GUILDERLAND, N.Y. - Valentine's Day is supposed to be one of the busiest times of year for flower shops, but that's not the case for some flower shops in Guilderland who are worried about losing money or even shutting down.
"I'm all for contributing, and I do contribute to my local fire department, the question is when it becomes an unfair kind of fundraising," said Diana Green, owner of Bella Fleur.
Greene, and fellow florist Jean Simmons, of Classica, both own flower shops within a few miles of the Guilderland Fire Department.
Greene and Simmons were disappointed to see that the department will be bringing back one of their old fundraisers, selling roses February 12th, 13th, and 14th.
"If they do really well and we don't get the business, it's going to be iffy if we even keep our doors open, it could close me down this year, absolutely," said Simmons.
The fire department stopped the fundraiser in 2009 after businesses sent them letters complaining.
"I could only sell 700 roses that year. I took an 80 percent loss," said Simmons. The department will be selling a dozen roses for $30 while Simmons will be selling a dozen for $48, which includes the arrangement.
"They are selling them in massive amounts at unfair market value. It's not something that any florist can compete with," said Greene.
According to Guilderland Fire Department President Will Kahn, they aren't trying to hurt businesses; they just need the money as much as everyone else.
"Donations are down, and our costs are rising so we need to ramp up our fundraising opportunities and we decided to go with something we are fairly familiar with," said Kahn. "The money is going to go for community outreach, actually we have an extensive fire prevention program, we have outreach to our preschool programs and we help out with different fire departments in need."
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