HONOLULU (KHON2) — Governor David Ige announced Monday that florists will be allowed to reopen businesses on May 1st, just in time for Mother’s Day. The governor’s announcement comes at a crucial time for florists and depending on how this goes, it could pave the way for other businesses to reopen.
May is one of the biggest months of the year for florists in Hawaii and it’s more than just Mother’s Day. The May 1st opening means florists can sell lei for May Day and open the door for lei sales for graduates, even without the typical ceremonies happening this year.
“We as a company took a large hit from being closed for a month now and it was scary going into May not being able to operate too,” said Reece Farinas with Beretania Florist.
Once open again, Farinas said operations at Beretania Florist will be very different than it was before the pandemic.
“It’s not going to be anywhere near what it’s usually like for us because we were thinking last week that we would have to operate with a much smaller staff,” said Farinas.
Farinas said making sure everyone stays healthy and safe is the new top priority.
“We have a team here that’s working on making sure our processes are very sanitary. We’re making sure our staff keep certain distance apart from each other. Everybody has to, of course, be wearing a mask,” said Farinas.
“We’re going to have to be cautious, you know I mean there’s a big responsibility here being the first industry to be able to operate again,” said Farinas.
Gov. Ige said this is just the first step to reopening our economy.
“We are looking at what the other businesses [are] that we can reduce the risk of infection, so that we can begin the next phase of this COVID-19 pandemic where we can begin to get business activity and life back to normal,” said Gov. Ige.
Gov. Ige in his Facebook Live said he and the mayors of each county will continue to look at ways to reopen the economy, while keeping everyone safe.
