Coronavirus Philadelphia: Mother's Day Online Sales Skyrocketing, Giving Local Businesses Bright Spot In Pandemic
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Despite many retail industries being shut down, there are some bright spots in the business sector. Mother's Day is Sunday and jewelers and florists are reporting increases in sales.
While the brick-and-mortar stores are closed, online sales are coming in rapidly for jewelers and florists. It's not too late to get a gift, but you need to act quickly.
"By the time Saturday comes, we may pretty much be sold out," said Denise Pody, owner of Flowers Etcetera By Denise in Northern Liberties.
For Pody, that's not a bad thing. While the florist is closed to walk-ins, she says online orders are coming in at a higher rate than usual.
"A lot of people, obviously, can't see their mom or their grandmom and so flower deliveries have been pretty busy," Pody said. "It definitely has been a bright spot, even a little overwhelming."
"Everybody has a birthday, anniversaries are different. But Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are the three universal holidays, so it's one of our busiest weeks," said Steven Singer, owner of Steven Singer Jewelers in Center City.
The jewelry store's showroom is also closed, but Singer says online sales haven't stopped.
"The online orders have skyrocketed -- doesn't compensate for all the in-store orders that we've missed, but it's nice to see that we're able to help people," he said.
They're donating a portion of their gold and platinum-dipped roses to help feed first responders. Earlier this week, they bought meals for the entire hospital staff at Temple. They've also provided meals for the staff at Jefferson, Penn Presbyterian, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and other hospitals. To date, they've already handed out over 2,000 meals.
"A tiny little fraction of a thing that we can do to say thank you and to help people," Singer said.
They say they'll be making these donations for as long as the pandemic continues. On Friday, they'll again be feeding the entire staff at Temple University Hospital.
