Suwanee florist trying to stay afloat

By Dan Chapman

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A year ago, Delilah Smith got divorced. Sales dropped 30 percent at her Suwanee flower shop. She fell deeper into debt. Her daughter’s cystic fibrosis worsened.

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Vino Wong, vwong@ajc.com Suwanee flower shop owner Delilah Smith said her business landlord is very accommodating and cut her rent in half for three months last year. Small businesses such as hers are vulnerable in a time of belt-tightening, as flowers can be considered a luxury.

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Then things got really bad.

Smith faces foreclosure on her Duluth home. She has laid off all her employees. And on Valentine’s Day — typically the best day of the year for her type of company — it snowed, wiping out walk-in business.

“I went home and cried,” Smith said a day later with 1,000 unsold red, yellow, white and pink roses taunting her from the walk-in freezer.

The recession has sucked dry the nation’s small business entrepreneurs. Business owners such as Smith watch sales evaporate and credit disappear, and work longer hours in an often futile attempt to survive. Nearly half of the 8.4 million jobs lost this recession came from small businesses.

“Am I scared to go under? Yeah. What would I do? Where would I go?” Smith asked. “I’ve no other means of support for me and my daughter. I’m trying to hold on.”

Smith, 49, is a survivor; a hard worker who rolls from job to job, challenge to challenge. An Ohioan, she fixed helicopters in the Army, got a college degree, earned an ROTC commission, rose to captain and served in Desert Storm.

She has since managed a restaurant, delivered newspapers, picked up trash, sold Amway, dispatched trucks and, upon moving to Gwinnett County in 1998, investigated equal opportunity complaints.

In 2001, Smith bought a flower shop in Norcross. She called it Floristique. Business was good: $400,000 a year in sales within three years.

An expansion in 2004 went awry, leaving her $100,000 in debt. Competition — grocery stores, online orders, national retailers — cut further into sales. When the landlord increased the rent, Smith moved Floristique to a strip mall in Suwanee 2008.

Then the economy tanked. Corporations sliced “incidentals.” Brides cut back on floral arrangements. Walk-ins dwindled. With sales cut in half, Smith laid off five employees.

“The last time I worked Valentine’s Day for her, four or five years ago, we worked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It was that busy,” said Rachel Pippins, who helps out during the holidays. “This time I see her struggling. Flowers are a dying luxury. It’s sad. Delilah put a lot of hard work, money, time and herself into this business.”

Smith’s 16-year-old daughter, Bianca, needs two weeks hospitalization every three months. Cystic fibrosis sufferers typically don’t live out their teens. (Bianca’s father covers her health insurance; Delilah has none.)

Smith manages as best she can. She barters flowers for dinners, car repairs, hair cuts. She expects a profitable wedding season. She hopes her banker and landlord will string her along until the recession ends.

“People don’t realize how bad it really is until they go through it,” Smith said. “But I can hold on as long as I do everything myself and I don’t get sick. What choice do I have?”