Local businesses are working together to keep Mother’s Day shopping in the valley

Rancho Relaxo at the Atrium in Rancho Mirage is hosting a Mother's Day event today from 12 noon until 4 pm. There is a photographer doing family portraits, a local florist, a local jewelry designer MarLA, and a Los Angeles designer Lotta Stenson at the event.

There will also be TKB Food Truck at the event selling their goodies.

"Consumers plan to spend a total of $35.7 billion on Mother's Day this year, nearly $4 billion more than last year's record high of $31.7 billion, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics" according to the National Retail Federation.

"My goal with all of this is to make it easy for moms to shop, make it easy for people to shop for moms to celebrate really beautiful creations by women owned businesses," says Stella Adena, the owner of Rancho Relaxo organized this Mother's Day event.

Adena says around 35 percent of her store has local products.

"I'm always trying to show the spotlight on local," says Adena. "So when you bring in local businesses, local businesses spend exponentially more in their local community."

"Everything is grown at home from seed; we're not going to a supplier to buy flowers, we're not going to a flower market," says Grace Grosvenor, co-owner of Quail Brush Botanicals. So we don't have the markup.

Grace Grosvenor and Ray Zablocki say that something like this can cost 15 to 18 dollars from their garden.

The N.R.F. survey reports 30 percent of consumers plan to shop at specialty stores like theirs.

Marla Wallerstein says people have a unique experience buying locally. 

"To come in and actually be present and touch things and feel things and put them on your body," says Marla Wallerstein, an accessories designer and business owner. "It's a real experience. And so when you do that, we appreciate it. And it's a good positive interaction."

The mother daughter duo was taking portraits at the event to support. 

Rebecca Mousseau says it was not about the money.

I offer a lot of my services, as you know, just a gift to our community," says Rebecca Mousseau.

This was a really wonderful way to bring some of my favorite vendors together, who I thought would resonate with our local clientèle," says Adena.