Local flower shop blooms with business on Mother’s Day
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Just in time for Mother’s Day, flower shops across Santa Barbara County reopened this Friday for curbside pickup.
This gave Riley’s Flowers in downtown Santa Barbara the opportunity to flourish during one of its’ biggest weekends of the year.
"It's been pretty slow since the shelter in place,” Riley's Flowers owner Maureen Riley said. “This is a huge holiday."
"It was really important because it gave the community the ability to feel safe to come out and shop again,” store manager Rachel Frantzich said.
Customers hoping to purchase last-minute gifts waited in a long line outside of Riley’s Flowers for quite some time.
"For about an hour,” customer Dennis Rosales said. "It's been quite a wait but I mean it should be worth it."
"We had this yesterday, we had a line,” Frantzich said. “We didn't stop until probably about six o'clock."
Since reopening its doors on Friday, the shop's operation is in full swing. Compared to this time last year, Riley’s Flowers has already tripled its’ Mother's Day sales.
"We weren't sure if it would be a normal Mother's Day but it's actually been very busy,” Riley said.
"We thought it was going to be pretty normal because everything was going to be lifted on Friday,” Frantzich said. “It's pretty crazy but we're handling it really well."
Another reason behind the boom in business is the fact that this year, Mexican Mother’s Day lands on the second Sunday of May.
"They're separate holidays,” Riley said. “This year, they're both on the same day."
"We knew that would make it a little busier but not as busy as it has been,” Frantzich said.
For some, hugging their mother’s may not be safe or viable during this new era of physical distancing.
However, flowers provide a symbol of love.
"People love their mother’s,” Riley said. “They want to thank them and appreciate them."
"It's not everyday that you go out and buy flowers for your Mom but they really appreciate it when you do,” Rosales concluded.
Mother’s Day weekend can provide some flower shops with half of their annual earnings.
