“2020 has been a difficult year” is quite the understatement. Due to COVID-19, our small local shop closed its doors in March. The decision to close, like many businesses during that time, seemed almost immediate and mandatory . Our phonelines rang nonstop with worried brides and clients. Cancellation after cancellation continued. We were in a panic but trying to remain calm. Unplugging the large flower coolers brought a feeling of eerie and defeat. Our staff remained hopeful and in positive spirits, wrapping all blooms and greens in butcher paper and allowing local residents to “grab & go” outside of our shop. We placed a donation sign on the flower cart and with that, our town contributed over $400 to Nourish NC! We were so happy to be able to help contribute to our town in such a time of disparity and need. Our designers have graciously rescheduled over 95 events and counting. As we know many businesses are in this same situation or made out worse, this year has really taught our staff to appreciate one another and the variety of skills and communication our team provides and contributes more so now, than ever before.
With the pressure of flower’s most loved holiday besides Valentine’s Day, coming up, we masked up and reopened our shop mid May. Our Mother’s Day looked quite different this year offering only two options to purchase which included no contact delivery + no contact pick up.
Being in a business that forefronts fast-paced, high stress, problem solving environments, our staff transitioned into a Covid Safe business model pretty smoothly. We have always tried to implement the importance of a safe environment and high communication skills in our day to day routine. With a lot of help from Lysol, and socially distancing ourselves each day, our flower shop continues to provide no contact deliveries and no contact pick ups everyday Monday-Friday from 9-5PM.
As more and more events rescheduled and the consultations for 2020 began to slowly filter out, we noticed our daily flower shop business was for the most part still dependable and slowly growing back to normal as the months passed. Our suppliers worked with us so graciously and just like that, this was our new normal. Card messages changed from “Thank you for hosting us” or “We had so much fun celebrating!” to read more like “I wish I could be there” and “Sending my love to you on this day”.
We realized that the intangible service that we were providing was not only the physical flowers, but more so the symbol of hope, and presence of love.
This down time has created opportunity to focus on our branding, product line selections, and more of the “behind the scenes” of our business. If you have been with Fiore for a while, you may notice this website is brand new with a (drum roll) e-commerce section! We are hopeful that this new look will be helpful and easy to place your order without picking up the phone.
While we’re not quite out of the “woods” yet with this pandemic, we are learning to adapt and overcome. We will continue spreading hope and love through the beauty of each bloom!