TULSA, Okla. — Toni's Flowers & Gifts is a staple in the Tulsa community.
It opened 41 years ago and nothing, not even a small fire could keep them from fulfilling their Valentine's Day orders.
Owner Toni Garner got a call overnight Sunday from her security company to find a small fire near the back of her shop, by the electrical panel. They lost power and electric, but rented a generator by Monday morning.
Although the timing could not have been more challenging, with their biggest holiday three days later, Garner said they found a way to keep going.
"We're doing great, everything's great, we're working as normal," she said. "Overwhelmingly busy, we've got a lot of orders to get done, so we're gonna be working late. We have a great crew, great coworkers that work really hard, and they're all veterans so they know how to get it going. We're all working together and getting it done."
Garner and her team worked all day Sunday in the cold, before the generator got delivered the next day, trying to get ahead of their flood of Valentine's Day orders. Even still, she is slammed with about 300 orders to get done the night before. Garner said she's overwhelmed, but they had no option in stopping.
"We kept going, like I said, we're just trying to be very positive," said Garner. "What can you do? So we’ve gotta keep going, we have orders to fulfill that people have trusted us to do."
The community rallied behind the shop, sending the team well wishes online and stopping by with gifts to help them through this trying time. Garner said it astounded her to see her customers step up for her in this way.
"We're very overwhelmed at how kind Tulsa is and we're very grateful," said Garner. "We’ve been here a long time and we have a lot of nice people that we love, and they have been overwhelmingly nice."
Toni's is not accepting any new orders, but is selling some assembled bouquets on the floor for customers to browse. They anticipate being fully back up with power and electric by the end of this week.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- SUBSCRIBE on YouTube
