Checked by florists in your town. Not from an office.
Verified by florists. Not by algorithms. Not by advertisers.
Most florist lists online are run by a wire service, an association, or a company that sells memberships. They’re managed from one office, often in another state. Nobody from that office has ever walked into the shop down your street. That’s how fake flower shops and order gatherers get on the list: businesses that take your order and pass it to someone else, often for a fee.
I Speak Flowers is different. In each city, local florists form a commission. They drive past these shops every day on their delivery routes. Before a shop goes on the list, they confirm it’s real: a storefront at that address, fresh flowers in the cooler, a trained florist at the counter.
How a shop gets on the list
- A shop claims its listing, or is added to the list.
- The local commission president contacts the shop.
- A commission member confirms the shop in person, often on a delivery route that already goes past the door.
- The president and vice president approve it against the written standard.
- The listing is marked confirmed.
Bill Kennicott is checking it himself
The founder of the World Cut Flower Commission is driving across the country, city by city, visiting 10 to 30 flower shops in each one. Again and again, Google Maps sends him to a flower shop that isn’t there.
Those fake listings take calls and orders away from real florists. That’s part of why so many independent flower shops have closed. The industry has known about the problem for years, and no one has fixed it. I Speak Flowers is the fix: a list of real flower shops, checked in person by the people who know them best — local florists.
Would you hire a plumber without a license?
Or an electrician? Florists don’t have a state license, so I Speak Flowers looks for what does count: training, certification and experience. A wedding or a funeral is too important for a counter next to the checkout lane.
No florist can remove a competitor
A shop is added when two commission officers confirm it. No officer ever confirms a shop in their own ZIP code. A local commission can’t take a shop off the list on its own. If a shop can’t be confirmed, the World Cut Flower Commission reviews it against the written standard, and the shop gets to answer before anything changes. No shop pays to be listed, and no shop can pay for a better position.
We’re starting local commissions one city at a time. If your city doesn’t have one yet, its shops are marked “not yet confirmed” until local florists can check them.