HELENA — The coronavirus pandemic impacted the entire country in ways many never could have imagined, and that includes the floral industry.
Despite an uncertain future for flowers. Pamela Lee, the owner of The Floral Cottage, pressed on and followed a dream she had wanted for two decades.
Lee built her very own flower shop. Lee says, "It's been really fun, I'm still pinching myself, it's like ahhh I got my spot!"
Pamela has owned The Floral Cottage for 21 years, and she was not going to let the pandemic ruin her plans to build her very own spot from the ground up.
"This is truly my place, I mean the big open area, the open area between the showroom, and the area where I design because I want my customers to see what I do," Pamela said.
She also has a refrigerated area for bouquets that require cooler temperatures, and one of Pamela's favorite new additions to the building is the pick-up window.
"Where they don't have to actually get out and come in, moms with kids can stay in their car and just swing in and pick up their flowers, older people if they don't want to truck through the snow and come in, or if you're just health conscious and you're afraid of coming into places you can pick your flowers up at the window," Lee added.
Mother's Day is less than one month away and while Pamela is looking forward to the increase in business, she wants customers to know, prices will be higher this year. "Some of the other farms have had to increase their pricing, so for Mother's Day there is going to be an increase in pricing in just has to happen."
When the pandemic first hit and much of the country shut down, including floral shops, flower farms across the world had nowhere to send their product, and ultimately those farms ended up dumping large amounts of their flowers.
"Those farms have not recovered some of them have actually closed and are not going to be coming back," Lee said. "So, we have had to adjust on what product we have and where we get it from. A lot of our wholesalers are still struggling with the shortage of people, shortage of product from their farms, it’s a whole industry shift."
Lee says their suppliers are also short on vases, so they have implemented a recycling program. If you bring in any flower vase the floral cottage will donate a dollar amount to an animal rescue shelter. Click here for more information on The Floral Cottage or to place an online order.
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