Bloomex’s Weblog

OTTAWA November 14th, 2008 -Cesario Ginjo pitched an idea to the Dragon’s Den with implementation of a new concept; he wants to build a national brand of flower retailers and distributors according to the CBC Dragon’s Den and the National Post. His position is that if he could find investors to finance his idea of creating a Canada wide florist, he can “hit the ground running, open a new location and do $200,000 to $300,000 a year in business.”

To quote Mr. Ginjo: “With that base of sales you have the volume and the buying power to compete with the entire market. It would be like a chain store coming into the market. If you start plopping stores in seven to eight major locations in Canada, which is my idea. Now you can say, “We are a national brand.”

This idea would be a unique one, except Bloomex has already implemented this business concept since 2005. Bloomex is Canada’s largest florist. It has production facilities in 7 major Canadian cities, located in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. Bloomex is the only Canadian online florist that can deliver to over 97% of the Canadian population from it’s own production facilities. President of Bloomex, Dimitri Lokhonia who has been in the flower industry for over 9 years, adapted the Bloomex business model after noticing a similar model being used successfully in the U.S.. He began with a store front flower shop in Toronto, but Mr. Lokhonia wanted to introduce a new idea to the floral industry, one completely different than even FTD, and unique to Canada. Bloomex business model is to buy the flowers directly from the growers, which eliminates the expensive middleman and overhead expenses. It also reduces transit time from growers directly to Bloomex production facilities, which equates to fresher flowers that last longer at a better price. Bloomex has more cost effective practices by reducing overhead expenses with warehouses as oppose to store front retail, passing the savings on to consumers. The Bloomex business model allows them to design and deliver fresh cut flower bouquets at 35-50% cheaper than traditional florists. Orders can be placed via Bloomex’ secure online store http://bloomex.ca, or by their toll free number, 1-866-91-BLOOM.

This episode of the Dragon’s Den, which aired on Monday Nov. 3rd, 2008 heard Cesario Ginjo propose his business plan to the 5 moguls by beginning with, “So today, you cannot buy flowers in any major city in Canada and get the same product over and over”. When asked by one of the moguls, “There’s nothing equivalent in Canada?” Cesario replied “No”. As a national Canadian florist, with a consistent supply chain to all company owned facilities, Bloomex provides the same products and services from coast to coast.

Mr. Treliving of the Dragon’s Den responds to this proposal with, “We can’t be in a situation where we are a startup thinking it might work. We should be taking this to another level. It’s eight years old and hasn’t taken off. Why? Is it a great idea and it’s a small business or is it a great idea and a big business? That’s what the due diligence will tell us.” Bloomex can state that it is a great idea and a big business; their success in the past 2 years has shown that there is a demand for a Canadian online florist providing fresh cut flowers at better prices.

Bloomex Public Relations Manager, Michelle Robitaille comments, “We are outraged that no research was done to recognize Bloomex’s presence in this industry, being we are the largest and fastest growing florist in Canada whose continued growth is attributed to our patented F3 Fresh Flower Formula business model. Our unique model means we don’t have to “Rape and Pillage”. Our extensive contributions to a national charity like the Canadian Cancer Society have demonstrated that Bloomex is Canada’s floral preference. We welcome the challenge of others attempting to market a brand superior to Bloomex.”

Since Bloomex’s introduction to the market in 2005, they have bloomed to a staggering 200% sales increase just in the past 6 months. It has opened 4 new production facilities across the country, 2 of those facilities in Halifax and Winnipeg opened this past summer. They anticipate the opening of 3 new locations within the year. Bloomex had also launched a Flowers Wholesale division, which enables the general public to purchase bulk flowers for weddings, events, etc at a fraction of the regular price. Bloomex is the only Canadian wholesale florist that sells directly to consumers. Bloomex also has a wedding division of professional floral designers, arranging beautiful wedding flowers at practical prices.

Bloomex Media
http://bloomex.ca
publicrelations@bloomex.ca
613-963-0484