Business picks up at Elliott Greenhouse in time for Easter weekend
Elliott Greenhouse is crawling with rabbits — chocolate ones, that is.
The greenhouse, combined with Kilwin’s Confectionary, 800 W. Broadway St., is all decked out for Easter and has had a busy week with last-minute orders of flowers and chocolates before Sunday.
“You have chocolate bunnies everywhere,” said manager Jodi Wischmeyer. “It’s not as busy as it used to be, but that’s the same with everything.”
The store sells, on average, 200-300 chocolate bunnies each year, said Marcy Jones, sales associate.
Elliott Greenhouse, which has existed for about 60 years, carries multiple kinds of Easter bunnies, including milk, white and dark chocolate and even chocolate-dipped Rice Krispy treats in the shape of the animal.
By Wednesday, around 50 chocolate bunnies were already sold, Jones said. She said many of customers come back year after year.
Archie MacGillivray, a Mount Pleasant resident, has stopped by for the last three Easter seasons to buy candy for his children.
Even this year, he said he had a hard time choosing.
“The candy keeps me hanging in there,” MacGillivray said. “I settled for the bunnies, because it’s Easter time.”
The chocolate bunnies can range anywhere from two-and-a-half ounces to a couple of pounds.
Other items include vanilla cream chocolate-covered eggs, candy bunny suckers — a new item this year — and various jelly beans.
In the back of the store, past the rabbit patch, rests a greenhouse where garden decorations reading “Carrot Patch,” “Egg Hunt” and “Bunny Crossing” can be found.
Jones said during the Easter Holiday, a lot of attention is placed on wrapping plants and Easter lilies.
“We wrap them, put bows on them, dress them up nice,” Jones said.
Karman Ouderkirk, a delivery driver for the store, said he has seen a slight increase in the amount of deliveries this week.
Besides Valentine’s Day, this is one of the main times to order flowers, he said.
