Florists battle for survival as demand wilts

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 26

Florists across the state are struggling to stay afloat post Covid-19 outbreak as the demand for fresh flowers has come down drastically with no grand weddings and functions taking place. Facing huge losses, florists are looking for some alternative work to earn their livelihood.

Earlier, florists used to earn from weddings and selling bouquets, but now everything has come to the standstill. With the guest limit capped at 30 for weddings, nobody is getting floral décoration done at the weddings. People are even not purchasing colourful ””jai malas”” now.

Moreover, florists sellers are sourcing flowers from Himachal Pradesh as the supply from Delhi is not coming due to the pandemic. With people seemingly keen to spend only on essentials, the flowers are last thing on their mind.

If anyone takes a round at florist shops, then one will find that only artificial flowers are available since the outbreak. No one wants to buy anything involving exchange of many hands.

Moreover, roses, chrysanthemums, lilies, marigold and other exotic flowers which are used for decoration in weddings and religious events, have totally vanished from the shelves of the florists.

Vijay, who owns a flower shop, said, “People are scared to buy flowers amid the pandemic, due to which there is a slump in business. Earlier, we used to sell 30-40 bouquets daily apart from decorating wedding venues, but now the sale of bouquets has comes down to 2-3 per day and there are hardly any bookings for decorations”.

Another shopkeeper Sham, said, “We are not ordering any imported and exotic flowers which were earlier in a great demand as the supply has been hit. We are also not ordering locally grown flowers as people do not want to buy these due to Covid fears.”