We understand that florists have their own challenges and unique requirements, which floor matting can help. Our blog discusses the health and safety impact of water and cutting falling to the floor, how to keep your shop clean through the use of good entrance matting and how to prevent the build up of odours caused by rotten flowers.
The Shop Front
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Shop Entrance
As with any other retail business, it is important to have effective entrance matting in place in order to prevent dirt, water and mud being traipsed through your shop. This is important both from a health and safety point of view, as well as for aesthetics.
In terms of health and safety, an effective entrance matting system will prevent dirt, water and mud brought in from outside being the cause of slip and fall accidents within your store. The key ingredient to an effective entrance system is a bi-level entrance mat. A bi-level mat will scrape and wipe dirt and water from footwear, where it will be stored in the lower level of the mat until it is cleaned. This will avoid it being tracked through your shop by subsequent customers.
Your entrance way will be the first thing a customer will see when entering your florist and is therefore your first opportunity to make a good impression. Why not use a bright, colourful logo mat to complement the flowers on display?
Logo mats can be used as a finishing mat (picks up fine dirt and moisture not removed by the previous mats) as part of the entrance mat system and also make a great branding tool.
Learn more about reasons to invest in a logo mat here
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Flower Displays
In the areas where the flowers are displayed, with customers picking up flowers out of water buckets, it is very easy for water spillages to occur or for petals to fall off on to the floor.
These things in isolation, or worse still, in combination, will create a very slippery floor and a health and safety hazard for your customers.
There's not a lot you can do to prevent these spillages, but you can put a solution in place to prevent the floor becoming slippery as a result.
By placing matting in front of the flower display, you will catch and soak up any drips. The best type of mat to use in this situation will be one with a carpet type top, which has good drying properties and will help to prevent slips. You should also ensure that the mat is rubber backed, which has a natural grip to it, making it much less likely to move from where it is placed. Matting at flower displays will also protect your floors and carpets from pollen stains.
The Back/Preparation Area
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Prevent Slips
In the preparation area, there are more than likely going to be stem cuttings and petals falling to the floor, which may create a slip hazard.
In order to prevent slips whilst preparing your flower arrangements, you should use a non-slip safety mat to provide traction under foot. The best option will be to use a mat with holes so that any cuttings that fall to the floor will fall away from the standing surface and can be cleared away at the end of the day.
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Tired Feet?
Standing up for hours arranging flowers can be tiring work on your feet and back, particularly if you are standing on hard, cold flooring. Choosing a mat with anti-fatigue properties will help to reduce tiredness and aches and pains, whilst improving productivity.
You can even get hold of matting that has both anti-fatigue properties and flow-through holes, which are perfect for the requirements of florists.
Learn more about the benefits of anti-fatigue matting here
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Preventing Bad Smells
Bad smells is not something that is usually associated with a lovely bouquet of fresh flowers. However, florists will be well aware that the slimy stem cuttings can begin to give off a bit of a bad smell after a while.
This odour is caused by bacteria and this bacteria can build up on your mats as they collect the cuttings. There are mats on the market which have a special anti-microbial coating which prevents these odours building. Using anti-microbial matting will help keep your florist smelling lovely and inviting for your customers.
Need more help choosing mats for florists?
We are here to help you! We hope that this blog has been of help to you, but if you wish to speak to someone, we can help you over the phone, just call 0800 180 4024 or via Live Chat (during UK office hours).
