Living just six blocks from Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ Lancaster North store, Marcia Kuntz became a regular customer. She often was accompanied by her young daughter, Gabrielle, who was bundled in her stroller.
“I was always hanging out there,” Marcia said, looking back more than 20 years.
When Gabby went to school full-time, Royer’s put Marcia to work, hiring her first as a seasonal employee for Valentine’s Day in 2003. That led to a hybrid sales/designer position and, for the past 15 years, a focus on design.
Marcia, now a fixture at Royer’s Lancaster West store, has a unique story, but her path to becoming a Royer’s designer is a familiar one. Most of the company’s designers work their way up from a seasonal or sales position, learning the business from the ground up.
All Royer’s stores have at least two designers; the larger stores have five or six, even more at holidays. Lancaster West has four.
An eye for detail and a commitment to safety and efficiency are common traits among Royer’s designers. Creativity is important, too, but within a structured system.
There is a Royer’s Way, after all.
‘Flowers in my blood’
Philadelphia born and raised in Bucks County, Marcia arrived at Royer’s by way of earlier jobs as a phone operator and supermarket baker.
“I was a baker that hung out in the floral department,” said Marcia, who is as quick with a quip as she is with a floral knife. She met her husband, David, when they both worked at a Giant supermarket in Lancaster.
With Royer’s, Marcia originally trained under the legendary Mary Jane Pavenski, who worked for the company for more than 40 years, or more than half of its existence.
Mary Jane, who passed away in 2015, conducted training classes at Royer’s corporate complex in Lebanon. Her influence spread throughout the company, much as laughter emanated from her classroom. Marcia also cited the guidance she received from Mary Jane’s training successor, Woody Felty, who is retired.
Fun notwithstanding, Marcia and dozens of other trainees took their lessons seriously. While Marcia said she had a special knack for the work given a life-long love of plants that her mother passed down to her (“Flowers are in my blood”), she had to learn the basics as taught by Royer’s.
For instance, flowers should be twice the height of the vase in which they are arranged. Marcia demonstrated with an ever-ready yard stick, indicating that the Tuscan, Small arrangement she was crafting called for an 18-inch flower.
Royer’s is known for offering fresh product at a great value, with an extensive selection of ready-to-order designs and precise “recipes” that guide the designers.
Marcia recalled Mary Jane sharing the story of one designer who, no matter the arrangement, left one flower sticking out. It was her signature look, the designer said. But it resulted in arrangements that didn’t match what customers saw in catalogs.
A consistent, streamlined approach helps explain much of Royer’s enduring appeal to customers and business success, including the rare achievement of reaching a fourth generation of family involvement.
Asking questions
A customer had bought one of the Tuscan arrangements, but Marcia made a second one while she had all the ingredients in front of her. It was an efficient use of her time, and she was confident that a cash-and-carry customer readily would choose it from the store cooler.
“Because it’s pretty,” she said. “It has a sunflower in it. It’s summer colors. And the price point is good” at $29.99.
Royer’s designers still get involved on the sales side, answering phones and taking orders, checking out customers at the front counter, even helping them carry purchases to their cars.
Of course, customers are always free to ask for custom designs, and Royer’s strives to accommodate them. In those instances, Marcia likes to ask lots of questions of customers to understand and guide them to their desired result.
The physicality of working in a flower shop, in any capacity, is not for shrinking violets. There’s constant motion, usually while upright. Marcia and other designers take some of the pressure off their feet by standing on rubber mats at their stations.
“Invest in good shoes,” Marcia advises, noting her black sneakers. She has worn nursing shoes, too. “Because it’s an investment in your body.”
Now 66, Marcia has contemplated retirement but concluded that she’d probably still work part-time.
“Just to keep busy,” she said, her thoughts quickly turning to the work and the colleagues she would miss otherwise. “And I would be wondering what these guys are doing … what are they up to?”