Smith's Name Game
The
staff at Smith's Flowers and Gifts is busy picking out names. They've
considered using a baby book, but don't want to wade through the really
unusual ones. The idea is to pick one that a lot of people share.
"If you pick Priscilla, how many Priscillas are there out there?" owner Mark Smith said.
He
and his employees aren't picking out a baby name. Instead, twice a
week, they are looking for one to put out on their Ashman Street sign.
Smith
has been adding color and creating romance around town for the past six
weeks or so by giving free roses to people with the randomly chosen
name posted out front.
"Men
will give them to their wives, women will give them to their husbands,"
he said. Sometimes a dad and daughter duo will stop in and get one they
plan to give to Mom. Some
come in to pick up their rose for themselves. "A lot of people ask, why
did you pick my name?" Smith said. "It's a lot of fun. They're always
in a good mood when they stop. Obviously, they should be."
The
name changes on Mondays and Thursdays. "At least once a week, we try to
do a name that's not gender specific," Smith said. This week, it was
Pat. Interestingly, it apparently isn't very common a name in Midland;
Smith said it yielded the least number of visitors yet.
But typically, between seven and 10 people stop in to the store, located at 2909 Ashman Street, each day. "About 75 percent of them are new people who haven't been in before," Smith said.
That's
the idea. Part of the project is about spreading cheer, and part of it
is, of course, a marketing strategy. Many of the people who stop
browse, and many make additional purchases. "It's
created a lot of laughter, it's created some new friends. It's given
some regular customers a bright spot in their day," he said.
Smith
is planning to change the incentive as time goes on. "We're trying to
do something different," he said. "The world is gloomy enough as it is
now. We need something to change it up a little bit."
Eventually, he said, someone will be getting a dozen free roses. Maybe it will be Priscilla.
Smith's on the Web
©Midland Daily News 2006