Actually, in the tiny WV town I live in, the one grocery store in town doesn’t sell flowers (neither does the 7-11, even though they do sell liquor, beer, wine, live bait, and rent movies. . .)
But just a few blocks from me (hey, this is West Union. Everything is either “just down the street” or “just around the corner”), there is a real, honest-to-goodness florist. If you go in, the woman who runs it will make you up a bouquet of whatever you want. If you’re looking for an arrangement for an occasion, she will do that, too.
I can think of quite a few, and some are Indianapolis institutions. I can think of 10 or so just on the south side, a couple of which were founded in the 1800s. Most of the newer ones are clustered around hospitals and/or funeral homes.
Have florists ever been really common? There was one on campus when I was in college, but that’s the only one I ever took any note of besides one I like to wander into to check out the potted plants in Boston. I couldn’t tell you were the closest one was to any place I’ve ever lived.
You seem to be begging the question. Why do you think they even should be disappearing, just because they happen to have left your area? (What is your area?)
The girl in the local shop around the corner from me (on Western off of Hollywood Blvd.) became my girlfriend for almost two years.
Florists make a lot of their money from weddings and occasions; they’re not especially dependent on day-to-day retail sales. Once they establish a good reputation for working weddings they can almost live off that. It’s a business that will probably never fall prey to the Internet and big box stores.