Osceola County businesses expect busy Mother’s Day weekend

At Homemade and More Consignment Shop, 114 W. Upton Ave., Reed City, the name of the game is maintaining variety. Owner Kris Cross said he has several different small businesses featured in-store.

“It’s a lot of different people’s stuff in here, not just my own,” Cross said. “We do try to advertise for Mother’s Day to draw people in and for any other holiday for that matter. Our business hasn’t been too bad. We’ve been doing pretty good, been getting a lot of foot traffic. Seems to be a lot of different types of people that are doing, like, a route of all the different resale shops and stuff through here, Big Rapids, Cadillac and all that.”

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Almost all the goods in the store are homemade by artisans, woodworkers and craft enthusiasts who live in the Reed City area. The store includes self-care items like soaps, oils and shampoos to cooking items, decorative items, clothes, shoes and more.

Cross makes custom T-shirts for customers, as well as jewelry, beadwork and decorations including hand-lasered wooden pieces.

Cross said the store has something for every interest.

“We help local vendors have a place to put their stuff if there isn’t a craft show going on,” Cross said. “We have three more vendors coming in. I lost five but then had more come in. There are always people itching to come in and display their products. It’s been working out really well. I’ve seen so much creativity with so many of the vendors.”

Per the NRF, consumers plan to spend $274.02 per person, the highest in the history of the survey and up from the previous record high of $245.76 in 2022.

The top spenders are those ages 35-44, who are expected to spend an average of $382.26 on Mother’s Day.

As seen in previous years, the most popular gifts to give are flowers (74%), greeting cards (74%) and special outings, such as dinner or brunch (60%). Consumers will spend a total of $7.8 billion on jewelry, $5.6 billion on special outings and $4 billion on electronics.

In Evart, one spot for residents to pick up their flowers ahead of Mother’s Day is Shore Nursery at 724 W. 7th St.

Owner Sharla Hicks said her staff has been busy preparing for the spring season.

“It’s been really pretty good after the weather started turning and getting a little warmer,” Hicks said. “It’s been very good.

“Generally, for Mother’s Day, we do a lot of baskets and roses. Those seem to be the two big things for moms. I really enjoy my customers. I have awesome customers, and they’re very happy when they’re buying flowers, and we see them at their best and happy to see the flowers.”

Shore Nursery has several type-specific nurseries for customers to explore as well as gardening tools, seeds, hanging baskets and more for customers gardening needs.

The NRF reported that in addition to online (34%) and department stores (34%), consumers are also planning to shop at specialty stores (30%), local and small businesses (24%) and discount stores (23%). Also, more people are looking at product subscription boxes, with 46% interested in this option, up from 39% last year.

NRF survey respondents said the most important factors in purchasing a Mother’s Day gift include finding items that are unique or different (47%) or those that create a special memory (42%).

For more Mother’s Day deals, visit local businesses in your area.