GREAT FALLS — For many families, Mother’s Day means flowers, cards, and celebrating the moms in their lives. But at Electric City Conservatory, the holiday is also one of the busiest — and most carefully planned — times of the year.
Owner Meaghan Kelly says Mother’s Day is the shop’s biggest holiday, second only to Valentine’s Day. In fact, preparation for the occasion begins almost immediately after the current holiday ends.
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“We start a year in advance,” Kelly said.
That planning includes every part of the business, from outdoor flowers and greenhouse inventory to gifts and floral arrangements.
“We prep with our outdoor flowers. We prep with the indoor greenhouse, the gift shop, the floral side. We try and prep for everything and we generally start it literally right after Mother's Day,” Kelly said.
Kelly says the early preparation helps the business stay ahead of demand while also helping customers save money.
“I just try and do that to make sure we don't have to raise our prices with our economy that we're in right now. We're trying to keep our prices as low as we can,” she said.
Inside the greenhouse, workers spent the week arranging bouquets and helping customers pick out gifts for Mother’s Day celebrations. Kelly says the days leading up to the holiday are nonstop.
“This week is our busiest week of the whole year,” she said.
Despite the hectic pace, Kelly says her favorite part of the business is still creating the floral arrangements by hand.
“It's my design. I don't follow anybody else's designs. So, it's basically everything that we make comes out of our heads,” she said.
As customers continue shopping for the perfect bouquet, Kelly says the goal is simple: create something meaningful for every mom who walks through the door.
