By Shane Morgan

Valentine ' s Day is the perfect time to let the dearest ones in your life know how much you care about them— and the age-old tradition of gifts and flowers is still a sure way of getting that message across.

" It ' s our biggest single delivery day of the year," said Brandon England, manager of Simply The Best Flowers and Gifts, one of Somerset ' s most popular one-stop shops for Valentine ' s Day options, and for gifts and floral variety for any occasion.

" We get more deliveries on that day than any other day," he said.

Simply The Best has been a long-time mainstay success in the Lake Cumberland area due to talented floral design,

family-like customer service and a huge variety of highquality flowers and gifts.

Brenda and Don England, co-owners of Simply The Best Flowers and Gifts, located in Grand Central Shopping Center, started the business decades ago and have been going strong ever since.

In terms of preparation, the team at Simply The Best makes sure to get their ducks in a row way in advance, so their patrons will have plenty to choose from.

In a near-tie with Valentine ' s Day in terms of overall business is Mother ' s Day, said Brandon.

He explained they probably do as much or more on Mother ' s Day, but it ' s more spread out because Mother ' s Day occurs on a Sunday and Simply The Best

is closed on Sundays.

" In the month leading up to Valentine ' s Day we order a lot of supplies; we get all of our vases and tape and so forth that we need," he said. " Also, we start working with our flower wholesalers and put in pre-book orders for flowers,"

He said the flowers are fresh-cut, and they order them well in advance to have the best ready for the customers.

To make sure their patrons always have access to the best floral and gift products available, the Simply The Best team aren ' t afraid to travel far and wide to find the best products the industry has to offer

" We go to national markets twice a year, once in January and again in the summer, looking for the best for our

customers," said Brandon In fact, Brandon said his family takes living up to their business ' s name— " Simply The Best "— very seriously.

He said on their scouting trips they will be considering what ' s trending in the floral market and what is coming up in the seasons ahead.

" One color could be the ' it ' color one spring and then something entirely different next spring," said Brandon.

The Englands make sure as part of their inventory purchases abroad that they have stock for their customers for the various holidays and events that may come up as the year progresses.

Arrangements and materials for arrangement design are sought for specific requirements such as Christmas, Thanksgiving,