DETROIT LAKES, MINN. (KFGO) – Bergen’s Greenhouses in Detroit Lakes, one of the largest retail and wholesale plant suppliers in the region, found itself in a tough spot as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
This year, the business family-owned for 99-years, grew 160,000 Easter lilies, its specialty. But with the disruption and closing of many retail stores and churches, the company was left with thousands of the flowers unsold.
Chris Bergen says they made the decision to “share the bloom, not the gloom,” and give the lilies away for free.
Bergen says the financial loss is “significant” but he says their main business is the spring and the hope is people come out and support their local greenhouses and garden centers where ever they live.
Bergen says if he were Governor Waltz he’d say, “shelter in your yard, make your patio or deck your own oasis.”
Bergen’s employees distributed the free lilies curbside, off carts at the company’s greenhouses starting Friday morning. People were told to pick one plant themselves and grab one for someone else. The flowers were expected to go fast.
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