I Speak Flowers is three things: the florist’s slogan, a set of standards, to be written by flower shops, that will say what a flower shop is, and a free public list of the shops that meet them. It is a program of the World Cut Flower Commission.

Here is what that looks like in one town. Barrington, Illinois has two flower shops; most towns have three or four. Search online and you will find a grocery store and thirty or more other “florists” serving the same area, almost none of them in it. I Speak Flowers brings the real shops together behind one another. They are the only ones who may say it, and as their delivery vans move through the same streets they send people here, where anyone can learn what a flower shop actually is. Two or three shops, working together, win their own town — not the outsiders claiming to be your neighbor.

That is why the list is checked in person. In each city, local florists confirm that every shop is really there. How we check the list.

In the press: the floral trade publication Thursd covered I Speak Flowers in August 2026 — Defining the Flower Shop – Who Really Speaks Flowers?

The World Cut Flower Commission

The World Cut Flower Commission is a privately held company, incorporated in Indiana, established to market the flower shop worldwide. It is paid for by florist memberships and by licenses that let suppliers use the I Speak Flowers mark.

It does not sell flowers. Its purpose is a single one — to market the florist, so that more customers walk through the door and call the shop.

Every member of the Commission is a flower shop. Growers, wholesalers and shippers that support the campaign may be licensed to use the mark in their own marketing, but a license carries no vote on the standards and no place on the list.

How the list is paid for, and what the Commission does not do with it, is set out in the Q&A’s.

One standard. Every language.

The decline of the independent flower shop is not confined to one country, and neither is this standard. The same decal, the same definition, and the same public list, in whatever language a shop trades in. Translations shown are concepts.

Who writes the standards

Flower shops do. Florists will meet area by area to decide what a flower shop is: the premises, the stock, and the training behind the work. Version 1 of the standards took effect in September 2026. It is deliberately simple, and it is revised each year by the flower shops themselves.

Each location is assessed on its own. A shop that does not meet the definition is told why, in writing, and each case is considered on its own. The Commission encourages that shop to make whatever changes are needed if it wants to show the public that it speaks flowers, and it may appeal through the Commission’s contact page. A report about a listing opens a review; it never removes a shop by itself.

The founder

The Commission was founded by William Kennicott. He comes from a floral family whose business, Kennicott Brothers Company, worked at the grower and wholesale level in the Chicago area. He spent about 25 years in wholesale before turning to wedding and event design. He has worked on both sides of the counter. The standards will be written by working flower shops because, in today’s market, the people who run real shops are the most reliable judges of what a flower shop is.

What is promised, and what is not

The Commission promises a published definition now and published standards once florists have written them, a free list, equal placement for every qualifying shop, and a written route to appeal. It does not promise orders, a number of customers, or a percentage of anything. What is being built is a definition and a register that the trade has never had. The larger opportunity is to market the phrase I Speak Flowers and to teach the public what it means. It is fresh, and this time it is worldwide.

Find a real flower shop near you · Claim your shop · Contact the Commission

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From the founder

I grew up in Barrington, Illinois, USA. Search for a florist there today and the internet shows you at least 33 businesses from somewhere else. One directory lists 10 ‘real local Barrington florists,’ and not one of them is in Barrington. Another lists a shop in Quebec, Canada, as 10.9 miles away. Barrington has two florists, and neither made either list. Those listings come from wire services, paid directories and order gatherers. The public does not know who speaks flowers, because the industry has not promoted the flower shop or the education behind it.

It is not only my hometown. In Los Altos, California, two directories show at least 23 businesses from other towns, and neither of the town’s two florists on Main Street appears on either. In Beaconsfield, England, a florist network lists four ‘florists’ for the town; not one is in Beaconsfield, and one is in East London. These are suburban towns; we have not yet looked at the major cities, but I believe the problem there is much worse.

Across the United States, independent flower shops have fallen from nearly 27,000 in 1992 to fewer than 12,000 today, and the government projects floral designer jobs will keep shrinking. When customers are sent everywhere but the shop down the street, that’s part of the reason. And it is not only this country. Britain has lost around a third of its high street florists since 2016. In the Netherlands, the country that supplies much of the world’s flowers, the number of flower and plant shops has fallen every year since 2022.

We can’t wait any longer for an industry to adjust. The reason is AI. As an industry we need one place AI can trust, not ten each speaking for its own interests — and it has to be worldwide. Customers now ask AI where to buy flowers, and AI answers from the lists with the most marketing behind them. No single flower shop can outspend the wire services and paid directories. Together, florists can. Pooling their marketing behind one list is how real flower shops will be found.

Customers have learned the truth, and with AI they are learning it even faster. I Speak Flowers was built for the age of AI: one list, and one destination where AI can find the real flower shop. It does not sell flowers. It was built for florists: flower shops are defined by real florists, every shop is found where it really is, and training, education and credentials show exactly who speaks flowers best.

William Kennicott
Founder, World Cut Flower Commission