Tariff Talk (BONUS EPISODE)
This impromptu bonus episode exists because the T-word was suddenly the name on everybody's lips. Lori and Ellie pull in Abby Chick — retail florist, Flower Clique advisor, and owner of Blakemore Flowers — fresh from an ER detour the day before ("she's here, and she's still pregnant") for a candid, no-platitudes conversation about tariffs. Their promise up front: this is uncharted territory, nobody has all the answers, and "you've got this" isn't a strategy. What florists need is clarity on what's actually controllable — and that's what this conversation delivers.
Nobody knows — including your wholesaler
First, a reality check on the information chaos. Not everything on social media is true (shocking, we know), the details change daily, and if you compare vendor to vendor, it's rare to find two handling tariffs the same way. Abby's key reframe: your wholesalers are operating with about as much information as you have. They're talking to farms, not sitting in trade negotiations — so their "tariff prices" are their best-case guesses at protecting their own margins. Her real-time example: a pack of Canadian snapdragons listed at a $22.95 "tariff price" — roughly $8 a stem for a flower with nowhere near that perceived value — followed within a day by news that goods under the USMCA agreement might be exempt. Did the price list change? No. Should you expect it to, instantly? Also no. The only reliable move is constant communication with your reps — asking about contingencies, whether locked-in price lists will be honored, and remembering your rep controls none of this. You're a team.
For trusted big-picture information, the hosts point to the Society of American Florists, whose lobbyists work on the industry's behalf and whose updates you can actually rely on.
Pricing confidence is your tariff insurance
The heart of the episode is Abby's tough-love pricing message. If you've been fudging your numbers — skipping labor because "my area can't support that" — a 10–20% cost increase hits you catastrophically harder than it hits a florist with a confident, complete pricing structure. If you weren't charging 20% labor and your costs rise 20%, you just erased your entire labor line on every design. Flower Clique's product formula — a 3.5x markup plus 30% labor — has enough built-in room that Abby, who runs profitably at 20% labor in her own market, generally finds she can even add a few extra stems to a recipe. The florists who will suffer most are the ones underpricing out of fear of the shop down the street.
Two more reassurances: customers are already expecting prices to rise right now — you don't need to explain a tariff surcharge, and nobody's going to walk in and cross-examine you. And yes, raising prices may cost you a customer at the bottom of your market. As Lori puts it: that's a reality, "but the other reality is you can't afford to give them away." Whatever happens with the news cycle, let this be the final red flag that gets your pricing right.
Control what you can: design, staff, and the website
From there, the conversation turns to levers you actually hold. Design smarter: make more with less, question whether three stems of pittosporum could be two, and look hard at containers — a five-inch ceramic costs meaningfully more than a four-inch. Bring your team inside the numbers: Abby holds a morning powwow every day, and she challenges owners who are squeamish about money talk to get more transparent, because staff who understand markups and shortages make better decisions on the phone. (Transparency with a caveat the hosts underline: educate and steady your team — don't dump your anxiety on people who are quietly worried about their jobs. How you talk about this determines whether they rally or start job hunting.)
On the website and product side, Ellie shares the playbook Flower Clique sent its members: run the "website skinny" early — fewer products, more crossover between categories — so inventory stays controllable; audit product photos for blooms that no longer make cost sense (she's been Photoshopping snapdragons out with AI's help); and add a graceful substitution caveat to product pages explaining that tariffs may force swaps of equal color and value. Use email and social as your own little PR team if your customers need to hear from you.
People still need gifts
The most energizing stretch is pure opportunity-hunting. Occasions don't stop for trade policy — so widen what you sell. Abby's shop leans into same-day, human-delivered custom gifting that two-day shipping can't touch: local artists' botanical coloring books, funky socks and jewelry bundled for a college student's 21st birthday, cookies to a dorm door. She riffs a "plant lover's experience" — not just a gift basket but a service, where a designer delivers the plant, finds the right spot in the home, and gives a mini care lesson. Lori adds the character-planter idea (the adorable face pots all over Etsy — sell them filled, from a florist, delivered), and Ellie sketches a designer's-choice plant tile: let the customer pick the planter and light level, and you pick the plant. Same principle as the restaurant that's out of burrata: don't announce what you can't get — confidently offer something better.
A final, honest word on "just buy American grown": 80% of U.S. supply is imported, and domestic farms can't absorb that demand overnight. But now is exactly the time to build local-farm relationships — through resources like the Slow Flowers directory and The Floral Source — as long as you adjust expectations: local growers can't promise stem counts like a wholesaler, so you'll piece together supply from several and keep a backup plan. Worry isn't productive; work is. Write down what you control, and get busy on that list.
Key takeaways
- Your wholesalers are guessing too — stay in constant communication with reps, and lean on SAF for trustworthy updates.
- Confident, complete pricing (full markup plus labor) is your best tariff protection; underpricers will feel this worst.
- Customers already expect increases — raise prices without apology, because you can't afford to give designs away.
- Educate your staff on costs and shortages daily, but deliver the news as a leader, not an alarm bell.
- Diversify into gifting and experiences — same-day, human, creative — and skinny down your website so inventory stays controllable.
- Build local-grower relationships now, with realistic expectations about supply and stem counts.