SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — At the warehouse near Mission Valley, Native Poppy employees geared up for their busiest day, preparing flowers for Valentine's Day by trimming stems and removing thorns. Just three weeks ago, founder Natalie Gill was unsure about the business's future after the Jan. 22 storm flooded their warehouse.
“On January 22, I didn’t know if we were going to stay in business,” Gill said. “We did lose $15,000 of merchandise. Two of our delivery vans which were inside the building were totaled.”
Established in 2014, Native Poppy suffered significant losses in the storm. Thankfully, the community rallied to support Gill and her team.
“Within 24 hours, I had so many missed calls, text messages, direct messages, emails of people saying what can I do to support,” she said.
To fund the cleanup efforts, Gill encouraged customers to pre-order Valentine's Day flowers, resulting in a remarkable 200% increase compared to the previous year. The community also contributed $15,000 in donations to aid the recovery.
“Even though there’s this horrible thing happening, everything around me is telling me that people are supporting us. That we’re loved and wanted, people want to buy our flowers,” Gill said.
With the surge in pre-orders and generous donations, Native Poppy was able to fulfill Valentine's Day orders. “We didn’t have to cancel any orders. We’re proceeding business as usual,” she said.
While challenges such as replacing delivery vans and repairing warehouse infrastructure lie ahead, Gill remains optimistic about the year ahead.
“There’s no way we could go out of business. Even if we wanted to, people won’t let that happen,” she said.
