‘That Kept Us Going’: Small Businesses Stay Alive With Local Help
“Summer 2020 was going to be a booming season for Giovy Buyers and her flower shop, Southern Blossom Florist. The Republican National Convention was coming to Charlotte, N.C., and she was bidding to do its floral installations. We know how that story ends. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic forced Ms. Buyers to close in March and lay off her three employees. On her last day, she looked around her shop, where cooling cases were stuffed with the flowers she imports from her home country, Ecuador, and decided to donate all of them to retirement homes.”