Spring has sprung: Cape businesses gear up for blossoming of season

As the weather turns warmer and early spring blooms are beginning to sprout, area businesses are already experiencing a busy spring season.

"We are very excited for this spring season," said Tina Thieret, general manager at Sunny Hill Gardens & Florist in Cape Girardeau.

"Everything we do all year round is to prepare for spring," she said.

People use the winter months to do their planning and decide what vegetables they want to plant or what flowers they want to put in their flowerbed, Thieret said.

"Now that the weather's breaking, customers are coming in for cold crops, like your cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce," she said. "And then, in the flower world, pansies and violas can go out really early."

The weather plays a huge role in Sunny Hill's business all year, and the recent sunny weather has been bringing customers out, Thieret said.

"People have spring fever, especially after that nasty late winter snap we had," she said.

In the past several years, Sunny Hill has seen an uptick in the interest in gardening, Thieret said, adding younger people are interested in growing food so they know where their food is coming from and how it was raised.

"Spring is our Christmas," Thieret said. "My world revolves around spring."

Along with spending time outdoors in gardens and flowerbeds, people are enjoying the higher temperatures to hop on a bicycle.

"Cape Bicycle opened in 1978, and we had our biggest year in 2020. And so far, it's looking the same for 2021," said Don Hinkebein, manager at Cape Bicycle and Fitness. "It's been a lot of fun."

Throughout the pandemic, Cape Bicycle has had a lot of success between fitness equipment and bicycle sales.

"At times, we kind of feel bad because we know it's been hard on a lot of businesses and restaurants," Hinkebein said. "You're almost shy to say, but it's just been a phenomenal year for us. It started late March of last year, and by the end of April, I was working six days a week and 12-hours a day most weeks."

Family members riding bicycles together is an activity that has been possible during the pandemic, especially after being cooped up at home.

The trend this year is electric bikes, which Hinkebein says is great for people who haven't ridden a bike in a long time.

"It's just nice to get on something that gives you some help," he said. "You still have to pedal it. You can still work as hard as you want to."

Although spring is usually Cape Bicycle's busy season, Hinkebein said it doesn't normally start as early as it has this year.

"Generally, we would use this time to straighten up and get the shop nice and ready for the more intense April and May business increase, but we are as busy as we can be right now."

Hinkebein noted the Cape LaCroix Recreation Trail has seen a huge increase in traffic, from bike riders to walkers and runners.

Runners use the Cape LaCroix Recreation Trail on Friday in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

Missouri Running Company in Cape Girardeau has been seeing an influx of runners ready to get outside, in addition to training for warmer weather races, such as last weekend's endurance run or upcoming Muddy River Marathon in May, which takes months to prepare for.

"We've seen a lot of those individuals in and out over the last couple of months," said owner Bryan Kelpe. "Almost every day, somebody comes in who's training for one of those events."

March is one of Missouri Running Company's biggest months each year. Kelpe attributes that to spring races, which are typically in April and May.

The other reason spring is a busy month is because of what Kelpe coined "resoluters" who made a New Year's resolution to start running Jan. 1.

"We typically see them six to eight weeks into the year, because that's when they've stayed with it and have decided to invest in a good pair of shoes," he said.

Hiking shoe sales have also increased as a lot more people are getting outdoors and hitting the trails.

If someone is considering becoming a runner, Kelpe offered some advice: Consistency, but start out easy; stay hydrated; and get proper fitting shoes through a fitting assessment in order to do more successfully in less pain.