The phone still rings, just like it did back when we were barely scraping by. These days though, Bonnie picks up instead of my wife and I scrambling around a tiny shop counting change, but the pattern is identical. Someone needs flowers sent somewhere, they found us, and they're hoping we can help. Last Tuesday alone, we had three calls for Porter Ranch. Kimberly wanted birthday flowers sent to her sister on Willowick Drive, Julian needed sympathy flowers for a funeral service, and then there was Michelle ordering anniversary flowers for her parents who live near the Porter Ranch Community School. That's the thing about this business, people remember occasions, they remember addresses, they remember what matters. We've been taking these kinds of calls since 2007, when the phone ringing for flowers to other places literally saved us from bankruptcy. Back then, we didn't know if we could actually pull it off, now with Porter Ranch, we're just grateful people keep finding us. The calls come in morning, afternoon, sometimes right before our cutoff at 1PM on weekdays or 10AM on Saturday, always someone who needs flowers delivered same-day if possible, always someone trusting us with something that actually matters to them.
Here's what actually happens when you order from us. If you call, Bonnie answers, she's been with us for years now and she knows exactly what questions to ask. What's the occasion, what's your budget, any color preferences, do they have allergies, when do you need it there. She's not reading from a script, she's just genuinely trying to help you get it right. If you order online, that goes straight to Ayu, she's an old friend from Bali who now processes orders every single day, she's meticulous about details because she knows one wrong street name means someone doesn't get their flowers. Then we coordinate with our vetted florist partner in the Porter Ranch area, they get all the details, they make the arrangement fresh that day, they deliver it. For same-day delivery to Porter Ranch, you need to order by 1PM Monday through Friday, or 10AM on Saturday, that gives the florist time to actually create something beautiful rather than rushing it. The cutoffs aren't arbitrary, they're based on 18 years of learning what actually works. Our size, the fact that we're just a handful of people in a small office, that's not a weakness. The big corporate competitors have automated systems, chatbots, call centers where nobody knows your name. We have Bonnie, Ayu, Phoebe when it's sympathy arrangements, my wife, Dennis, Dan, and me. You're not a ticket number here, you're someone who called because you need flowers in Porter Ranch.
I need to tell you how we even got here, because it explains why we do things this way. Way back, we had a shop, a physical location, and we were dying. I mean actually dying, some days we'd have $20 in the till and that phone would ring constantly with people wanting flowers sent to other places. We kept saying no, sorry, you'll have to call someone else. Then one day, desperate and broke, we thought what if we just took the order, charged them, then called a florist in that town and coordinated it. I remember driving to meet the first florist we partnered with, my baby daughter Asha in her car seat, walking into that shop and watching in horror as Asha pulled down a gift display that shattered everywhere. Mortifying. But Bev, the florist, she was kind about it, she understood what we were trying to do, she agreed to partner with us. That was florist number one. Over the next several years, we built relationships with florists one by one, five, ten, thirty, fifty, eventually getting connected with a massive network that now gives us access to over 15,000 vetted florists across the USA. That network includes florists who serve Porter Ranch. We're transparent about being order gatherers because hiding it never made sense to us, we'd rather you know exactly what we do and choose us anyway. The corporate flower companies, they obscure this, they make it seem like they have shops everywhere. We don't. We coordinate, we connect you with real local florists, and we've been doing it since desperation forced us to figure it out. If you want the full story, honestly we laid it all out here, every detail, because we figured transparency might actually be our advantage.
Birthday flowers to Porter Ranch happen constantly, seems like every other call is someone sending flowers to a mom, a sister, a girlfriend, a coworker. Kimberly's call last week, the birthday flowers for her sister, she wanted something bright and cheerful, she mentioned her sister loves yellow, so we made sure the florist knew that. Sympathy flowers are different, heavier, Julian calling about the funeral service, you could hear it in his voice, he needed it handled right. Those go through Phoebe usually, she works remotely from Vancouver and specializes in sympathy arrangements because she understands the weight of it. Anniversary flowers, like Michelle ordering for her parents, those have their own tone, celebratory but meaningful, often people want roses or something classic. Then you get get well flowers, thank you flowers, new baby flowers, graduation flowers coming up soon. Each occasion has a different feel, a different urgency, a different emotional weight. We remember these because Bonnie talks to these people, Ayu processes their orders, we see the names and addresses and occasions every single day. The big automated competitors, they process thousands of orders through algorithms and chatbots, everything feels transactional. Here, when you call, you talk to Bonnie. When your order gets processed, Ayu checks it. When it's sympathy, Phoebe makes sure it's handled with care. That human element, that's what the big companies have lost in their rush to scale and automate and maximize profits. We're small, we're not trying to be Amazon, we're just trying to get your flowers to Porter Ranch the way you wanted them.
Look, I know Porter Ranch has plenty of options, you could call a florist directly up there near the Vineyards or along Rinaldi, you could use one of the massive corporate sites. But if you want a team that actually remembers that $20 in the till days, that remembers what it's like to be desperate and hopeful at the same time, that's us. Order by 1PM weekdays or 10AM Saturday for same-day delivery. Give us a shot.