08 May 2009 Crisis watch By Rob Rose

"Hallmark Day", or to use its traditional moniker, which pockmarks shop windows - Mother's Day - is a welcome casualty of the global recession. Not that matriarchs the world over deserve to be scorned, mind. But if the spending crunch can halt the virus of greeting card companies declaring national days of worship to such deities as the office secretary, the recession cloud may yet have a silver lining. Thanks to the Australian work ethic, this isn't just conjecture either: research agency IBISWorld has worked out that there will be a 3,9% drop in retail spending for Mother's Day in the country. In a press release, IBISWorld said "a bought or home-made card and breakfast in bed will be the order of the day for many Australian families, so Mum might have to wait until next year to unwrap that something special". Though jewellery sales are set to fall by 5% and spas by 7%, it's the flower market that will be taking a pounding. According to IBISWorld, Mother's Day contributes nearly 25% of annual revenues for florists. Unfortunately, SA's market research agencies haven't moved to fill the obvious gap in Mother's Day-related research. But Ryan Bacher, MD of NetFlorist, says Mother's Day provides about 15% of his company's annual revenue - the highest single-day injection along with Valentine's Day, which also makes up 15% of sales. Running the largest SA flower and gift service, which makes 150 000 deliveries a year, Bacher knows what he's talking about. "We're still growing, but we've seen a slowdown," he says. "This is the first time since we started 10 years ago that we've seen growth under the 20% mark." Whereas NetFlorist's sales for 2009 are 18% up on where they were this time last year, this figure would have been 35% last year. With such grizzly prospects, card firms may even be forced to shelve plans for events like "SAA Cuisine Survivors' Day" or "SABC ex-CEOs' Day".