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Big crowds gather at florists to get flowers for Mother’s Day
The rush is on to get Mother's Day flowers, but what we saw at the Flower Mart in Downtown LA this afternoon was troubling.
LOS ANGELES - The Flower Mart in Downtown L.A. was a mad house on Saturday as people scrambled to get flowers for mom the day before Mother’s Day and the after Governor Gavin Newsom entered California into Phase 2 of reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some businesses like flower shops and retail stores are now allowed to re-open for delivery or curbside pick-up only.
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But “curbside pick-up” wasn’t exactly the scene downtown. People were packed inside and around the flower shops, making it nearly impossible to socially-distance. “It’s crazy,” says Manager Sara Morales.
And enforcing it, she says, is tough. “We’re trying but we can’t really be after the people because they just come here and ask for prices like, ‘I want that one,’ ‘I want this one,’ and we cannot control it.”
Ronnie Lancaster stuffed his truck with $500 worth of flowers. “We’ve got to take care of them on Mother’s Day,” he says as cars inched by. Traffic was crawling Saturday afternoon and customers said parking was a major pain. “It’s kind of kicking up now. I think we need to get back to ‘get out and get back home and get safe.’”
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It was a much calmer scenario at Kohl’s in Westchester as a short line of cars drove up and popped their trunks.
“We pretty much just drove up and text on the app that we’re here and they brought our order right out, all in less than five minutes,” says Tameka Miller. She says curbside service was the fastest way for her to get clothes for her one-month-old baby. “I actually just did my order earlier today, a few hours ago.”