Floral Business Expands, Opens In Glen Burnie During Pandemic

GLEN BURNIE, MD — The coronavirus pandemic didn't slow down a florist from expanding her business. Owners Christine and Joey Guenther closed their original Linthicum Heights store called The Petal Pusher and opened in Glen Burnie as WildFlower + The Petal Pusher. The also operate WildFlower stem + sundry in Arnold. They bought the Petal Pusher in 2016.

The WildFlower business concept brought to Glen Burnie focused on an open sales floor “stem bar” idea that makes all flowers for sale visible to customers as soon as they enter the shop located in Cromwell Business Park. Beautiful cut flowers are sold by the stem.

"COVID has changed our business in so many ways. The entire events industry was paused, so weddings were canceled or put on hold, or morphed from lavish affairs to backyard micro-celebrations. Weddings start to happen again, but with a lot of changes," Christine Guenther told Patch.

During the pandemic, there was an uptick in people sending floral arrangements for an assortment of occasions and reasons.

"It’s really wonderful that flowers can provide that way of showing you care, without being there. We feel so grateful to have a part in helping people stay connected," she said.

The pandemic also has changed the floral supply change. Products became unavailable, quality was altered, prices increased, all of which required flexibility.

"We closed our doors to the public for weeks, but we were still operating for phone and web sales. Our everyday routines changed to include regular sanitation of all contact areas. And we reconfigured our main work areas so that we could be further apart. Also, we worked with Anne Arundel County Economic Development Corporation and received a grant that allowed us to purchase air purifiers certified for the entire square footage of our stores. During all of this, our amazing employees changed their routines outside of work to limit their social exposure," Guenther said.

While opening a business during a pandemic sounds nerve-wracking, Guenther admitted that entrepreneurship is "always exhilarating and terrifying."

"It was really COVID that inspired us to take this next step. Having to close the doors to the public and having to mitigate the crazy circumstances really forced us to look inward and evaluate where we were at and where we were going as a business. Joey and I were talking one evening and I was like 'Hey, how serious are we about this….?' Our goal is to change people’s lives by promoting the spread of love and positivity through flowers and gifts. We realized that we are so resolutely committed to our vision, to our team and our customers that we just had to take the next step.
Guenther said.

The couple chose Glen Burnie for their new location because of its proximity to their delivery sites in Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties.

"We have also seen so much growth and development in this area in the past few years, and we are confident that Glen Burnie region will continue to be an amazing hub for our brand," she said.