The holiday for love falls on Sunday this year — are you ready?

YOUNGSTOWN

Love is in the air, and it smells of chocolate and flowers.

Mmmmmmm.

Local candy and flower shops aren’t complaining about the desire to buy something sweet and sentimental for Valentine’s Day on Sunday.

“It’s big for us,” said John Giannios, co-owner of Giannios Candy Co. in Struthers, of the holiday.

How big?

It’s the third-largest holiday for the candy shop – after Easter and Christmas.

It’s the same across the state line for Sharon, Pa. -based Daffin’s Chocolate Candies.

Mitch Cohen, owner of Edward’s Flowers on Elm Street in Youngstown, estimates Valentine’s Day accounts for 5 percent to 6 percent of the store’s annual business.

This year, he estimates his sales will drop approximately 20 percent because Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday when the store will not be open.

Employees at Edward’s Flowers have been busy this week with de-thorning roses and soaking flowers in a special solution to preserve freshness.

Cohen learned the floral business from his father, Edward, who first opened the family shop in 1947.

Edward, then a mail carrier and a student, drew inspiration from a dance he attended. At his mother’s urging, Edward bought a corsage for his date.

“He felt that any business that could charge you five bucks for a corsage was the business for him,” Cohen said.

Chocolatiers and florists have St. Valentine to thank for making Feb. 14 the holiday of love.

As just one of the legends has it, St. Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome, according to The History Channel.

Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those married with wives, so he outlawed marriage for young men. St. Valentine thought this was an injustice so he continued to perform marriages in secret.

Now, St. Valentine and love are celebrated every year with cards and candy – and lots of them.

Total Valentine’s Day spending this year is expected to reach a high of $19.7 billion.

Read more about the holiday in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.