Patti created it, and Michelle helped name it.
Patti Barclay, store manager for Royer’s in Columbia, Lancaster County, developed an arrangement that was wildly popular with her customers.
It was so popular that Royer’s decided to offer it in all of its stores and online. But the arrangement didn’t have a name.
So Royer’s asked the public for help. A recent name-the-arrangement contest garnered 550 entries, including two from Michelle Hooper of Manheim Township, Lancaster County, that inspired the arrangement’s new name:
Patti’s Passion.
The arrangement, which will be available companywide on Oct. 1, features carnations, mini carnations, gerbera daisies, spray roses, alstromeria, limonium, hypericum berries, and greens (in hot pink, orange and lime-green) arranged in a large mason jar accented with hot-pink polka dotted and orange ribbon.
Hooper will receive one of the arrangements as her prize.
Thank you to everyone who submitted names.
Author: Neal
A letter to our Palmyra store customers
The final day of operation for Royer’s Palmyra store will be June 30. Greg Royer, president and CEO of Royer’s, explained the closing in a letter being sent to the store’s customers:
After months of negotiations, Royer’s was unable to agree on new lease terms with the owners of the Palmyra Shopping Center. Unfortunately, the result is we will close the Palmyra store effective July 31.
The good news is we have two nearby stores, each one offering the great products and personalized customer service you’ve come to expect.
We truly value your business and hope you will visit us in Hershey, 304 W. Chocolate Ave. (or by phone at 534-2834), or Lebanon, 810 S. 12th St. (273-2683).
Our Palmyra staff will be reassigned to the Hershey store, which will answer calls placed to the Palmyra phone number and will continue to deliver twice daily to Palmyra. If you live on the east side of Palmyra, our original store in Lebanon may be more convenient for you.
Of course, you can reach us any time at royers.com.
Thank you for your understanding and for the continued opportunity to serve you.
Sincerely,
Gregory J. Royer
Chara Harter of Lititz wins 2016 Royer’s Kids Club birthday card design contest
Chara Harter, 10, plays the piano, reads mysteries and historical fiction, and likes to draw.
In fact, she’s an award-winning artist.
Her drawing of flowers is the winning entry in the 2016 edition of the Royer’s Kids Club birthday card design contest.
Her design will be featured on the electronic card that kids club members will receive on their birthdays in the coming year. Chara’s prize is a free flower delivery on her next birthday.
Chara lives in Lititz with her parents, Carl and Ellen Harter. She will be a fifth-grader at Ephrata Mennonite.
Thanks to everyone who entered this year’s contest.
The Royer’s Kids Club is free to ages 5 to 12. With parental permission, children may register for the kids club at any Royer’s store or online at www.royers.com/kidsclub.
Membership benefits include a membership card, Web site activities, an e-mail newsletter, contests and in-store events.
Our new arrangement: We made it, now you get to name it
Royer’s has a pretty elaborate process for developing new arrangements, typically involving a team of people.
But Patti Barclay, store manager for Royer’s in Columbia, Lancaster County, developed an arrangement on her own by experimenting with her customers’ preferences.
Her design features carnations, mini carnations, gerbera daisies, spray roses, alstromeria, limonium, hypericum berries, and greens (in hot pink, orange and lime-green) arranged in a large mason jar accented with hot pink polka dot and orange ribbons.
Seemingly as fast as Patti can make one of her arrangements, it’s purchased out of her store’s front cooler. Because of its popularity, Patti’s design soon will be available year-round in every Royer’s store and on royers.com.
“So we’re making it a part of our regular product line,” said Greg Royer, president and CEO of family-owned Royer’s.
But there’s only one problem: The arrangement needs a name.
This is where you come in.
We’re asking the public to offer suggestions in our name-the-arrangement contest. The winner will receive one of the arrangements as his or her prize.
To enter the contest, visit royers.com/contest. The deadline to enter is July 5; limit one entry daily per email address.
Good luck!
We’re coming to Chambersburg
Royer’s is expanding to Chambersburg this fall, which will allow us to extend deliveries into the Hagerstown, Md., area.
Construction has begun on the 4,000-square-foot store on a half-acre at 7 St. Paul Drive, Chambersburg, with a planned September opening.
Chambersburg represents both the farthest west and south that we will have operated from our Lebanon County base. It will be our first store in Franklin County.
“We’ve been looking for our next new growth area for a long time,” said Greg Royer, president and CEO of Royer’s. “Chambersburg is a great market in its own right and gives us a terrific jumping-off point as we begin our move into northern Maryland.”
Royer’s Kids Club event June 18 to kick off annual ‘Royer’s Stems Hunger’ food drive
Royer’s annual food drive – Royer’s Stems Hunger – will take place June 18-July 2 to benefit the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Greater Berks Food Bank.
