Because of the generosity of our customers, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts has presented some 2,500 holiday cards and coloring pages to the American Red Cross for distribution to area veterans.
Royer’s, which has participated in the Red Cross “Holidays for Heroes” program for nearly a decade, collected the cards in each of its stores throughout November.
The items will be distributed to veterans at the Lebanon VA Medical Center and at area retirement facilities.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s Holidays for Heroes.
Photo: From left, Jonathan Glenn, regional program director, American Red Cross, and Barry Spengler, chief administrative officer, Royer’s Flowers & Gifts.
Category: Holidays
Thank you for donating more than 1,000 holiday cards and coloring pages for veterans
In this season of giving, you sure did.
Our annual “Holidays for Heroes” event, which ran throughout November, collected more than 1,000 holiday cards and coloring pages for veterans.
We presented these cards and coloring pages to the American Red Cross, which this year is distributing holiday cards to more than 700 veterans in 30 locations in its Greater Pennsylvania Region.
One of those locations is Frey Village, a continuing care retirement community in Middletown, where the Red Cross and Royer’s hosted a holiday party for 18 veterans on Dec. 16.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to Holidays for Heroes and helped us celebrate our brave, selfless veterans.
Oh, Atlanta, we hear you calling
We don’t procrastinate when it comes to holiday shopping. In fact, no sooner is one Christmas in the rearview mirror than we start planning for the next one.
It’s not that we’re eager for the passage of time. Rather, we’re beckoned by AmericasMart in Atlanta, which describes itself as the nation’s leading gift, home furnishings and area rug wholesale marketplace.
In Atlanta, we might purchase containers bearing a Christmas decoration, or snowflake or snowman stick-ins to complement an arrangement. We source Christmas décor at AmericasMart but also gifts that customers will give at the holidays, such as a picture frame.
A half-dozen Royer’s representatives visit AmericasMart’s three-building, 7 million-square-foot complex every January, buying gifts and arrangement accents for the next Christmas season, and again in July, when the focus will be on the next spring.
Focus on larger gifts
Jenni Eberly, Royer’s market manager, has made six trips to Atlanta, so she’s a veteran now. But as a first-time visitor, she found the experience daunting.
“It’s overwhelming,” she said, “looking at all that merchandise set out in the displays. Because then you have to take these huge displays and then pick out what you’re going to buy.”
As vast as AmericasMart is, Royer’s spends most of its time on five floral and holiday floors. In July, the group arrived in Atlanta on a Wednesday and worked through Friday. The pace is constant, and even lunch and dinner conversation turns to what each of them has seen from vendors.
Geoff Royer, whose great-grandparents started Royer’s, coordinates the Atlanta trips. He sets up meetings with specific vendors. He also arms each member of the Royer’s delegation with a folder that identifies, by holiday, items on their shopping list.
The needs range from broad to specific. In January, some of the focus was on larger gifts, such as clocks, afghans and pillows that are relatively new for Royer’s. In July, one of the goals was to find new versions of a heart stick-in and accent ribbon to give a new look to an existing arrangement.
Erica Bixby, Royer’s store manager in Lebanon, has been to Atlanta three times. With experience, she has learned to think beyond the initial appeal of new products to identify how they will work in Royer’s stores.
How will they complement other items, and will they work given the price at which they will have to sell, including once freight costs are factored in?
Something might look nice, Erica suggested, “but you can’t really sell it for $50.”
Moments of inspiration
Technology has made it easier to document the trips. Photos taken with a tablet or smart phone are invaluable for jogging memories. After all, Christmas giftware purchased in January won’t arrive until summer or fall.
Photos also capture moments of inspiration.
“I have a bunch of things that I liked for silks,” Erica said, with an eye toward Royer’s crafting similar arrangements in-house rather than buying them already made.
“Or I take pictures of displays that I’d like to duplicate in the stores,” Jenni added.
On her phone, Jenni pulled up a photo showing how one vendor used eye hooks and ropes to display pillows.
“It’s up, it’s still in the display, but it’s out of the way,” Jenni said, noting that pillows are vulnerable in a flower shop, where the need to water plants is constant.
One week after returning from the July trip, Erica and Jenni were in Royer’s central design department in Lebanon. Looking around them, at tables filled with arrangements being created or revamped for fall debuts, they estimated that 30 percent of the items were from Atlanta.
“That container, that container, that container,” Jenni said, pointing at specific arrangements. “That vase. Those deer [figures]. Those are all things that we picked up in January.”
The making of our Tartan Poinsettia
Inside our version of Santa’s workshop, the talented employees of Royer’s are handcrafting thousands of holiday arrangements in our central design department.
Here’s a glimpse into the making of just one version: Our Tartan Poinsettia, featuring five-plus blooms and measuring 16 to 18 inches in height.
We’d like to make one especially for you. It’s as easy as clicking here to place your order.
New Christmas decorations are on the march to our stores
‘One Tank Trip’ takes 69 News viewers behind the scenes to show how Royer’s prepares for the holidays
What was an Allentown-based TV news station that has a Berks County edition doing at Royer’s corporate complex in Lebanon?
