Flower Power

Floral Manager Mary Kay Peterson lets her flowers do the talking

Advice from the Experts

presents consumer-oriented information for members of UFCW 8-Golden State. In this issue, we offer tips on purchasing flowers for holidays, weddings and other occasions.

Mary Kay Peterson is someone who always smells the roses ... and the chrysanthemums, the tulips, the daffodils and any other flower she can get her hands on.

Peterson is the Floral Manger at Safeway in Roseville. She began her career in 2001 as a cashier at Safeway 1890, also in Roseville, before transferring to her current store a year later so she could become a floral manager.

“I’m a creative person at heart,” she said. “Working with flowers is an excellent way for me to use my creative abilities professionally.”

In her spare time, Peterson also uses her creative talent. She designs greeting cards and at one point, had a line of cards she sold professionally. She also dabbles in altered art.

“I take old pictures and large reading books and alter the images to give them a new look,” she said. Peterson enjoys advising her customers and creating floral arrangements.

working on weddings, holiday celebrations, and especially proms. Each holiday or time of the year requires different flowers and ways of presenting them.” Peterson is particularly proud of her work with corsages for proms.

“Proms are a huge part of our business in the late spring,” she said. “I found that all corsages looked alike, so I give each one their own special touch with spray roses and stephanotis.”

Peterson said she loves her job and her Union benefits. “With a union, you not only get excellent health, dental and vision benefits, you also get job security and a Union representative to step up to the plate for you if there are any problems at work,” she said.

“You can’t compare what you get in a Union job to working anywhere else.”

Official publication of UFCW 8-Golden State Jacques Loveall, President