Center City flower shop hoping to bring joy with Mother's Day deliveries amid COVID-19

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Even in a pandemic, there are some traditions worth keeping alive, like making mom feel special on Mother's Day.

"Their flowers are special for me," said one customer as she got a gift from her daughter from Bonatsos' Flower Shop, which has been open for nearly 100 years in Philadelphia, always with a mother in charge.

"My father and mother came from a different country and it's something to have a business of our own and we worked hard at it," said Mary Georgiou, the second-generation owner of the shop.

Georgiou says she's been lucky enough to pass the business to her daughter too and expressed how Mother's Day has always been one of their busiest days of the year despite COVID-19.

"A lot of people can't be with their moms, we're thankfully able to do deliveries to them still and let them know that their loved ones are thinking about them," said Alexandra Georgiou, Mary Georgiou's daughter and the third-generation owner of Bonatsos.

The store had been closed for the last few months during the shutdown but opened for online orders only in honor of Mother's Day holiday.

"Especially in this time with the COVID-19, and all of the kind of sadness and scariness that's going around and delivery those happy things and smiles on people's faces," said Georgiou.

The Georgiou's say their biggest threat to business right now isn't the pandemic itself but chains. They hope customers will check with their local mom and pop shops to see if they're open to helping keep them alive.

"Really need to show their love and support because that's how the country was made, through small businesses, and we really need to remember that," said Georgiou.

Business is down and times are tight, but the mother, daughter team says, this holiday was too important to skip.