New Jersey’s small businesses are preparing for the upcoming Mother’s Day and hoping for a boost as National Small Business Week begins.

About 30% of small businesses have closed nationwide since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mother’s Day is one of the busiest holidays for florists – even busier than Valentine’s Day.

“Everybody has a mother, whether it’s a secondary mother. Even if their mother is alive or deceased, people come in there to take care of three or four different mothers,” says Frank Glaser, of Hollywood Florist. “Valentine’s Day – not everybody has a Valentine.”

Hollywood Florist has been a part of the Union Township community for nearly a century. The business has seen all the trends and changes throughout the years, including the difficulties that came with COVID-19. These include employees being out sick, an uptick in funerals and supply chain issues. But despite all of this, they have managed to keep their prices fair.

“We always try to cut out the middleman. And we’ve always passed those saving to our customers,” Glaser says.

Florists are just one type of small business New Jersey residents can support during Small Business Week. Others include local restaurants, nail salons and day spas.

“COVID was a hard hit. We actually were shut down for probably about three weeks,” says Jasmine Barnett.

Barnett owns and operates Bloom and Groom Wellness Lounge on Broad Street in Bloomfield. She is also busy prepping for Mother’s Day. She says she is still coming back from the losses her business suffered during the pandemic shutdown.

Barnett is offering spa packages complete with an array of treatments to entice clients to come in and save some money.

“I actually have four packages that's going to include facials and massage and a foot soak,” she says. “We’re fully booked on Mother’s Day, but we’re going to be doing appointments all month for Mother’s Day.”