Yellowknife (May 12/04) - Mother's Day has come and gone, but the receipts from the week are proceeding to go a long way to fatten the bottom line for local florist shops.

Dwight Hickey at Grower Direct faced long lines of customers, Saturday. Everyone was looking for the perfect bouquet for mom. - Stephan Burnett/NNSL photo

Manuela Keenan, owner of Flowers by Manuela, has been in the florist industry for almost 20 years. She said last Thursday to Sunday were equivalent to a month's worth of regular business at the shop.

Dwight Hickey with Grower Direct agreed, saying Mother's Day and Valentine's Day are the two busiest times of the year for local flower retailers.

Lee Proud, owner of Flowers North, also concurred, saying she couldn't have done it without the help of her part-time staff.

"They come in and go the extra mile and it just chokes me up," said Proud.

Hickey says all of the flowers at Grower Direct come from workers in Columbia who are paid in American funds. After the flowers are flown to Miami, they are then trucked to Canada in specially-equipped trailer units that chill the air, ride on air suspension and monitor air quality.

Once they hit Edmonton, they are flown by airplane to Yellowknife.

While Hickey and his part-time assistant Natasha Rouselle manned the Grower Direct counter on Saturday, people lined up to get mom one of their favourite bouquets.

"Everyone helps out," said Hickey. Later, she noted Trevor Glavich, manager of the Mackenzie Lounge, Paulina Rouselle, general manager of Grandma Lee's and Leonida Savoie, manager of L'Atitudes Restaurant and Bistro, all pitched in for the Mother's Day effort.

For her part, Keenan said she ordered three larger shipments this year. Last year she only had two shipments of flowers.

"I made an extra order and that was good because you want to offer your customers the most variety that you can," said Keenan.

"There were some very lucky moms in Yellowknife. We sent out some beautiful arrangements," said Proud.