Santa Fe florist Carol Rose has ordered 1,500 roses and has been eagerly awaiting Valentine's Day for weeks.

"We do have quite a few early orders [for roses], and that's a good sign," Rose said last week. "At Christmas, it was huge, so we expect a huge Valentine's Day." Rose owns Amanda's Flowers.

On the other hand, women's lingerie dealer Ani Chang has done away with any sign of Valentine's Day in her downtown store Allure, which used to be the center of all things St. Valentine. Chang will be happy when Tuesday is over.

Other local business people are in between in marking the mid-winter saint's day that always falls on Feb. 14.

Barton's Flowers, a longtime Santa Fe floral shop, is hoping for a good Valentine's Day this year as the economy begins to improve.

"We're hoping it will be at least equal," owner Jim Black said. "It might be better."

Santa Fe floral designer Kristine Ruesch is convinced that this year's Valentine's Day will be weaker than last's.

"I think it's the economy," she said. "People have less disposable income, and flowers are not at the top of their list. The last two years we've seen a big drop in orders. It's one of these cyclical things. Hopefully, we will get beyond that."

Next Jump, a retail trade group, analyzed last year's Valentine's shopping trends and found that Valentine's Day is "a last-minute holiday where men drive sales," a news release said.

In 2011, men on average spent $56 per purchase while women spent $40, the statement said. Flowers made up 70 percent of the purchases, with jewelry coming in second.

In addition, a new Visa Inc. survey indicates that Americans will spend less on Valentine's Day gifts, flowers, dining and other items this year. Americans plan on spending $117 this Valentine's Day, down
3 percent from $121 in 2011, a statement from Visa said.

At Santa Fe's longtime Señor Murphy Candymaker business, "things are looking pretty good" for Valentine's Day, said owner Harry Doscher. "People are ready to spend when they find a good product."

Tony Bennett (not the singer), owner of Kakawa Chocolate House in Santa Fe, said sales at his store "are significantly ahead of last year. I think that's partly due to the [recovering] economy and also to the fact that the snow has brought a lot of people into the store."

Bennett added: "We've introduced some new products and significantly upgraded our Web page. We've also added two people, one full time and another part time."

Out off Zafarano Drive, near the Regal theater, Lauren Roybal has recently opened CoCopelli Chocolatier, which sells chocolate and cupcakes.

Roybal said that she expects her biggest day for chocolate sales to be Christmas, and her second-biggest to be Valentine's Day.

Some Santa Fe lingerie stores benefit from Valentine's Day, but at Allure, "Our Valentine's Day has been just a steady decline over the last eight years," Chang said. "It's because of the economy."

Allure used to serve champagne and put a lingerie model in the window on Valentine's Day, but that was years ago.

Now, "men come in for lingerie and spend only $100 when they used to spend $300," she said. "It's really interesting."

At Underpinnings, on the other hand, Valentine's Day is "very steady," said owner Dayna Cerullo. "Usually it's a good time for us. Men seem to be shopping a little earlier."

Florist Carol Rose said the price of roses has stayed the same for the last three years, and she expects them to stay the same this year. That means volume has to go up if she wants to make any money.

To cope with the expected crush at her store, Rose will have five delivery drivers taking flowers to homes and offices, five or six floral designers, at least three people answering the phone and a few more to coordinate it all.

"I think Valentine's is one day of the year people, especially guys with a girlfriend, are willing to open up their wallets," Rose said. "He wants the girl to have flowers at work so she knows she's loved."