While the COVID-19 pandemic has curbed consumer spending and kept people at home instead of in stores, some people in the floral industry say they're staying afloat because flowers bring people together.
Evergreen Florist of Appleton just moved into their new location on Mason Street and even got a socially-distant visit from Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford a few days after their grand opening. While the pandemic's economic effects caused Evergreen to open a few months later than intended, they've gotten good business so far because of their outdoor space.
Evergreen buys some of their product from Karthauser & Sons of Germantown, which offers potted plants, herbs and some cut flowers. Owner Brian Karthauser said the weather has been good for his plants this year, grown in a 180,000 square-foot greenhouse. He also grows hardy mums on just over 2 acres outside.
"The weather's been pretty good for hardy mums – if you have cool evenings, that can trigger them into blooming, but this year ... we had warmer evenings," Karthauser said. "We had a hot stretch there, yeah, but you always get that in the summertime."
Karthauser said this year's Easter holidays were devastating because they are usually a significant event for flower sales, but with church services canceled and many staying inside, a lack of sales left Karthauser with a lot of excess product. But he said sales picked back up around Mother's Day a month later. Overall, he said his potted plant sales have been going well because people are taking up gardening during quarantine.