Central Ohio businesses prepare for Mother’s Day rush as spending expected to hit record high

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]All right, everybody. Don't forget we are just two days away from Mother's Day, so you still have some time to get something special for mom. And you won't be alone. Mother's Day spending is expected to hit a record this year. A new survey from the National Retail Federation estimates Americans will spend about $ 38 billion for the holiday, or around $284 per person.

[00:00:23]Florists say flower prices are up compared with last year with some arrangements costing about $20 more.

[00:00:30]Business owners blame higher fuel costs, import expenses, and tariffs for driving up prices on flowers and supplies. Well, despite that, shoppers are still looking for ways to celebrate mom. And central Ohio businesses are bracing from for one of their biggest weekends of the year.

[00:00:46]10TV's Libby Cathy shows us how they're keeping up with the rush. Libby.

[00:00:53]Yolanda. Whether it's chocolatecovered strawberries or a custommade bouquet, businesses across central Ohio are in the middle of a Mother's Day rush.

[00:01:03]With Mother's Day on Sunday, local businesses are busy.

[00:01:07]>> We've got some really pretty roses on the wall.

[00:01:10]>> Making sure mom feels the love.

[00:01:13]>> Who doesn't want to celebrate their mother?

[00:01:15]>> At Thomas Chocolates, the rush is underway, >> especially since we started doing strawberries. Everybody loves strawberries.

[00:01:23]>> Candy Tripfololis has been helping run the family business for more than two decades.

[00:01:28]>> Anthony and Thomas were my grandfather and my great-grandfather.

[00:01:32]So, I was kind of born into this. And now work side by side with her son, Nick.

[00:01:36]>> I prep for Mother's Day while working for my mother. Yeah, it it's a great time. She's truly my best friend.

[00:01:42]>> Together, it's all hands on deck to prepare more than 3,000 boxes of chocolatecovered strawberries. It's truly like the proverbial kid in a candy factory.

[00:01:52]>> To get to work with family and especially with my son, it just makes Mother's Day that much more special. A chocolatecovered time crunch and labor of love leading into Sunday.

[00:02:04]>> It's about a 3 or 4 day process for us to make sure everybody has fresh strawberries with our chocolate.

[00:02:11]>> Across town, also in full bloom. We have been preparing for months.

[00:02:17]>> At Blossom Flower Bar, customers can grab a pre-made bouquet for mom or build their own stem by stem.

[00:02:24]>> There's a bunch of different ways that you can kind of honor your mom with flowers. And I think that this is um an opportunity for you to like get creative for her. 20 people come in and everyone walks away with something different. So, it's super personalized.

[00:02:37]>> The shop says they've already arranged flowers for roughly 400 mothers this weekend. It's going to be like a controlled chaos. Like so much fun, so many people in and out.

[00:02:46]>> Whether it's sweets, stems, or simply spending time together, these businesses say it's about making mom feel special.

[00:02:55]>> I hope you all have a sweet Mother's Day.

[00:03:01]>> Of course, we know that Mother's Day can be a bittersweet holiday for many. So whether you are remembering, celebrating, or taking some time for yourself this weekend, we are thinking about you and wishing all the types of moms out there a happy Mother's Day.

[00:03:15]Reporting live in Columbus, Libby Cathy, Tent TV News.