Florists finding new ways to deliver orders for Mother’s Day

ASHLAND Mo. (KMIZ)

Flower shops across Mid-Missouri had to get innovative to get the rush of customers their flowers for Mother's Day.

Multiple flower shops in Columbia we spoke with over the phone said they were so busy they ran out of flowers.

Jessica Ward, the owner of In Any Event Floral and Gift Boutique in Ashland says its been busier than in years past.

"We went from basically zero to 100 miles an hour in one week's time," Ward said. "It has been very busy."

Ward says they stayed partially open during the quarantine and got creative with ways to still serve their customers.

In Any Event Floral and Gift Boutique used methods like "porch pick ups," where the florist leaves an order on the porch outside the shop and "drop off deliveries" where the florist drops off the order at the door and calls the customer.

"We have clients that still want to make sure that they are within the six-foot and staying safe who didn't want to come into the store," Ward said. "So we decided that with the restrictions and our square footage, we set everything up outside and allowed a no contact pickup area, so people could call, make an order over the phone, pay and then they could just drive through to pick up their stuff without any contact."

Ward says they are allowing people in the shop now but during the days leading up to this weekend, they had a one person in the shop at a time policy.

Mike Rice, a customer and Ashland resident says he prefers to shop local.

"Let's take care of the locals," Rice said. "The big chain stores you know, they're taking care of their own, and it's a little people we want to care about you know we don't want them going under."

Ward said In Any Event Floral and Gift Boutique had around 150 orders leading up to Mother's Day.