Denver Flower Shop Owner Brought To Tears By Support Shown During Coronavirus Shutdown
DENVER (CBS4) - At The Ruffly Rose flower shop in Denver, it's all hands on deck.
"Mother's Day is the busiest holiday. A lot of people think it's Valentine's Day, but it's Mother's Day," said owner Emily Rodriguez.
This comes after several hard months for the shop. Because of coronavirus, many of the events they were hired for have been canceled.
"Aside from weddings, we do a lot for graduations and bridal showers, it's just the event season. We have seen a decline in that because a lot of business has canceled," Rodriguez told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.
Mother's Day comes just as Denver's stay-at-home order is set to expire. On Friday, that order will be lifted and will bring changes to how the city operates.
The following businesses can reopen under certain guidelines: offices, retail businesses, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors, pet groomers. Those businesses must maintain a 50% capacity or 10 or fewer people. Those services are by appointment only, no walk-ins are allowed. For Rodriguez, safety is still a priority and customers won't be allowed in the small flower shop.
She says they're happy to deliver, or customers can pick up their orders outside of the store.
"Everything is no contact. People pay with Venmo or they call and shop with their credit card. We put flowers out there and plants so people can just come and shop, and it's the honor system," she told CBS4.
Chiropractors, eye doctors, real estate and college campuses can reopen with protective measures in place. Those include temperature checks, six-feet distancing, face coverings for employees and customers to keep them safe.
What will remain closed are restaurants, bars, movie theaters, stadiums and arenas, gyms, yoga studios and malls where the stores don't have outside entrances, city recreation centers and libraries.
As for Rodriguez, she's glad to welcome back customers, and appreciates all they did to help her get through this tough time.
"A lot of people calling, like how can I support you? Can I buy a gift card, what can I do? That just brings tears to my eyes. Thank you, thank you for supporting small business."
