(From the L.A. Times) Yolanda Miranda spent two months planning for Valentine’s Day this year — assembling hundreds of cellophane-wrapped gift baskets, designing dozens of flower bouquets, hunting for deals on teddy bears, holiday mugs and picture frames.

A year ago, she made $3,000 peddling Valentine’s Day gifts from a folding table in a Northridge parking lot. This year, she doubled her offerings, staked out three spots, and imagined dollar signs over every heart. But on Sunday night, Miranda was pacing the sidewalk in front of her home, her melting candy, wilted roses and untouched pile of teddy bears crowding her tiny front lawn.

In three days, she had sold only about 40 gift baskets — 300 fewer than 2009 — and not a single one of her $10 floral arrangements: five roses in a glass vase, with a sprig of baby’s breath. Miranda took in only $400, she said — barely enough to pay for the vases, not to mention the teddy bears, baskets, balloons and 600 flowers.

She wasn’t ready to calculate her loss. “I can try to sell the toys again next year,” she told me. “And maybe someone will still come.” She pulled her cellphone from her pocket to check the time and peered down the street into the dark.

Read more here: Valentine’s Day vendors weren’t shown the love