April 21, 2018

Toronto, ON - The final piece of the Florasaurus mystery has fallen into place, according to researchers looking into the remarkable decline and eventual supposed extinction of this once popular and thriving creature.

"Over the past few weeks, since the discovery of the lone surviving Florasaurus, we've been researching through her habitat," said a spokesman for the Florasaurus research team tasked with piecing together the history of the Florasaurus.

"We came across stacks of large binders, many so worn out they are barely held together. These binders contain hundreds of images of floral arrangements, and bear dates as old as the late 1970's. What's truly remarkable here is the lack of evolution displayed in the style of the designs. This discovery has given us a priceless archive of information and paints a precise timeline of events. The stagnation in design correlates directly with the decline in prominence of the local flower shop."

The Florasaurus team has also stated that a comparative look at the work of the Flora Futurus shows a consistent trend towards innovation and experimentation in design. "As with any evolutionary process, there are many "fossils" of missing links, attempts as evolution that failed and died off. However, we can see that the majority of those who opted for innovation succeeded in drawing to themselves the segment of the increasingly fractured flower buying market who were not siphoned off by alternate purchasing methods. This, along with the increasing pressure from new types of competitors left Florasaurus without a sustainable client base."

In related Florasaurus news, a link has been discovered that seems to point to the speciation between the Florasaurus and Flora Futurus. A document was found in the office of the Florasaurus referencing an event that is well documented in Flora Futurus history as being foundational to their evolution. Many indicators show that the Flora Futurus began to thrive around this time. While scientists are unable to reveal the contents of the document at this time, they expect to have further information in two days. "For now, all we can say with certainty is that it there is a hand-written note on the document that says, 'Maybe next year?'"

One side judges the Florasaurus quite harshly - considering it a pitiable creature that was too slow or too scared to follow the Flora Futurus on the path to success. Other scientists are much more complimentary, believing the Florasaurus was ruined by it's own good intentions.

One noted researcher explains. "The Florasaurus cared passionately about not only their craft, but their customers and the service they provided. This is something to be admired, and it could have been the foundation of their long term success."

For example, the Florasaurus knew its customers, their preferences, their buying habits, and also the expectations of recipients. It used that information to serve them well.

The problem was that the head Florasaurus was the only one that had the information - the only person the customers wanted to deal with. If the customer could not reach the Florasaurus directly the customer lacked the confidence to order. As a result the Florasaurus really could never step away from the daily operations to plan for the future. The knowledge of the customers did not scale across their business, leading to inconsistent service.

The Florasaurus also lacked the ability to reach out and communicate with customers. When customers called the Florasaurus was great. When it was time to reach out and talk to customers the Florasaurus just didn't have the means do it.

The Florasaurus had a loyal and committed customer base but those customers were inundated with new ways of buying flowers. The Florasaurus failed at maintaining "top of mind awareness" with people who at one point had been loyal customers. By the time customers had tried the new channels and been disappointed they had forgotten all about the Florasaurus.

How did others survive? Technology was a key component. There were software programs that allowed the Flora Futurus to keep track of their customers and make this information available to all of their employees. This meant that a new employee could service a customer as if they had been dealing with them for years. Technology also allowed them to raise the level of service by offering services such as delivery confirmations by e-mail.

There were also sophisticated marketing solutions that allowed florists to quickly, easily and affordably create professional marketing campaigns that would have reinforced their relationship with the customer while increasing sales. The Florasaurus could have used these tools to remind their customers that there were better options for flowers than grocery stores, direct shippers and order-gatherers.

Sadly it seems that the Florasaurus didn't explore these opportunities. Maybe they weren't interested, maybe they were a too overwhelmed. All too often they likely put it off one day at a time because they were focussed solely on looking after the things they cared so passionately about.

Whatever the case the end result was the same - extinction.

How a research accident led to the discovery of a life form believed long extinct.

A team of researchers in Toronto have spent the better part of a year documenting the evolution of the world wide web since it's inception. Last month they were working with archives of the internet from 2008 as they concentrated on some of the more interesting search phenomena of the time.

As part of the study a researcher searched for a "toronto florist" - just as someone of the time might have done were they actually looking for a florist in Toronto.

