Vent: The new flower market in Portland is a total mess for small shops

I drove down there last Thursday hoping to find some decent lisianthus. The place is huge, but the layout is awful, with all the good stuff hidden in the back corner. I heard a wholesaler tell another florist they were raising prices on roses by 20% next month. How are we supposed to compete with the big online guys when our own supply chain is working against us? Has anyone found a better local supplier since that place opened?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.ben5d ago

That new market is owned by the same investment group that backed FloraFleet, the delivery app. I saw the paperwork when they bought the old warehouse lot. The bad layout and high prices aren't an accident, they're meant to push small shops toward using their platform instead. It's a squeeze play. Check the lease for the vendor stalls, the fine print is brutal. We started driving to the growers in Woodburn directly on Tuesdays, it's the only way to cut them out.

owens.nancy5d ago

Ugh, that tracks completely. Had a hunch it was something like that when I saw the produce prices. The Woodburn trip is smart, honestly. We got a few neighbors together and split a big bulk order from a farm stand out past Hillsboro, cuts down on the drive time for everyone. Just gotta read those stall leases with a magnifying glass, they love hiding the fee hikes in the renewal clauses.