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Magdeburg / Gelsenkirchen (dpa / sa) - The flower shops and horticultural companies in Saxony-Anhalt fear hard financial losses for Valentine's Day this year.

February 14th is one of the busiest sales days of the year in the industry.

Roses are the classic.

According to the State Statistical Office, a particularly large number of roses were imported to Saxony-Anhalt in February 2020 alone - a good 1.3 million pieces.

Because of the lockdown to contain the corona pandemic, flower shops in the country are closed this year.

Local shops and nurseries tried to compensate for losses with delivery and ordering services.

This only accounts for around ten to 15 percent of the usual turnover, said the spokeswoman for the country's florists' association, Manuela Goohsen.

The lockdown in Germany was extended to February 14th in mid-December 2020.

The federal and state governments want to discuss how to proceed on February 10th.

"We lack the running audience that can advise, inspire and also professionally freshly make a bouquet," said Goohsen.

In addition, decorations for events as a source of revenue have broken down.

According to the Association of German Florists (Gelsenkirchen / North Rhine-Westphalia) there are around 8,000 to 10,000 flower shops nationwide.

Around 30,000 jobs are associated with it, as spokeswoman Nicola Fink said.

"Our industry is agile and creative, has done a lot, whether through its own web shops, ordering service by phone or social media," she said.

A complicating factor is that flowers are sold in supermarkets and at discount stores, which means that horticultural companies that have their own specialist shops lose a lot of sales.

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In the so-called green professions, there are great insecurities and existential worries about how things will go this year, said Fink.

It is urgently necessary that the aid promised by the federal government be paid out quickly and unbureaucratically.

With Valentine's Day, the worries are not over.

In the greenhouses, spring plants are available for balcony and hobby gardeners.

Since hardware stores in Saxony-Anhalt are closed, this sales opportunity is also missing.

The volume of damage increases from week to week.

“If the goods cannot be sold, then in the worst case they end up in the container,” said state association spokeswoman Goohsen.

It also represents the Central German Horticultural Association (Magdeburg / Dresden) in Saxony-Anhalt in Saxony-Anhalt.

A survey by the association of 30 horticultural companies found that five million early bloomers could spoil in February alone.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210205-99-310607 / 2

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Gartenbauverband Mitteldeutschland eV

Association of German Florists

Press release State Statistical Office

Floristry and horticultural company Rieckhoff