Hopefully you were prepared for Valentine's Day ...

NORWICH – Valentine’s Day is usually the busiest day of the year for florists, but with 23 inches of snow falling between Tuesday and Thursday, many florists and store owners took a hit to their wallets.

“The snow is hurting business quite a bit,” said Francis Maiurano of Maiurano’s Flowers and Gift Store.

Maiurano’s, like many of the local florists, did everything possible to plan ahead, making as many deliveries as possible on Tuesday and postponing many more until today. “Most of the customers understand,” Maiurano said. “We don’t want to take the chance of going off the road.” Maiurano said some deliveries would be attempted on Wednesday afternoon, but only on the main roads.

At Pire’s Flower Basket, Valentine’s Day was a busy day despite the snow. “We’re still quite busy, but sales are down,” said Rick Williams. According to Williams, most of the customers were pretty understanding about deliveries being made early. “Ninety percent said we were doing the right thing,” Williams said. Pire’s also made a few deliveries on Wednesday in the City of Norwich and on the main streets.

Some florists, like Wendy and Kevin Silvernail of Silvernail’s Florist and Gift Shop, attempted to make all of their deliveries yesterday, despite the fearsome winter weather. “We’re still making our deliveries, it’s just taking a long time,” Wendy said. Walk-in business was affected the most by the storm. “There are no businesses around that are open,” she said.