Flower frenzy: Business is booming for Springfield florist shop despite rising costs

A flower frenzy is taking place at the Fifth Street Flower Shop in downtown Springfield. Snipping blue ribbons wrapped around peace lily pots fit snuggly as the stems of tulips, roses and gerbera daisies are assembled with foliage leaves.

There are at least 100 different vases of greenery waiting to be filled with roses and daffodils, but by they'll all be gone soon.

Mother's Day is one of the most important days of the year in the flower industry, only being beaten out in gross income by Valentine's Day. The florist industry has bounced back in recent years, pulling in $7.39 billion in U.S. 2022 sales.

The revenue from the week-long flower dash is expected to bring in anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 for Springfield’s oldest flower shop.

The Fifth Street Flower Shop has been preparing for Mother's Day since late December, according to manager Nicki Shaub, who has been with the location for 11 years.

“We will preorder a lot of our vases and containers and supplies that we need,” Shaub said. “Right after Valentine’s Day hits, we’ll have Mother’s Day products. The first part of February we’ll start pre ordering flowers … we try to get a reasonable price when we order so we can stay in family member’s price ranges.”

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The walk-in flower cooler at Fifth Street is filled this week with bright yellows and pink flowers. Each designer has years of experience to arrange the flowers how customer wants them, because who else would know better what mom would like?

“We’ve got anything from traditional to unique to elaborate,” Shaub said. “All kinds of unique styles and ways that you’d like.”

It’s a fast-paced environment where Monroe uses two hands to fit white daisies into an arrangement while using her shoulder to keep the phone from slipping, but the store is headed toward profit, while making the occasion special for all Springfield at the same time.

“I’m not a flower person because I work with them every day and don’t want them sent to me,” Monroe laughed. “You just do so much, and you want to see people’s faces and how surprised and happy they are to get flowers.”

Remarkably, the team of just three staff have the game plan on par with the silver linings playbook and plan to fulfill over 250 orders with only two designers and one delivery man before the week resets.

There used to be a team of fifteen employees at the Fifth Street shop, but the shop was one of many in the florist industry impacted during COVID-19, and the staff reduced down to only Shaub, Monroe and deliverer Nicolai Camp.

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While staffing shrank at the shop, the cost of flowers has since increased. Shaub said the shop is paying twice or three times the amount it used to pay to have flowers shipped from California or anywhere else in the world.

“It really depends on how the world is working,” Shaub said. “The world is hurting right now. A lot of people don’t have funds to buy groceries so a lot of people don’t want to spend the money on flowers and can’t afford new stuff.”

Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for the State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Fifth Street Flower Shop seeing Mother's Day rush despite rising costs