Statewide and nationwide, projections for Mother's Day sales don't look good. But in Forsyth County, many retailers are already breaking records.

Tony Heard, owner of Heard's Florist on Pirkle Ferry Road worked until the wee hours Thursday morning, preparing hundreds of orders.

"We have about 600 to 700 orders in a two- to three-day span," he said. "We've got $6,000 in cut flowers, and that's not counting vases and all that stuff."

Mixed floral arrangements have been popular, he said. Though the store will be closed on Sunday, deliveries began Wednesday, with 70 orders, and will be going strong through Saturday.

Five delivery trucks are covering the area.

"This is the second busiest week for us," he said. "Valentine's Day is the big day. Mother's Day is the busiest week and Christmas is the busiest month."

Sarah Ohlin, receptionist at LuLu day spa, said Mother's Day and Christmas also are its busiest times.

"For Mother's Day, we do a lot of facials, hand treatments and foot treatments," she said. "It's mostly guys buying things for their wives and mothers."

The spa is booked solid for Mother's Day, but most of holiday sales are in gift cards, she said. Days around Mother's Day are big for gift card purchases, but the "month after Mother's Day is pretty busy," as far as services go.

Nationally, the holiday remains popular, though according to the annual National Retail Foundation survey, mom's gifts might be smaller this year.

The trend is most apparent in jewelry purchases, with a drop from 32.8 to 29.7 in anticipated sales.

John Heavener, spokesman for the Georgia Retail Association, said it has been "kind of quiet out there this year."

"We're kind of nervous about the economy and we're just hopeful about the weekend," he said.

"I've heard no projections, no hot chatter that I usually hear. It's kind of really quiet and I think retailers are holding their breath hoping the economy can pick up."

E-mail Jennifer Sami at jennifersami@forsythnews.com.

Originally published Friday, May 9, 2008