Businesses leave Valentine's Day money on table; new events needed

 by John McGory

Valentine’s Day is big business but companies are leaving money on the table.

This Thursday is Valentine’s Day, one of the big event days of the year.  Restaurants, flower and candy stores, jewelers and travel agents all make out like bandits on February 14.

I am happy for those celebrating their Valentine’s Day love.  But what are the rest of us who are alone that day to do?  Hide in a closet?  Drink heavily and drunk dial ex-partners?  Pretend we don’t care?  Turn into haters?  We don’t want to go there.

Hallmark Cards’ research says about 50 percent of Americans purchase a Valentine’s Day greeting card.  That leaves another 50 percent of the country looking for something to do on February 14.  That spells big opportunity to me.   

What kind of events will work for singles?  Let’s first look at U.S. Census Bureau statistics on who is single.

There are 119 single men who are in their 20s for every 100 single women of the same age. Here is the breakdown for specific race and ethnic groups in their 20s:

Hispanics:  153 men per 100 women

Asian: 132 men per 100 women

Non-Hispanic whites:  120 men per 100 women

Blacks:  92 men per 100 women

A 20-something Valentine Day event for the singles could be a more male-oriented, testosterone-fueled event.  Things such as a rousing game of dodge ball or beer pong would work.  These would be good for getting out any excess energy in this crowd.  Having a bouncer or two available may be a good idea.  There could be some displaced anger. 

A male-oriented, Hispanic-themed event could bring in a good crowd considering the overwhelming number of young, single Hispanic males compared to females.  On the other hand, an event attracting black females could work as well since young black women outnumber black males.

The numbers flip heavily as we age.  There are only 34 single males for every 100 single females aged 65 or older.  The ethnic/race numbers are all in the 28-to-34-males for every 100 women range.  Ethnically-speaking it is the same when it comes to aging, men die off and women survive.  I think God realized one of us had to go.

Women-oriented events such as art or literature-themed events or wine tasting for singles have the ability to attract a good, female-dominated crowd.

Valentine’s Day is the biggest holiday offender of forgetting about “the rest of us.”  Too often businesses chase the same dollars and forget about the people who aren’t celebrating that special day.  There is more money to be made.

Maybe a Chinese New Year’s celebration would work.   The Chinese new year kicked off on February 4^th and lasts for 15 days.  And it is the Year of the Snake so that could work well with people who aren’t celebrating Valentine’s Day.

There are plenty of opportunities to give us losers in love a few options.  We don’t want to be haters.  We just want something to do.  We deserve a life too.

John McGory is the founder of FYF Events, a central Ohio promotions/event company that attracts the distracted. We create, partner, organize and manage events for business and pleasure. Contact us at FYFEvents@gmail.com. or at 614-581-3610. Check soon for our website at www.fyfevents.com or on Twitter @FYFEvents