Amar’s Wholesale

I just came back from visiting with my sweetheart in
Cedars/​Sinai Hospital, r.
Another day or two in hospital, then she is off to rehabilitation
Amar, of course she will take with her the absolutely beautiful orchids
you made up for her. She is delighted with them; as are all of her many
guests and I.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. ..

Went to this place the afternoon of Valentine’s Day and was able to get me a bouquet of large well-​composed dragon lilies by later that evening ($ 27). Although they closed well before I met up with Amar, he gave me his cell number to meet him to pick it up after hours.
Great quality, great price and followed through!

The shop does look a little ghetto and the roses weren’t the BEST. But 40 bucks for two dozen roses is unbeatable. I figure all flowers, expensive or cheap, are going to die sooner or later.

I recently purchased a few displays of flowers from this place for a bridal shower. I wanted a particular shade of purple to match the wedding’s theme. It was a rare shade and the only flower that Amar could guarantee me in that shade was roses. When I showed up to get the flowers, the roses where NOT the color we discussed. Instead, they were a shade of pink! I mentioned it to him and he claimed that that was the color I showed him. I was really upset– he charged extra to get the color I wanted and then didn’t provide it. The water in all of the arrangements was also dirty and clearly visible as he did nothing to make the vases more decorative (ribbon, etc.). Three vases of flowers cost me over $ 200! He claimed he wasn’t even charging me for labor. I also didn’t think the flowers were arranged very nicely… honestly I think I could have done better myself. I would never order from him again. Just not worth the money and I don’t trust him to provide what I ask for.

Wholesale my a***. Talk about over priced. The flowers lasted no more than a day. Avoid like the plague.

Amar did a very nice job on the centerpieces, bouquets, and boutonnieres for our wedding in April. His office is a cluttered mess, but he is very personable and knowledgeable, and delivered simple, pretty colorful gerber daisy arrangements and orchid corsages. I think one of the reasons he can deliver at prices lower than the competition is that he is a wholesaler who actually sells to other florists and stores at the L.A. Flower Market. I would say if you go for a consultation, bring some good pictures with you and be able to explain what you want, because his albums are pretty outdated, and there are no displays on location to give you inspiration. That said, he was able to give me many suggestions that I found helpful. Overall, I would say it’s no frills but good value.

I’ve been a regular at Amar’s for several years now, but the last two trips have turned me off for the foreseeable future. True, Amar’s has the best prices around… but price doesn’t matter if all you get are broken promises and third rate quality for it.
Some background: For those in the know, peonies are notoriously expensive and their window of availability is very small. It’s also my luck that these are my wife’s favorite flowers… Roses? *SCOFF while brushing off shoulders* says mi corazon… so a few years ago with a somewhat heavy heart I called around the westside to find peonies for my wife’s birthday.
Amar really impressed me by offering his peonies at half the cost of what others were charging me and they were very big, puffy and lasted a week in the vase. Needless to say my wife was enthralled by the flowers and all was good in the world.
Cue to Valentines this year: Amar regrettably didn’t have peonies (but then again, nobody else did either) but he recommended a bunch of purple hydrangeas for my wife. They were well received until the next day when a bunch started dying. 36 hours later, hydrangea petals littered the floor. My wife understood that I don’t have an eye for flowers, but I was a little peeved that Amar would sell me flowers that would die in a day and a half.
Thinking this was a one time occurrence, I special ordered peonies for my wife’s birthday 10 days back. I specifically said I needed them for 3÷9÷11 and he assured me that he would call me around noon on that day to pick them up. Instead as I’m wondering why I didn’t get any notice and am running into a meeting with my boss’ boss, I get a call at 2:30pm saying, «Come get your flowers, we close in half an hour.» Cue argument at home that slowly picked up steam and ended up in tears and bitter recriminations partly because I wasn’t able to deliver said flowers on time. Strike 2.
So I end up having to pick up the flowers on the day after my wife’s birthday and they are the smallest peonies I’ve ever seen… Again, I’m no flower expert, but I unwisely asked Amar, «You sure they’re supposed to look like this?». He assured me that they would open up to be big and beautiful. A week later I’m looking at these small, misshapen things that should be peonies and I’m thinking: I got F’d in the A for a third time.
I thought about taking pictures of the flowers and going back to Amar’s to demand a refund, but this is the guy that has no less than three «No bargaining on flowers» signs posted throughout his establishment. Needless to say, it doesn’t seem like I’m going to find much success going down that route.
So to make up for the coin I dropped there, I hope this review finds the eye of anyone looking to frequent Amar’s. I hope that the proprietor soon realizes that you can’t just pawn off low quality merchandise to novices and expect to get away with it forever. And I hope that in the future, I’ll be smart about buying my lady gifts, pay for quality, and as a result, be able to sleep in my own bed instead of the couch with the dog.

