It was announced two days out from Valentine's Day: one of the busiest times of the year for the flower industry.
For one of Shepparton's best known floral distributors, Renato's Florist, "it was a disaster".
Normally relying on foot traffic, Renato's was unable to have its doors open on Saturday and Sunday.
Owner Sam Renato said despite a late rush of customers flocking to the store on Friday afternoon before the lockdown came into effect, business was halted.
“In 40 years of business, this is probably the worst Valentine's Day we've ever day; it's normally our busiest trade of the year alongside Mother's Day,” he said.
“In about two or three days it can be the equivalent to six weeks of trade, we're not getting that this year."
Mr Renato said the business would need to throw out some stock or give it away.
“The week after Valentine's Day is normally quiet for us.”
While the shop remains closed, people can still purchase flowers from Renato's Florist online.
However some Shepparton florists said it wasn't all bad news.
Simply Stems Boutique Florist was able to deliver a fair amount of stock but said there was a chance it wouldn't be able to sell all of it.
Owner Rachel Matthews said Friday night turned out to be better than expected.
“It was a one-of-a-kind Valentine's Days,” she said.
“We had customers come up to the door and speak to our staff on the phone; so it was certainly different.
“We do a lot of deliveries so we were able to get a lot of those done.”
Mrs Matthews said Simply Stems also teamed up with the Terminus Hotel by giving away flowers through the pub's takeaway orders.
Blossom with Love said it had been busy all weekend and was "flat out".
26°C