LONDON, ONT. -- Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days of the year for flower shops and restaurants, but how has the pandemic impacted their bottom line during what is usually considered a day of profit?
Vice president of Forest of Flowers, Kelly Kailis, says business is down about 30 percent, since stores across London are not allowing customers to make in store purchases.
So the store has transitioned their business to rely completely on delivery orders. Extra delivery staff have also been recruited to prepare for the high volume of orders anticipated for Mother's Day.
“In the London area we have done about 5500 deliveries, normally we would do 6000 customers but that includes walk-ins,” says Kailis.
“They’ve [staff] been here since about 8 a.m. sorting packages and getting them on their way… I think we have managed really well, we have gotten tons of smiles out to moms, lots of flowers delivered and we will still be here next week,” says Kailis.
Another staple Mother’s Day tradition is a well-rounded breakfast, but this year, you will have to order it in.
Casual-fine dining restaurant, Michael’s on the Thames, never used to serve takeout or delivery options, and now that's all it does in order to survive the economic crisis and abide by the COVID-19 restrictions.
“Last year in the restaurant for mother’s day we did 173 guests for dinner,” says owner and operator, Joelle Lees.
“This year we are delivering 163 meals.”
Lees transitioned her front of house servers into delivery drivers in order to keep people employed, and also to ensure that well-deserving moms receive a speciality dinner by 7 p.m.
“We have a lot of single dinners going out tonight to moms that cant be with their families, we also have dinners going to a lot of couples, so I think moms are still getting a treat from Michael’s on the Thames, just not In the restaurant.”
