Then, about six weeks after the beginning of the shutdown, Mothers Day helped them rebound.
“We had our best Mothers Day we’ve ever had in out 31 years of being open,” said owner Dallas Williams. Williams says most of the flowers on Mother’s Day were ordered by people who wouldn’t be able to be with their mom that day.
“Mothers Day carried us through the beginning of the pandemic and then things were very lean.”
Most weddings of funerals in 2020 were either postponed or scaled back, including all of the weddings on Addie Lane’s calendar.
“We normally do 50 to 60 weddings a year, so for that was a huge loss for us.”
And, on top of that, local florists like Williams were competing even more with internet orders, as many sought the convenience and security of staying home.
Anoka County is hoping to help encourage people to spend more time shopping locally and less time shopping online. At a recent county board meeting, the county unveiled a new initiative called Love Where You Live. County Board Chair Scott Schulte says eating at local restaurants or buying clothing from local shops is more important than ever as businesses struggle to rebound from the pandemic.
“Shopping online isn’t going away anytime soon,” said Schulte. “But I do encourage everybody to find that little merchant down the street and help out because those are your neighbors, they live in your community probably. If not, they probably support your community. So reach out to them. And no matter whether it’s a pizza shop, just get out there and shop local, because you gotta love where you live.”
At Addie Lane Floral, Williams says loyal local customers are part of the reason her business is still here.
“It helps that people really do want to help our small local business,” said Williams.
You’ll be seeing more about the Love Where You Live campaign in the near future as the county puts out that message to chambers of commerce and social media.
