Milford artisan featured on ‘Good Morning America’

MILFORD, Del. (AP) - A small business in downtown Milford was featured twice last week on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Cookie’s Paper Petals sells handcrafted decorative paper flowers, kits for people to make their own at home and virtual lessons for those looking to master the craft. Anastasia Jackson, the owner, notes that her shop is the first of its kind on the East Coast.

The show aired March 22 as part of the program’s “Open for Business” segment. The three-minute clip told the story of how Ms. Jackson was inspired in part by her recently deceased grandmother, who nicknamed her Cookie, to open the shop amid the pandemic.

“They actually featured me again on Thursday,” Ms. Jackson said. “They had a little segment, and the flowers were all displayed in the front.”

She was excited that Robin Roberts, the show’s longtime host, mentioned her by name.

“Robin actually said my name and said that they’d placed an order for flowers right after the segment aired on Monday,” Ms. Jackson said.

“I was overjoyed” after the report premiered, she said. “It was really exciting just to see myself, my business and my family.”

Now, business is booming.

“There’s been a big jump in orders,” Ms. Jackson said. “I got about 120 orders that (Monday).”

She’s been shipping products all over the nation and has even sent a few to Canada. Ms. Jackson said her products are most popular in the South.

“When I look at the demographic of where my customers come from, (even) before ‘GMA,’ they were all outside of Delaware,” she said.

“The majority of my customers are down south,” Ms. Jackson said. “Texas was where my first big order came from and Texas is still where a lot of my orders are coming out of. Maybe I should open up one there.”

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del, also apparently caught the broadcast and decided to congratulate Ms. Jackson on Instagram.

“A few months ago, I stumbled upon (Cookie’s Paper Petals) walking around Milford,” the senator said.

“I saw Anastasia’s business highlighted this week on (‘Good Morning America’),” he said. “It’s so great to see Delaware success amplified… Thank you for connecting Delawareans and sharing your talent.”

Ms. Jackson is involved with two local business organizations, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Milford and Downtown Milford Inc., which are both excited for her.

“I think it’s phenomenal,” said DMI’s President Peggy Reilly. “She is a great business leader and she’s going to go places and she’s giving Milford a name throughout the world.”

Jo Schmeiser, the chamber’s executive director, agreed.

“I thought it was great. I thought she did a fabulous job and really made Milford proud,” she said. “Anytime somebody local is acknowledged nationally, it’s a wonderful thing.”

Ms. Reilly knows for a fact that the segment has gotten some out-of-towners interested in visiting.

“I have friends that live in the New York area that saw it and now want to come down and see what Milford’s all about,” Ms. Reilly said.

Ms. Jackson said ABC first found out about her business from a story posted by Cricut, a company that makes high-end cutting tools which Ms. Jackson often uses in her work.

“They came out and did an interview. That story is on their website,” she said. “They shared it with GMA and that’s how all of this came about.”

In the short term, Ms. Jackson hopes to continue expanding her business. She was able to quit her second job and is now fully dedicated to Paper Petals.

On Aug. 7, Ms. Jackson hopes to celebrate her business’ first anniversary with the community.

“That will be held here upstairs,” she said, if the state’s regulations allow.

“I’m really looking forward to that because it’s kind of going to be like my first grand opening,” Ms. Jackson said. “I wasn’t really able to have a big one last year.”