Area florists hit hard by COVID-19 business restrictions
Amidst the global shutdown, local florists are bracing for a turbulent year, and looking at an extremely odd Motherâs Day.
âItâs hard,â said Laurie Jahnke, owner of Flowers By Laurie. âNobody can come and shop in the store. I even asked [the Chamber of Commerce] if we could just have one person in at a time and they said no... Right now we can just deliver and do curb-side.â
In lieu of in-person shopping, Jahnke has been taking pictures of her arrangements and sending them to those that are interested in purchasing one, allowing them to pick their favorite bouquet from the catalogue of photographs. She said that the community has been very responsive to the changes, and that she and her customers work together as best as they can to operate as smooth as they can: âThe people have been great. Theyâve been ordering, but itâs not like they can come in and look around... We continue to do our best to meet customersâ requests.â
In addition to nobody being able to easily browse the floristsâ wares in person, the 10-person gathering limit has effectively shutdown the majority of wedding ceremonies and funerals, both of which florists look towards as a reliable source of income.
âWeddings are down, thereâs no funerals,â said Jahnke. âInstead of having a couple-hundred dollar order, you may get a little vase, so sales are down there.â
The weddings that are being held are drastically reduced in size, and the newly enforced capacity-limit is even forcing loved ones to miss their family memberâs special day.
âI have a wedding at the end of this month, and right now she can only have 10 people,â Jahnke continued. âHer grandma canât come now, so theyâre maybe going to have it in front of where she lives.â
Jahnke voiced her support towards the idea of doing a limited opening with one customer allowed in the store at a time, while keeping a sanitation policy to help ensure safety. She advocated for a phone-call based appointment system that would allow patrons to visit and browse her inventory.
âIt would be nice if one person could come in,â she said. âBut I do understand that it is a pandemic and we donât want anybody getting sick.â
In particular, Jahnke didnât think it was fair that local businesses were barred from opening, while large chainstores continue to operate at their normal levels. She expressed her discontent with big businesses flourishing, while small businesses dangle by cobweb profit margins.
âI went to Menardâs, Fleet-Farm, and Home Depot with my husband; you canât find a parking spot, the stores are bumper- to-bumper. He looked at me and said, âYou have this little business where nobody can come in and shop, but look at all the people here.â... There must have been two or three hundred cars at every place, the greenhouses were all packed. It doesnât make sense why the little businesses are being punished.â
In addition to financial woes, Jahnke said sheâs going to miss the community festivities that would normally take place during the upcoming holiday.
âCarnations were always given away to the first 100 mothers on Motherâs Day at the restaurants, so you lose that,â she said. âBut I really just hope that all the little business can continue running.â
Green Bee Floral Designs once again opened its doors, and has been working hard to fight the dragging affects of supply chain collapse.
âI was shut down for three full weeks,â said Naomi Hartl, owner of Green Bee Floral Designs. âBut as soon as I got the okay from the health department to do those no-touch deliveries, I started back up.â
Hartl was able to obtain a grant that covered her businessâs rent and utilities for the duration of the closure, but she said the shutdown has forced her to adjust her business plans and reach out to different wholesalers and growers for supplies, leaving her normal inventory a bit thin.
âWhatâs a struggle for me and other shops is that so many of the imports into the U.S. got shut down,â Hartl said. âThe cut-flower industry relies heavily on imports from countries like the Netherlands and Columbia, especially the high-end flowers Iâm used to offering, they arenât coming in from those countries any more.â
Netherlands, the highest grossing flower exporter in the world, had to destroy around 400 million flowers in the past several weeks because they were unable to find bidders at global auction. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Agricultureâs Foreign Agricultural Service recently released a report estimating that Columbian flower sales, of which 90% are exports, have dropped by 80%.
With the cessation of floral imports and the three week closure of her store, Hartl took matters into her own hands by starting to grow flowers herself, so she could continue to provide the community with quality products.
âFor those three weeks, I put my energy into cut-flower seeds and growing a garden,â she said, adding that that the community has been mutually mindful, with a number of orders coming through to show support.
Hartl likewise agreed with the push to allow stores to host a single customer at a time, saying, âIt doesnât bother me; Iâm comfortable. If someone wanted to come through my door and be in the waiting area and check out that way, then yes. Weâd just be responsible and practice social distancing.â
Blooms Floral Design saw a major downturn in their staffing, supply availability, and sales since the onset of the shutdown.
âWe had one worker who decided to quit completely after the shutdown started,â said Rebecca, the only Blooms employee of three that continued to work. âThe other girl took off until our state opens up again.â
In addition to being at one-third worker power, Blooms saw a choke point form in their supply chains due to the aforementioned import issues, as well as national restrictions, notably on flower shipments from California.
âProbably in the second week of shutdown, we started to see where we couldnât get any product in,â Rebecca said. âOne week we barely had any plants, just because they wouldnât ship them to us. Last week, we were getting down to where there was hardly any fresh-cut flowers to get.â
Customer traffic all but stopped during the initial weeks of the outbreak, and Rebecca expressed concern over the number of people whoâve come back to shop.
âFor a while, there was nothing,â she said. âNow as people are starting to go out a little bit more out of their comfort zone, we are starting to see some comeback, but itâs not like it was.â
Despite all the financial turmoil and logistical woes, the florists are all looking forward towards one thing: Motherâs Day.
The increased sales during Easter gave the florists a much needed stream of revenue, and with Motherâs Day right around the corner, Jahnke says she hopes to soon see the same thing.
âBefore the holiday, the phone didnât ring at all, and of course nobody could come in...
We have hanging baskets and a nice floral selection, and we are delivering,â she said. âWeâre getting more orders in, I think, because of the pandemic and itâs hard to go see mom right now.â
Hartl said that sheâll continue working to the upmost of her abilities, and is preparing a multitude of specials for Motherâs Day: âIâm running things from mini-vases and bouquets to grand-floral arrangements. Iâm also doing succulent planters and hanging-baskets.â
Blooms is receiving a lot of preorders in preparation for the holiday, and is doing curbside pick-ups.
âWe have our walk-in and pick-out available too, where we have it premade,â Rebecca said. âAnd, of course, we have contactless delivery.â
Rebecca closed with a heartening message that she wanted to share with her fellow flower enthusiasts: âI want to give a special shout-out to other florists. Keep your chins up, weâre in this together.â