Mohamed Azakir/Reuters Mother’s Day is the single most important holiday for flower shops, with many businesses relying on strong holiday sales to survive the summertime slowdown in demand for flowers.

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, spring 2020 got off to an ominous start for florists across the United States.

1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. CEO Chris McCann and BloomNation CEO and cofounder Farbod Shoraka told Business Insider that their florist partners are seeing a major uptick in spending in the run-up to Mother’s Day.

The National Retail Federation is projecting that flower sales on Mother’s Day will increase from $2.01 billion to $2.1 billion in 2020.

Despite the good news, there remain major challenges to florists and the flower industry as a whole during COVID-19, including a major downturn for growers and wholesalers, reduced staffing, and even figuring out distribution capabilities.

But Society of American Florists CEO Kate Penn told Busines Insider that florists are some of the "resourceful" and scrappy business owners out there: "Come rain, sleet, or social distancing they’ll figure out how to get it delivered."

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For flower shops across the United States, Mother’s Day is the most important date on the calendar.

Millions of Americans setting out to make their moms feel special with a bright bouquet consistently ensure that the second Sunday of May is the biggest holiday in the flower business. Society of American Florists CEO Kate Penn told Busines Insider that flower shops can rake in as much as 15% of their annual sales through Mother’s Day alone.

But this year, florists are finding that the industry’s major holiday has landed smack dab in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic. With big weddings and large-scale festivities shut down and consumers focused on stockpiling for basic necessities, the pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders across the country certainly appeared to be bad news for flower shops.

Business Insider spoke with three flower industry insiders in order to get a sense of how retail florist shops as a whole are set to fare this Mother’s Day. They spoke of an uncertain start to the spring season, followed by an outpouring of demand from consumers looking to shower their mothers and other maternal figures with appreciation. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters ‘Panic mode’

A successful Mother’s Day isn’t usually just a boon for most florists. It’s a matter of survival.

"This holiday is so important as we then go into the summer months, which get slow in the floral industry," Chris McCann, CEO of 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc., told Business Insider. "So it’s so important for florists to have a good cash flow situation." 1-800-Flowers.com , Inc. is a floral and gourmet food gift company that works with a network of nearly 6,000 flower shops around the country. McCann said that his company and its flower shop partners experienced a dip in business since mid-March, with the widespread cancellation of events like weddings, conferences, and funerals."We were sitting at the edge of our seats to kind of see […]