Flowers grown in South America, Holland and California are trucked every week to a nondescript, windowless building outside Fayetteville.
Inside a refrigerated room, workers sort the plants and stick them into buckets of water. The flowers and greenery then are shipped to florists across southeastern North Carolina, from Laurinburg to Wilmington and from Smithfield to Goldsboro.
Lihmil Inc., a wholesale flower supplier based in Kernersville, opened its first regional distribution plant at the Cumberland Industrial Center two years ago.
Chris Eason, who manages the center on Tom Starling Road, said about 75 percent of the flowers sold by florists in the Fayetteville area pass through his distribution center. Most end up at funerals and weddings.
"It's a good feeling to help our customers," said Eason, a 31-year-old Wilmington native.
'Shocking' success
The distribution center, at a former Perdue Farms' chicken-processing plant, has been a profitable venture. Eason said sales have nearly doubled in the past year, buoyed by flower-buying soldiers at Fort Bragg.
"During this recession, it hasn't really hit us," he said. "It's shocking."
The plant has three weekly delivery routes across southeastern North Carolina, and a fourth one in South Carolina is planned to open soon.
Overall, the distribution center has about 140 florist customers among all its routes, including deliveries in Fayetteville.
The warehouse makes a lot of local deliveries, but some of his customers come to him. They'll scoop up last-minute flowers and supplies, such as vases, ribbons and wreaths, stacked inside the warehouse.
On a tour with a reporter in early December, Eason pointed to a dozen poinsettias on a concrete floor that were sold and awaiting pickup.
"We have another shipment coming in today," he said.
In the refrigerated section, red and yellow tulips, snapdragons, red, pink and yellow carnations and yellow daisies were shelved in bunches. All would be shipped out within a week.
Eason said he doesn't sell any of his products to grocery stores or directly to consumers. Only florist shops.
"It's about quality control for us," he said.
His concern over quality explains why the rest of the building, outside of the refrigerated section, is kept in the low 60s. He stores flowers wherever he can, in the hallways and in the cramped office area up front.
The cool temperatures help the flowers stay fresh longer, said Eason, who keeps himself bundled in jackets and sweatshirts at work.
"I've never gotten used to the cold," he said.
Holiday rush
Christmastime is the third-busiest period for Lihmil. Last December, the plant had sales of $200,000, Eason said. The second-busiest period is Mother's Day.
Not surprisingly,
valentines day flowers is the busiest, "by a long shot," Eason said.
"One customer will order $10,000 to $20,000 in roses," he said.
He said roses typically have a retail markup of two or three times the wholesale price.
He has plenty of satisfied customers.
"We do depend on them a lot," said Dale Lasater, one of the owners of Dale's Florist on Bragg Boulevard.
Before the local plant opened, Lasater said, Lihmil used to truck flowers into Fayetteville from Kernersville.
Lihmil isn't the only regular wholesale supplier. Angela Francis, a co-owner of Rainbow Florist on Clinton Road, said her shop gets shipments from Raleigh and Wilmington, too.
But most of the flowers they sell come from Lihmil, Francis said.
"All of our wedding flowers and special events come from Lihmil," she said.
Francis said she likes being able to pick up the phone, tell Eason what colors will be in a wedding and get his advice for flowers.
"It's more of a trust thing," she said.
Eason started when he was 19, answering a newspaper want-ad for a sales job delivering flowers. He was doing construction at the time.
"I said, 'Why not? Let me give it a shot,' '' he said.
Eason never left the business, and he joined Lihmil four years ago. Eason has done every job in the flower industry - retail and wholesale - but he most likes making colorful floral arrangements.
"The creativity, for me, is the greatest thing," he said. "And I really love my customers."
valentines day flowers
Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached486-3565.
