Floral retailers across the state stuck with thousands of Easter flowers

Sarah Munson has been getting ready for Easter since fall. Her preparations included planting more than 1,000 bulb flowers in autumn then 1,000 lilies in January.

Munson is the fourth generation in her family to operate Beck’s Flower Shop and Gardens in Jackson. She is among hundreds of florists and growers across the state who are stranded with thousands of unsold Easter flowers as orders have dwindled with the cancellation of church services and families become hesitant to allow things from the outside into their homes.

“Morally, we’re saying, ‘OK, the governor is trying to do what’s best for all of us,’ and we’re doing our part by trying to abide by that,” Munson said. “But we still have product to sell, if we can’t sell it, we have to throw away. It’s not like we just brought these in, we’ve been growing these for months. It’s not like I had any idea that this was going to happen, I would have cut back if I had known this was going to happen.”

Garden centers, nurseries and flower shops are among many businesses in Michigan that have been deemed non-essential by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, requiring them to shut their doors to customers. 

More:Group of Detroit entrepreneurs giving out 500 free Easter baskets on Sunday

More:Here's how to dye Easter eggs using vegetables and spices

“People want to have fresh-cut flowers for Easter, but they can’t get them,” said Munson. “It’s going to put a damper because you’re not going to have that spring feel, everyone’s wanting the rebirth of life, and you can’t have that. It’s the symbol of rebirth for spring, and that’s what spring is all about and that’s what Easter is all about.”

Easter is typically one of the busiest days of the year for floral retailers, kicking off what’s usually the busy season for the industry beginning in April and lasting until June. 

Last April, the shop made approximately $200,000, Munson said. She predicts they’re not coming anywhere close this year with the month’s earnings clearing between $15,000 to $20,000. 

“This has been devastating for us,” she said. “This is our busy season and we’ve been unable to get any help from the state for small businesses because they allotted such a small amount of money for grants and loans.”

Beck’s Flower Shop and Gardens, which spans 55,000 square feet, usually delivers Easter flowers to 55 churches in Jackson alone. This year only 15 churches ordered flowers, Munson said. And those that put in orders scaled back tremendously as churches are decorating only portions that will appear on camera during live streamed services.

One church that typically orders around 100 flowers for the holiday ordered 22 this year, Munson said.

One obvious solution for the surplus of flowers — donation — is practically no longer an option as senior living facilities, hospitals, and police and fire departments turn away donations for fear of infection. 

“I don’t even know at this point, when we are done and have leftovers we’re just going to almost have them die back and we are going to put them away and wait until next year and keep the bulbs as good as possible and hope that this does not continue,” Munson said.

Closing the door to the shop is not as simple as it is with other businesses, Munson said.

“It does not stop, it keeps going, we can’t turn off the light and say, ‘You’re on your own,’ " Munson said. “It’s a perishable item, you can’t turn it off. They’re going to grow, it’s not an ‘on-off’ switch.”

Beck’s is far from alone. Karen Hessell of Hessell’s Greenhouse in Shelby Township said the shop typically sells three to four times what it has sold thus far.

“The whole crop that has grown was focused on Easter, so this is very hard for growers,” Hessell said. “Everybody’s struggling, everyone’s trying to do what they can; we will get through it.”

From mid-April to mid-June is when the greenhouse makes 75-80% of its business for the entire year, Hessell said. She’s hoping Whitmer’s “stay home” order doesn’t get extended again, in time for what is considered the biggest day of the year for florists and growers: Mother’s Day.

“We’re just hoping and praying that something will change by the end of the month,” Hessell said.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is the worst thing that’s happened to the industry and Hessell’s greenhouse, Hessell said. The only incident that even slightly compares is when there was a road closure near the facility 15 years ago.

“Nobody has seen this in their lifetime and hopefully we never will again, but this has been very challenging to work with,” Hessell said.

The whole situation is a mess, said Patricia York of Jim’s Florist in Warren.

“You’re dealing with a perishable product that has to move every few days, so if no one buys anything, it’s all going to waste,” York said.

After shutting the doors of the shop at the end of March, York wrapped whatever stock remained into around 30 small bouquets and left them at the backdoor for people to take for free.

This time of the month is usually when York would be strategizing the shop’s order for Mother’s Day, but she says she’s hesitant to commit. 

“You’re stuck in a Catch-22. You can’t sell if you don’t have it, but if you buy it and don’t sell it, then you’re really stuck,” she said. 

Even as the shop’s sales have flatlined, York said planning for a May opening isn’t a sure plan as people will likely still be feeling wary of letting things into their homes. It’s all left her feeling hopeless.

“You don’t know how to make decisions because you don’t have enough information,” she said. “When everything’s a question mark, you don’t have anything to base your decisions on.

“Going forward, I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Contact Miriam Marini at mmarini@gannett.com