MEMPHIS, Tenn — COVID-19 has put a thorn in the floral business with canceled events, but florists are hoping the busiest weekend of the year for orders will provide a much-needed boost.
Florists are hoping the weekend can provide a boost after canceled events the last two months have taken a chunk out of sales.
"It is the most unusual Mother's Day I think honestly we've ever had," Michael Doyle, owner of Lynn Doyle Flowers & Event said.
COVID-19 has made florists have to rethink their process between supply-chain issues and deliveries. Doyle said COVID-19 has largely been devastating for his "tiny" business.
"We're way off a normal Mother's Day. I'll tell you that," Doyle said. "Mother's Day as a whole, 69% of Mother's Day gifts are flowers and last year, that was nationwide a $1.9 billion dollar business. We're not going to come close to that this year."
Due to supply chain issues and less flower varieties available, they've had to think creatively when making this year's arrangements.
"That leads us to suggest, whereas your mom might be a big fan of pink tulips or purple roses, those might not be available this year, but we're going to do something super close to it," he said.
Over in downtown Memphis, Colby Midgett and her team were working as quickly as they could to catch up on orders. A large shipment of flowers came in behind schedule.
"It's a rush. It's like everybody's adrenaline is way up. We're all on a high. We're all over each other," she said.
Both florist companies said they also changed how they are doing deliveries.
"We're doing touch-free deliveries where normally we don't like to call and ruin the surprise because it's a gift. We're conveying some kind of emotion for you but now when we pull up we call upon arrival so we don't really spoil it too bad," Doyle said.
Because families cannot spend time together like they usually do, Doyle said his business has seen an increase in sales from young adults placing orders.
At Premier, Midgett said orders have been coming in from states all around Tennessee because of the COVID-19 seperation. Midgett said its helped create a significant boost for her and has hit her capacity of sales for the weekend.
Lynn Doyle's is still taking orders for Mother's Day.
