Coronavirus has florists adjusting to meet consumer demand Mother's Day weekend
Flower shops have been deemed essential in many places.
Spring is usually a busy time of year for the floral industry with proms, weddings and graduations, all of which lead to huge demand for florists and flower shops.
Small flower businesses have been dealt a blow with cancellations as a result of the novel coronavirus, but demand is once again blooming ahead of Mother's Day. Those businesses are experimenting with new ways to make money while working with a limited staff.
Luke Franco operates Tiny Hearts Farm with his wife, Jenny Elliot, in Copake, New York. He told ABC News' "Perspective" podcast that within seven to 10 days, he and his wife had to furlough their small staff with no idea how they would continue operating.
"Everything started to fall like dominoes," Franco said. "We did a big plant sale and we had to cancel that. We did some sort of open-air markets that were just canceled outright. I don't know how to say ... it was pretty unnerving. At the time, we went through a little bit of a dark period where we just said, 'Oh my God!'"
Franco said his farm is adjusting to meet consumer demand.
"We were able to pivot pretty fast and were able to open up an online Dahlia tube shop," he said. "We've been able to do curbside pickup off the farm and also there's been a lot of interest in our CSA, which is basically a subscription-based service where customers pay for a certain number of weeks of flowers up front, and then as the harvests begin to come in, they pick up once a week."
Marek Fortineaux owns Leo's Metropolitan Florist in Chicago, which was closed for a month. He said customers wouldn't be allowed inside the shop this weekend, but they will get flowers to consumers with online and phone orders, curbside pickup and delivery.
"It's a lot of uncertainty. We can't take [mothers] out to eat," Fortineaux said. "This year, you know, we can't go to church with them. This is the best way to say, you know, I love you."
Kate Penn, the CEO of the Society of American Florists, told ABC News that farmers and florists are taking precautions to make sure their bouquets are safe to deliver to friends and family.
"They're making sure that designers have their own sets of tools and that they aren't sharing their tools," she said. "They're not connecting with the person who's receiving the flowers. They're calling them ahead. They're saying, 'I'm coming by and leaving these on your doorstep.'"
The increase in sales this Mother's Day weekend isn't the only thing keeping the businesses running, according to Franco.
"The community support that we've seen has really been something that's helped us get through it," he said. "And we're feeling very confident together with the community that we can get through this storm."
Franco said he's hopeful that farms like Tiny Hearts, flower shops like Leo's Metropolitan and others will not only satisfy customers on Mother's Day, but can provide a source of comfort and happiness as the country battles COVID-19.
"The one surprising thing that I noticed is how many people have told us specifically how dependent they are on getting flowers from us every week," Franco said. "I basically have gotten phone calls and customers in tears just telling me like, 'Oh my god, you guys sold out and this is making such a difference. Like, I really enjoyed having your flowers and can you do anything for me?' That was impactful for me and just sort of brought some meaning to what we're doing."
Listen to the rest of this past week’s highlights from Perspective here.
Related Topics
Related Stories
ABC News Live