SEATTLE — Daily deliveries at Seattle's Ballard Blossom are becoming a race against rising fuel prices.
"We can only imagine what that's going to do to our operational costs," said General Manager Travis Treser.
Fuel costs for the iconic flower shop were already up 25% over last year at this time – a $600 increase in the month of January alone.
"And it's only going to go up from there," said Treser.
Ballard Blossom is already getting hit with fuel surcharges from its vendors, along with ongoing supply chain and inflationary issues related to the pandemic.
Now, gas prices are topping $5 per gallon in some spots of Seattle.
It leaves the flower shop in a thorny situation of having to reluctantly raise its rates.
"We're looking at that right now," said Treser. "Unfortunately, it's going to become a necessity."
Fuel prices are rising at a staggering rate in the Puget Sound region. One gas merchant reported a 14-cent jump in the cost of regular unleaded on March 1. Those prices rose steadily throughout the week, topping off at a 58-cent increase by March 7.
It's even worse for diesel. The same time period saw a one-day jump of 32 cents with the price for a single gallon skyrocketing $1.06 in just seven days.
Some gas station owners report operating at a loss occasionally because they can't get their signs changed fast enough to reflect the increases in their costs.
Ballard Blossom is now consolidating its routes to save money but that, itself, comes with a customer service cost.
"People are used to Amazon," said Treser. "They want it delivered at a specific time. We just can't afford to do that with our limited staff and our cost of fuel."
A spokesman for Gas Buddy said price increases could slow by the end of the week, but when they will begin to come down remains a complete unknown.
For now, small businesses everywhere are hoping customers will ride out this hit to the economy with them.
"We'll do our best by them," said Treser.