Early Valentine's

Today was the day designated for news outlets across the world to garner their cheesy Valentine's Day reports before the week's end.

I GOT MINE!

But it was not as cheesy as you think...and yes, it was a business story.



I interviewed florists, merchants at the city market, customers and the CEO of the Kenya Flower Council, Jane Ngige.

Flowers are a big deal in Kenya. Yesterday I reported on the flower exports expected this year. The country is number two when it comes to exporting across world markets, and the lead exporter to the European Union. Flowers contribute in a major way to Kenya's economy.

Go figure...the daughter of a florist would do a story on flowers!

I hate to bring a downer, but there's no way we can ignore the economic downturn, which is affecting nearly every country in some way. My story was about how people perceive the industry is doing on Valentine's day, despite the global market meltdown.

Responses varied.

On one hand, folks around here say Valentine's Day is a relatively new thing to Kenya, and people are just now starting to get into it.



On the other hand, although officials say that Kenya is not being affected as much by worldwide market madness, people don't have as much disposable income as they did last year this time. So merchants are adjusting their prices and focusing on smaller gifts to accommodate the market.

Told you it wasn't cheesy!

Stay tuned...