From birthdays to anniversaries to special occasions, The Daisy Fair Flowers Shop offers a wide variety of arrangements.
Daved Kinard manages the shop and says right now, they don't charge a $5 delivery fee to hospitals and funeral homes, but that may change as the price of gas steadily increases.
"When you have to fill up 2 to 3 times a week, and you're pumping 50, 60 bucks at a time, you know that cost trickles down and eventually comes down to the customer," said Kinard.
They spend about $400 to $500 a month to fuel their two delivery vans - that's up a significant amount compared to three years ago.
Businesses and citizens alike have to find new ways to deal with spending more to fill up their tanks. The price of gas is expected to reach the $3 mark and stay there for awhile.
Horry Georgetown Technical College economics professor Marvin Adcock says the United States is the largest consumer of oil, but other larger countries with higher populations are catching up. "China has 1.3 billion people and more and more Chinese are driving everyday. India has 1.2 billion people and more and more Indians are driving everyday, and so as more Asians continue to drive, that means a greater demand for oil and greater demand for gasoline."
Adcock adds oil is a commodity like gold and silver, so the price of a barrel of oil is also influenced by speculators. "There are many ways we'll learn to deal with this. People will continue to buy more fuel efficient vehicles. They'll begin to ration their driving. They will perhaps move closer to their jobs. They will learn to use public transportation. The world is not coming to an end."
As for Kinard, he says it's a tough call to make and hopes customers will be understanding. "Small town America is always the one that gets hit the hardest, and so you want to try to be fair to everybody."
NewsChannel 15 also asked Adcock why there's a difference in gas prices from one town to another. He says the ease of distribution of gas to retail stations and local taxes play a role in the price you pay.
To find the cheapest gas in your area, click here for NewsChannel 15's Pump Patrol.
