Valentine's Day is all about the romance and amistad for some. The cuddles. The flowers. The fancy dinners. For others, this day is a hustle.
For a lot of street vendors in Los Angeles, Valentine's Day is the biggest day of the year — followed closely by Mother's Day, naturally. From Lincoln Heights to Koreatown to Santa Monica, people are out sellings flowers, balloons, teddy bears and all sorts of other goodies the color of red, white and pink.
A seasonal but serious business
Two sisters, Cathy and Elvia, and their cousin, Edna, are out at a gas station on Venice and La Brea selling roses with baby's breath as well as bunches of bouquets of lilies, red gerbera daisies and gladiolas, bunched up with eucalyptus. The trio started doing this at the beginning of the pandemic, three years ago. "It was better than doing nothing, bored at home," Edna says.
Cathy, a freelance florist, says she loves working with her hands and doing this twice or three times a year makes sense for her.
They start their day at 5 a.m. to hunt at the L.A. Flower Market and bring their fresh goods to Mid City. Once they set up shop here, they begin to assemble the arrangements so the flowers bloom at the right time. Elvia coordinates a schedule so they have enough people to create the bouquets and greet customers.
"We do everything by hand, " Cathy says. "You could actually go to the farmer's market and purchase pre-packaged bouquets already. We don't do that. We actually freestyle all of the arrangements ourselves."
They sell outside the gas station they grew up coming to during their childhood years. This is their neighborhood. When asked about their prices, Elvia responds: "We try to keep it affordable for the community we're in."
As their business has grown over the years, they launched an Instagram page named "Marigold Arrangements" — an ode to their Oaxacan culture, which often uses xempasuchil for their traditional arrangements.
Selling all year round
Over in Koreatown, Lilia Lopez set up shop in a busy pedestrian corridor: Vermont and 3rd Street. She's been a street vendor at this corner for over 26 years — a legit pro. When she's not selling flowers or teddy bears, she's selling clothes, bags, anything to make ends meet, she says. Lilia mentions that she has three city permits to sell at this corner.
She also echoes what many vendors say: Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are the most lucrative. Lilia has to take into account the cost materials — boxes, ribbons, cards — to make her creations, which always goes up this time of year. Still, she says she turns a profit.
"No tengo el montón de dinero. No hago mucho dinero. Pero sí, puedo pagar mis biles, puedo pagar mi carro, puedo pagar mi cositas que necesito," she tells us. "Pero ya con el San Valentin o el día de las madres, ya puedo ahorrar un poquitito para algo que necesita es la única manera."
I don't have a lot of money. I don't make a lot of money, but yes I can pay my bills, pay my car and pay for my necessities. Now with Valentine's or Mother's Day I can save a bit for whatever I might need.
There are street vendors right next to her selling similar items, but she's more of a mainstay here. As we hung out with her, at least one person knew her by her name and she asked about his baby girl. "Ahí te cuidas, mijo," she says as they waved goodbye.
To hear more about a very busy day in the life of an L.A. flower vendor, listen to the How to LA podcast below:
Additional reporting by producer Evan Jacoby.
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