to propose a simple change. Starting next month, let us sell the bunches that are too old for our front cooler from a half-price bucket by the register, instead of throwing them into the green waste bin. This memo explains how many flowers we throw away now, why I believe customers will buy older bunches, and what the change would cost and bring in.
[2] We throw away more flowers than most of us realize. For the past two weeks, I wrote down every bunch we pulled from the front cooler because it had been there for three days, as our rule says. On an average day, we pulled 24 bunches. Every one of them went into the green waste bin, even though most of them would have looked fine on a kitchen table for several more days.
[3] I am confident that customers will buy older flowers. On the last two Saturdays, I set out a bucket of pulled bunches next to the register with a sign that said "Still fresh for days, half price." Both times, the bucket was empty before noon. Several customers asked me whether we would do it every day.
[4] The bucket would also bring in money that we now throw away. Our bunches sell for $12, so an older bunch would sell for $6. If we sell just half of the 24 bunches we pull each day, that is 12 bunches, or $72 a day. We are open six days a week, so the bucket would bring in about $430 a week. It would also lower our waste bill. The hauler charges us by the bin, and pulled flowers fill almost one of our three green waste bins every week.
[5] The cost to us would be small. We already have a spare bucket and stand in the back room. Wrapping the older bunches in plain paper and pricing them takes the closing crew about fifteen minutes, and a roll of price stickers costs $9. Any bunch that does not sell within two days could go to the nursing home down the street, which has told me it would gladly take flowers for its dining room.
[6] Selling older flowers is also the right thing to do. Customers notice when a business wastes what it sells, and they stay loyal to the businesses that do not.
[7] I suggest that we try the bucket for one month. I will keep a count of what we sell, what goes to the nursing home and what we still throw away, and we can look at the numbers together at the end of the month. If the bucket does not pay for itself, we can stop.