Seeing how merry is made, that’s what.
WFMZ-TV’s 69 News sent reporter Karin Mallett and photographer Patrick Manwiller to Royer’s as part of the station’s weekly “One Tank Trip” series.
Royer’s has three Berks County stores, in Reading, Shillington and Wernersville.
Tom Royer, one of Royer’s third-generation family owners, showed his guests the Lebanon operations, which include the company’s flagship store, distribution center, greenhouses, and central design department.
“Like Santa’s workshop,” Mallett said in her story’s introduction, describing central design, “but in lieu of toys, flowers. Lots of them. About 20,000 poinsettias will go out for the holiday.”
You can view the story here:
5 ways for children to celebrate National Grandparents Day
Marian McQuade was an expert in grandparenting. A West Virginia mother of 15, she had 43 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
If McQuade’s name doesn’t ring a bill, her work no doubt will. She was the founder of National Grandparents Day, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law in 1978.
National Grandparents Day is held on the first Sunday after Labor Day (Sept. 13 in 2015; Sept. 11 in 2016; Sept. 10 in 2017). September was chosen to signify the autumn years of life, according to Legacy Project.
To help celebrate the holiday, the Royer’s Kids Club offers five activities that children can do for or with their grandparents:
Send flowers: OK, this is an obvious one, but our founder, Hannah “Mom” Royer, was a doting grandmother and much loved by her grandchildren, as was her husband, Lester.
Make a card: Draw a pretty picture and write a note to tell your grandparents how much they mean to you.
Interview them: Grandma and grandpa have seen and experienced a lot of things in their lives. This handy interview form can help get you started. Listen closely to their answers because you can learn a lot.
Trace your family tree: Here’s a family tree chart that will make it easy to identify the people in your family by generation.
Read a book together: The kids club is a big believer in the power of reading. Here’s a terrific reading list to get you started.
Of course, there is an endless list of things that grandchildren and grandparents can do together.
What are some of your favorites?
Poinsettia primer: learning about and caring for the most popular holiday plant
We typically think of the North Pole when it comes to Christmas, but the most popular holiday plant originates with our neighbor to the south.
Poinsettias are native to Mexico and were introduced to the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett, who was the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
In fact, Poinsett’s death in 1851 is commemorated every Dec. 12 as National Poinsettia Day.
Some other facts:
- The colored parts of poinsettias aren’t flowers but bracts (leaves).
- Poinsettias have been called the lobster flower and flame leaf flower.
- Poinsettias are not poisonous, to humans or pets: An Ohio State study found that a 50-pound child who ate 500 bracts (leaves) might have a slight tummy ache.
- Poinsettias are commercially grown in all 50 states. For instance, the 20,000 poinsettias that Royer’s receives each year are from Lancaster County.
- Ninety percent of all poinsettias are exported from the United States.
Source: www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia
HOW TO CARE FOR POINSETTIAS:
- Average room temperature is fine; they cannot tolerate cold.
- Bright light is best, as they originate from the warm, bright southwest and Mexico. If given ample sunlight, they’ll last well into the new year.
- Avoid keeping a plant too wet, they like moist but not wet. Frequency and amount of water will vary depending upon amount of sun, humidity in house and pot size.
Barry talks Thanksgiving flowers and Christmas wreaths with Fox 43 Morning News
Before his latest appearance on Fox 43, Barry Spengler stopped at a drugstore for a bottle of hairspray.
It wasn’t an act of vanity. Rather, Barry brought it to the TV studio as a prop for his visit with Fox 43’s Amanda McCall.
She introduced Barry, Royer’s vice president of operations, by noting: “The food certainly is important, but don’t forget the Thanksgiving centerpiece.”
Barry brought two centerpieces, including a small one made in a wicker basket that looked like a turkey and a larger one to show how simple it is to convert from Thanksgiving to Christmas use.
If you’re visiting for Thanksgiving, Barry recommended loose flowers as a hostess gift.
“This always works,” he said. “It works like a champ.”
If you’re the recipient of loose flowers, Barry suggested creating a tape grid — essentially an X across the opening of your vase — to support the flowers.
As for the hairspray, it’s Barry’s not-so-secret tip for making Christmas wreaths last longer. It acts like glue to hold the wreath together and gives it a nice sheen.
“It will glue it together,” he said. “It will make (the wreath) last so much nicer. It won’t get that brown hue as fast. It will hold up so much nicer against the wind and the sun and all that.”
You can watch the full segment here:
You’re invited to our holiday open house, Nov. 29-30
There’s no need to stop at Black Friday. What are you doing the rest of the weekend?
Join us for our annual holiday open house. All of our stores will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
We’ll be offering:
• 30 percent off Christmas silk arrangements
• Door prizes
• Free balloons for children both days
• Refreshments on Sunday
And through Dec. 5, all of our stores are collecting holiday cards and coloring pages for the American Red Cross’ “Holiday Mail for Heroes” program. For details, click here.
Of course, we’ll have lots of beautiful flowers, plants and giftware available, too, as we usher in the holiday season.
We hope to see you there.