The timing of the COVID-19 crisis could not possibly have been worse for gardening stores, since the run-up to spring is the busiest time of year for consumers. Seznam.cz spoke with Jiří Chládek, the owner of a Prague gardening center, who said that up to 85 percent of his sales for the year take place between March and the end of May. Although the government’s closure of almost all retail outlets in the country left gardening stores on the list of exceptions, Chládek said his sales were down up to 60 percent. He only allows 40 people into his store at a time, meaning there’s generally a line of customers waiting in front of it. It hurts business, he says, but admits that it’s better than nothing at all. The Czech News Agency reports that the gardening sector employs around 23,000 people in the country.