Royer’s Kids Club will help out with a special event on June 18 for children ages 5 to 12.
They are asked to donate a non-perishable food item as the price of admission and to bring an empty food can in which to make an arrangement for themselves.
Participants also will have an opportunity to enter the kids club’s birthday card design contest and will receive a balloon.
Time slots are available at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at each of Royer’s 16 stores in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.
Registration is required by calling your nearest Royer’s store.
In its five-year history, Royer’s Stems Hunger has collected nearly five tons of food.
Royer’s Kids Club birthday card design contest entries due by June 30
Light the candles. Royer’s annual birthday card design contest is back.
Children ages 5 to 12 may enter the contest at any time through June 30.
The winning design will adorn the Royer’s Kids Club birthday card, which will be emailed to all kids club members on their special days.
The winning artist will receive free flowers on his or her birthday.
Entry forms are available at all Royer’s stores or downloaded at royers.com/kidsclub. To be eligible, entries must be dropped off at a Royer’s store by June 30.
Royer’s annual food drive returns June 18-July 2 to benefit food banks
Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ annual food drive returns June 18-July 2, now twice as long as it used to be and for the first time accepting online donations.
Royer’s Stems Hunger benefits the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Greater Berks Food Bank.
In its five-year history, Royer’s Stems Hunger has collected nearly five tons of food.
For each nonperishable food item, donors will receive a free carnation, up to a maximum of six carnations per visit.
Donations may be dropped off at any Royer’s store during normal business hours.
Additional drop-off locations are available at five area Drayer Physical Therapy Institute outpatient centers:
- 120 N. Baltimore St., Dillsburg
- 3399 Trindle Road, 2nd Floor, Camp Hill
- 450 Powers Ave., Lower Level, Harrisburg
- 5000 Commons Drive, Harrisburg
- 5108 E. Trindle Road, Suite 200, Mechanicsburg
Meanwhile, to make a monetary contribution online, visit centralpafoodbank.org/RoyersStemsHunger.
Making of Mother’s Day: Charmed Cube arrangement
It’s Mother’s Day, but many days go into making it a truly special occasion.
Our central design department in Lebanon is handcrafting thousands of arrangements across eight days in order to help meet the needs of our stores.
Below are photos of one team making our Charmed Cube arrangement. It comprises a four-inch raspberry-colored cube; hot pink carnations; pink mini-carnations; lavender daisy pompons; lavender button pompons; and babies breath.
Think Mom would like it? You can click here to send her one.
We’ll make your wedding day: flowers customized to your vision and budget
The HGTV series “Property Brothers” always starts with a couple oohing and ahhing over a gorgeous home that, ultimately, they can’t afford.
Never fear, the twin-brother hosts help the couple find a fixer-upper that affordably mimics their dream home.
That dynamic is not unlike what we encounter with some prospective brides who come to us with photos of gorgeous photos they’ve found online, such as on Pinterest. Sometimes the flowers in those photos are more expensive than a wedding budget will allow.
Erica Bixby, store manager for us in Hershey, cited the example of a bride who fancies peonies.
“Well, they’re available in the spring, but in the winter you’re going to pay five times the amount for them,” Erica explained. “But there are flowers that we could get in that could create that look.”
Peonies in the winter might run $25 per stem. As an alternative, she suggested polo roses, which open like peonies.
“It’s very pretty, and it’s more affordable,” she said.
‘CREATING THAT VISION’
Erica and the rest of Royer’s wedding designers can customize a wedding plan that captures the bride’s vision but also falls within her budget.
“You can have centerpieces and bouquets and boutonnieres and everything you need, but sometimes your vision might be $20,000,” Erica said. “Well, I can create that vision for you for less.”
Royer’s has more than 30 designers and store managers trained in weddings, many of them with 25 or more years of experience. In a single year, we’ll serve more than 500 brides, big wedding (photos above and video below) or small, start to finish.
We offer wedding packages, but we also do lots of custom work. For instance, Beth Ruf, wedding designer at our Lancaster North store, helped bride-to-be Valerie Beyer with her “Alice in Wonderland” theme.
FREE CONSULTATION
Royer’s wedding consultations are free.
Erica said most wedding work begins with a phone call. She will ask the bride-to-be a series of questions: name, wedding date, venue, vision. If the future bride has pictures that capture her vision, she can email them to Erica ahead of their consultation or bring them to the appointment.
Erica also keeps her own book of ideas. She sets aside an hour for each consultation and recommends three months for planning purposes; flowers are ordered one month prior to wedding day.
“Everything should be finalized a month before your wedding,” she said, “but three months gives us enough time if you want anything out of the ordinary.”
Whether it’s Erica and Stephanie Allen in Hershey, Beth Ruf at Lancaster North, or a wedding consultant at any of our other stores, you can find contact information for them here.
Our wedding consultants are always happy to answer any questions that brides may have.