NORWICH – Valentine’s Day is usually the busiest day of the year for florists, but with 23 inches of snow falling between Tuesday and Thursday, many florists and store owners took a hit to their wallets.
“The snow is hurting business quite a bit,” said Francis Maiurano of Maiurano’s Flowers and Gift Store.
Maiurano’s, like many of the local florists, did everything possible to plan ahead, making as many deliveries as possible on Tuesday and postponing many more until today. “Most of the customers understand,” Maiurano said. “We don’t want to take the chance of going off the road.” Maiurano said some deliveries would be attempted on Wednesday afternoon, but only on the main roads.
At Pire’s Flower Basket, Valentine’s Day was a busy day despite the snow. “We’re still quite busy, but sales are down,” said Rick Williams. According to Williams, most of the customers were pretty understanding about deliveries being made early. “Ninety percent said we were doing the right thing,” Williams said. Pire’s also made a few deliveries on Wednesday in the City of Norwich and on the main streets.
Some florists, like Wendy and Kevin Silvernail of Silvernail’s Florist and Gift Shop, attempted to make all of their deliveries yesterday, despite the fearsome winter weather. “We’re still making our deliveries, it’s just taking a long time,” Wendy said. Walk-in business was affected the most by the storm. “There are no businesses around that are open,” she said.
At least one business that remained open, McNeil Jewelers, didn’t see the normal amount of Valentine’s Day traffic. “There’s a lot less business than usual,” said Jim McNeil. “Downtown is barren.” McNeil was a little disappointed that more downtown businesses did not stay open for Valentine’s Day shopping. “If you’re careful you could easily get in to do your shopping,” McNeil said.
According to McNeil, most people were planning ahead. He explained that there were more people shopping the day before Valentine’s Day than in years past, but by noon on Wednesday, only one shopper had braved the weather to come in. “Those who haven’t planned ahead might end up in the doghouse,” he said.
Sharon Jeffer of the Parson’s Daughter saw a similar lack of business on Wednesday. She explained that store owners were doing the best they could. “Everyone is putting their best foot forward,” she said. While Jeffer said her own business was slow, she worried more about the impact the weather would have on seasonal shops and florists, whose merchandise must be delivered before it dies. “Many small businesses depend on the holidays,” she said.
Despite the winter weather, Maiurano tried to keep things in perspective. “We’ve been blessed that we’ve only had this one storm,” he said, pointing out the snow situation in areas to the north, like Oswego. “It could be much worse,” he said.