Inflation is making Valentine's Day a little less sweet and a little more costly for Calgarians
Inflation is making everything more expensive — and Valentine's Day staples like chocolates and roses are no exception.
That has some Calgarians choosing to stay home and cut costs during the most romantic time of the year.
Sarah O'Keefe and Steve Holness plan to stay in on Valentine's Day, order pizza and watch a movie.
"For exactly that reason, inflation," O'Keefe said.
"I usually order flowers. And I'm probably not going to this year because I actually looked at it the other day, I was like, that's quite expensive," Holness added.
Inflation in Canada has slowed since peaking at 8.1 per cent in the summer, but the costs for many items, especially groceries, remain high.
Providers of chocolate and flowers say they're busy this year, and inflation isn't cooling consumer demand, but it does cost more for them to provide their products.
Kensington Florist expects to see Calgarians lined up out the door Valentine's Day.
Matt Barciak, customer service representative at the shop, says the price of flowers is 30 per cent higher than it was last year. And certain types of blossoms can cost even more.
"The rose price has skyrocketed, and what happens during Valentine's that a lot of people don't know is they think that the flower shop charges more," he said.
"But it's in fact the farms that charge us more for the flowers. And so we have to pay more for the shipping and to get them here."
Like Kensington Florist, chocolatier Master Chocolat in Marda Loop has faced increased prices for the products it sells.
Zola Milbourne, area retail manager, said everything from the cost of ingredients to the packaging it comes in is more expensive.
"Every single thing has gone up. That's the reason why everything is so much more expensive to produce," she said.
Milbourne said packaging, in particular, costs the shop 60 per cent more to buy than it used to.
"Like even down to the stickers that we seal our boxes with, all of the things, it's price increase across the board," she said.
Those additional costs meant the shop had to raise its prices per box of chocolate, but compensated by adding more chocolate to the box.
Milbourne said people are still coming in and the place is busy, though some may be spending less.
"Maybe in some ways people's price points have gotten a little bit lower, so they might not be buying the largest box of chocolates anymore. It might be somewhere on the smaller scale," she said.
"But as far as people still getting into store to buy the chocolates, they're definitely still here. They're supporting us."
