TAMPA, Fla. — A local florist says she’s losing a lot of her business ahead of Mother’s Day because of ongoing construction in front of her store in the Seminole Heights neighborhood in Tampa.

What You Need To Know

  •  Moates Florist has been in Tampa since 1901

  •  Currently, their gearing up for Mother's Day but business is hitting a speed bump because of ongoing construction outside their business by the city

  •  The project, called the Southeast Seminole Heights Flooding Relief Project, is expected to take 6-8 weeks

“Mother's Day, as I put it, not everyone has a sweetheart for Valentine's, but everyone wants to honor their mom,” said Lajuanda Barrera, owner of Moates Florist.

For her, Mother’s Day is like the Super Bowl for her business.

Each year, her flower shop does this neat thing where the delivery drivers that bring the flowers to moms over the weekend are dressed in tuxedos.

“What I always say is it's not necessarily how long the flower is going to live, but it's that feeling that the moms receive,” Barrera said, “and that's what we're selling. We're selling the feelings of flowers.”

Usually, she would see tons of business leading up to that special Sunday in May, but this year, things have hit a significant speed bump because of what’s going on outside.

“This is going to be anywhere from a 6 to 8-week project to improve the storm water,” Barrera said.

Her flower shop is smack dab in the middle of the Southeast Seminole Heights Flooding Relief Project that’s currently ongoing on Nebraska Avenue.

With all this construction going on, both directions of the road are closed to traffic so no cars can get to Moates.

“It's something that's going to benefit us down the road, but it's severely impacted our businesses, as you can see,” Barrera said.

To add insult to injury, because of those strong winds we dealt with a couple of weeks ago, her main signed was knocked over.

“This is a temporary situation,” Barrera said, “but it certainly is impacting this major holiday.”

She says city leaders understand the difficult bind this puts her in, which is why she says one of the tuxedoed delivery drivers this weekend will be Tampa’s mayor, Jane Castor.

Barrera also says she’s been able to partner with the church next door to use their parking lot for people during this period but she hopes people will see this and know that they can still utilize Moates’ website or call in to order ahead of this weekend.

“We hope folks that know that we are open for business,” Barrera said. “We will continue to be open for business throughout it.”

Because this place has been a staple in Seminole Heights and no construction will stop them from continuing to deliver those special moments for mom on Mother’s Day.

Moates Florist has been in the Tampa Bay area since 1901.

City officials say they’re trying to keep the businesses and homes around the construction area as accessible as possible.

Right now, Barrera estimates they’re about halfway through their construction time frame.