For the past 4 years, I’ve lived about 3 blocks from Amar’s, but never really dared to go in. I mean, come on… who operates out of the back of a run-​down HOUSE except for shady businessmen selling electronics that «accidentally» fell off the back of a truck?
Well, there *are* those Chinese grandmas in Chinatown that sell you their delicious, cheap home-​made sticky rice zongzi’s only if you know which apartment unit they live in and you secretly knock on their door… but that’s besides the point…
Amar isn’t an old Chinese lady.
And neither does he look at you suspiciously.
But his prices are freaking amazing.
I mean, seriously… who constantly advertises 365 days «2 DOZEN ROSES for $ 15»???
I had to buy a bunch of flowers for a couple of high school graduations a few months ago, and I went to the «house that sells flowers» (because there’s no business sign or anything, except for the eternal «2 DOZEN ROSES FOR $ 15» sign).
I walk around the back of the house, through the tiny wooden gate and walk between a couple of overgrown bushes and BAM, there’s a cutting table and Amar’s standing there and grinning and happily welcoming you to his place. I looked around at the options and thought, «Hmmm…there really aren’t many choices,» but I guess Amar saw the concern on my face, so he invited me to visit the back of the store. Walk inside the house and there is a pretty-​good sized walk-​in cooler with all sorts of flowers. Man, that made me so much happier to see that he really had a lot of choices.
I bought 2 leis for the guys as well as a few bunches of flowers for the girls. He asked me how much I wanted to spend and I felt bad while telling him that I honestly didn’t have that much on me, but he was soooo gracious and kind that he worked with my budget and gave me awesome-​looking bouquets for the amount that I had on me.
Amar’s been at the location for YEAARRRSSSS apparently and he said that the economy’s hit him pretty hard, too, but that he’ll try to stay open as long as he can. I asked him his hours and he said that sometimes he opens as early as SEVEN in the morning! I mean, geez… what more can you say about *any* business that opens at 7, let alone a flower shop???
If I ever need to buy flowers, you know where I’m always going. =D

Amar was extremely helpful, and a wonderful source of flower knowledge. Very obvious he’s been in the business for a long time, and helped me greatly in choosing a bouquet for our anniversary.
The experience (and the price) was about 700 times better than going to regular florist. And the arrangement is beautiful. Friendly, helpful, and so very affordable.
Thanks, Amar, the wife loved them!

GF and I recently had an anniversary so I stopped off to pick up some roses. 2 dozen A+ quality red roses for $ 33 is a HELL of a great deal.

Amar is a really great and knowledgeable guy. I’ve lived right by his shop for the past few months and have now bought from Amar’s Wholesale on three different occasions spanning bouquets of flowers to two different house plants and a palm for one of my balconies. His selection is vast and his prices are great. Today I walked over with a pot from an old plant I was replacing and I left with a new Gardenia bush, fully potted and watered. He also sells pots and planters, so it’s literally everything you could need.
As a wholesaler, Amar is also the supplier to many of the local nurseries, so shopping direct through him just makes a ton of sense. Whether a plant for your house or garden or a needed bouquet for your lady, this is the place to go.

Note: yesterday I saw a banner in front of Amar’s that offered TWO DOZEN long stem roses for $ 15. Where can you beat THAT deal?!!