As the daughter of a farmer, Cindy Tarrant grew up planting flowers on her own little plot of land. The seeds she tended as a child eventually became her life’s work, which is in full bloom at French Market Flowers.

Cindy now grows flowers on her own farm in Coweta County, where she lives with her family, two cats, a Pyrenees-Australian shepherd dog, seven sweet hens and one ornery rooster. “We are members of the slow flower movement and believe that organic, sustainable, locally grown flowers are the best for our business, community and environment,” says Cindy. “We supply these flowers whenever possible.”

French Market Flowers opened its doors six years ago at Krog Street Market and eventually moved to Garrett Street in Grant Park. Cindy offers everything from floral design for weddings, funerals and special events to weekly corporate and residential flower delivery, floral restaurant installations and container gardening.

With weddings and special events on hold due to COVID-19, Cindy estimates that she’s lost nearly 40% of her business, and she had to close her storefront. But she was able to shift her operations to become primarily delivery-based, which has presented a new set of challenges for her small business.

“We quickly realized that we didn’t have enough cooler space to store the flowers or a proper vehicle to deliver them,” says Cindy, who applied for an Invest Atlanta Resurgence Grant to help offset the costs of a new walk-in cooler and delivery van. She also qualified for the Resurgence Technical Assistance Program and opted for a social media advertising campaign from Trevelino Keller Group.

“This assistance was incredibly helpful and meaningful,” says Cindy. “Not only could we present ourselves in a more professional manner, it also increased our delivery business and allowed us to keep all of our employees.”

“This business has a lot of heart, and we’ve worked so hard over the past six years to stay afloat,” adds Cindy. “It means so much to know that people care about small, local businesses. We are grateful for the support.”