The search returned almost 100,000 results. This was fascinating - the researchers knew that at that time there were only approximately 350 florists in the GTA. Why would there be almost 100,000 websites falsely claiming to represent florists in Toronto?

For their own amusement they decided to take a look at the very last result on the list. To their surprise they found a real florist - a true brick and mortar flower shop - that had been virtually forgotten.

They passed this information to colleagues in another department. These scientists were finally able to reach the store in question by using a "fax" machine borrowed from the antiquities department. They then visited the store and, hiding behind walls of bizarre looking containers and enormous paper volumes known as "directories," they discovered the creature that we now know as the Florasaurus.

Why did a real florist in Toronto fare worse in a search for Toronto florists than almost 100,000 other enterprises, the vast majority of which were not florists and not in the city of Toronto? The simple answer is that like so many colleagues that did not survive, the Florasaurus made poor choices about website design. After years of using one that had been designed by an eleven-year old nephew they chose to go with a generic template from a wire service - one that was not designed to perform well in search.

Did this help lead to the demise of the Florasaurus? Almost certainly. Economists tell us that in the early years of the century commerce began to shift away from the in-store retail environment to the convenience of the internet. Retailers who were willing to provide a memorable and accessible online experience fared well, while others were left behind. By failing to engage users online and participate in the new social environment, the Florasaurus was quickly forgotten.

A Florasaurus expedition leads to rediscovery of numerous exotic floral varieties.

The discovery earlier this month of the Florasaurus - a life form long believed to be extinct - has led to the rediscovery of countless varieties of flora, particularly of the rose variety, which also believed to have long vanished.  The discovery was made when a team of scientists proactively declared that an expedition was necessary to further investigate the history of the Florasaurus.

"This is incredible!" notes Rosita Vendela, a botanist deeply involved with the expedition research.  "Most of us have never seen varieties like these before."  Rosita explains that there are an immeasurable number of rose varieties that have been discovered particularly in the places where the Florasaurus would have conducted business.  Varieties were well preserved and managed to survive under a composition of ash, soil and natural earthly elements during the harsh evolutionary period.  This evolution had led to the demise of many flower shops that refused to rethink their strategies, which in turn resulted in the unfortunate fate of exotic rose varieties that have only recently been rediscovered.

Estelle Akito, a specialist in Floral Economics, adds that price pressure from competition and the commoditization of flowers in general may have led the Florasaurus to cut corners in their selection of the supplier food chain.  She further states that the decision of the Florasaurus to focus on price may have sent a ripple effect in the food chain which claimed the lives of growers that nurtured the most exotic varieties in the world.

"If (the Florasaurus) had offered customers the opportunity to experience these exotic rose varieties instead of focusing their attention on price wars, we would have had the opportunity to be rewarded with a myriad of breathtaking varieties," Estelle concluded.  "This unfortunate downward spiral which led to the demise of the entire industry has really hurt us, but it is possible that these exotic varieties may be revived by those who were proactive enough to be unique and overcome the threat of extinction."

The exotic floral varieties will be catalogued and prepared for display at the local museum.

Scientists in the GTA discovered a life form long thought extinct, name it Florasaurus.

It would appear that this creature represents an evolutionary failure. Or, more precisely, the failure of a great many florists of the time to adapt to a changing environment.

"As recently as ten years ago flower shops were quite common," notes one of the researchers. "These were generally real brick and mortar shops, often family owned, that had highly skilled designers on staff. They were for the most part artisans who could get by primarily on their love of flowers and one or two other plusses - a good location, an established name, etc. Too often they ignored the realities of the business."

It is believed that around 2008 there was a fork in the evolutionary road. A few of the traditional shops took a hard look around at what they faced - a worrisome economy and relentless pressure from direct shippers, online order gatherers, grocery stores and big-box retailers. They chose to make changes that would allow them to not just survive but thrive in the decades ahead. They evolved into the relatively scarce - but very successful - flower shops that we see today.

Sadly, most florists did not choose to follow this path. They instead chose to stay with the same business practices that had worked once. It was widely believed that all of the shops who followed this path were extinct within a few years - until now.

The Florasaurus somehow managed to survive, albeit barely. This creature gives us valuable insight to an industry at a crossroads, and the choices that separated those who made it from those who did not.