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THE Association of Majorcan Florists warned that it will complain to the councils and the Balearic Ministry for Commerce, that the big department stores and hypermarkets are practising unfair competition during the run up to All Saints Day (tomorrow). According to PIMECO (the Small and Medium Sized Businesses Association), to which the Association of Florists belongs, this unfair competition consists of the installation of temporary stalls selling flowers. According to PIMECO, this was done “in spite of the fact that they generally don´t have the appropriate licences” to sell flowers from these stalls.

OPPORTUNIST

To this must be added the “abundant” number of travelling merchants who acted in an “opportunist” way by arriving to sell their flowers and who, according to PIMECO, “are not allowed sell flower arrangements and are limited to selling just bunches of flowers”. However, it is well known within the sector that these types of practices go on, said a spokesman for the Association.

In addition to this, the florists added that “it is also common” that cut price shops also take advantage of this date (All Saints Day) and start selling flowers, in spite of the fact that they don´t sell them at any other time of the year. The association said that all its members are “prepared and well stocked” with enough flowers to satisfy the demand of their clients for the traditional All Saints Day festival. This is the most important date for the florists, commercially speaking, followed by Mothers' Day and Valentine's Day. With regard to the amount spent by their clients on floral tributes for the celebration of All Saints Day, the association estimates that the average amount is 30 euros, as the amount spent generally varies between 20 and 50 euros per client. As for the most popular types of flowers, the Association of Florists said that carnations, roses, gladioli, lilies and chrysanthemums were the flowers most in demand. Based on the results of previous campaigns, the florists said that the All Saints Day festival is a very deeply rooted Majorcan tradition, which is shown by the increase in the sale of flowers every year around this time. The Association of Florists said that the things their clients appreciate most are:

· the quality of the flowers

l the flower arranging service offered by professional florists l the freshness of the flowers sold by florists who belong to this association.