Florists all over Norway stocked up on extra fresh flowers, especially roses, in advance of memorial ceremonies over the weekend for the victims and survivors of last year’s terrorist attacks on July 22. The florists were careful, though, not to appear they were profiting on the tragedy.
“This isn’t a joyful event that we want to make money on,” Stine Slipher of the Oslo flower shop Akersgata blomster, told newspaper Aften this week. It’s among florists closest to Norway’s government complex, which was heavily damaged in the bombing on July 22 and which will be the site of memorial events on Sunday morning.
Slipher’s shop is usually closed on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer holiday season, but was likely to remain open this weekend. So were several others, but many show owners were undecided whether they’d open on Sunday as well.
“We’re having a discussion about that,” Bjørn Kyvåg of Shishi blomster told Aften. “It’s fine to offer roses to those who want them for the tributes. At the same time, it doesn’t feel quite right to earn money on this. But we do have staff willing to work on Sunday.”
Some florists last year donated proceeds from the boom in sales to charitable causes.
Views and News staff
