The massive ice storms that hit Tuesday night has many businesses, including florists, struggling to deal with their daily operation in the midst of wide spread power outages.  As many of you know, Flower Shop Network is running on a back up generator until our power is functioning again.  Many of our reps have spent the last few days checking in with several of our florist members across the nation.  During this time the resilience of many of these florists has become evident.

One such florist comes to mind, Christina’s Flower & Gift Shop in Prestonburg Kentucky.  For those of you who don’t know, Kentucky, like Arkansas, was hit pretty hard and many towns have power outages. I spoke with Annette, the owner of Christina’s Flower & Gift Shop, this afternoon and was amazed how positive and cheerful she was during this crisis.  Her flower shop has had power off and on since Tuesday, taking care of her customers the best that she could.  When I ask, “how the customer were taking the inconvenience of the situation.” Annette replied, “They have all been so understanding, they’re in the same boat as we are. In fact, some of the areas around us like Lexington and Frankfort are a lot worst off.”  Annette has been able to fill and deliver most of her orders going to hospitals, residences and businesses.  I asked Annette, if she was still receiving orders from out of town.  “We are still getting calls for new orders from people out of town.  They all begin with ‘I know the weather is a problem there but do you have flowers and if so can you deliver birthday flower to …”  said Annette “… and we’ve been able to take care of most requests.”

Since her home has been without power since Tuesday, Annette and her family have been camping out at the shop. It amazes me how florist are like the energizer bunny, always in constant motion and forever being productive.  Wednesday was the only day that Christina’s was closed due to the power outage and what did Annette do? Spring cleaning.  Annette spent the day wiping down walls and cleaning what she could at home.  When I asked why, her reply was “it was a good way to keep warm.” Anyone else would have hid under a blanket, but not a florist – constantly productive and forever creating beauty.

Annette keep up the good work and hang in there.