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Category: Holidays

Royer’s stores collecting ‘Holiday Mail for Heroes’ Nov. 17-Dec. 5

Posted on by Neal

Holiday Mail for Heroes Recipients
Royer’s Flowers & Gifts and the American Red Cross are teaming up this year to deliver “Holiday Mail for Heroes.”
From Nov. 17 through Dec. 5, Royer’s stores will collect holiday cards and coloring pages that will be delivered to patients at the Lebanon VA Medical Center. Red Cross volunteers will organize the cards and tie them with ribbons for hand delivery to the veterans.
Cards may be dropped off during normal business hours.

The Red Cross, which created the national “Holiday Mail for Heroes” program, offers these guidelines for preparing cards:
• Include messages of support and thanks;
• Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member” as cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program;
• Don’t include letters or inserts such as photos;
• Don’t include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships;
• Sign your name to them;
• Refrain from choosing cards with glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.

Coloring pages are available at all Royer’s stores or can be downloaded here, courtesy of Coloring-Page.net:

 

The making of our fall catalog

Posted on by Neal

Our 40-page fall catalog arrived in tens of thousands of mailboxes in October. (If you didn’t receive one, you can pick up a copy at any of our stores.)
With each of our catalogs, we change approximately 20 percent of the product lineup. Ultimately, it’s our customers who determine which arrangements stay in the lineup over the long haul.
Royer's Fall 2014 catalog
How an arrangement makes it into the menu is an exhaustive process. It’s a long way from auditioning for a role to walking the red carpet, in other words.
Weak-selling arrangements are removed, or they are redesigned to give them a more current look. Sometimes an arrangement is discontinued because its container is no longer available.
Once we know how many items are being removed, we begin developing the new items. Inspiration comes from visiting other florists; from walking through gift trade shows in Atlanta and Dallas; from visiting container suppliers to spot trends in colors and styles.
Some of the ideas come from previous holiday selections. If a Mother’s Day item sells out early, for instance, we know there is strong customer demand for it, and it could get into the lineup.
Flower growers are part of the process, too, as we constantly seek out new suppliers. They must be able to provide premium product on a consistent basis. Currently, we are testing flowers from Ethiopia.
In late May, a small team pulls together new containers, flowers and ideas in order to develop new arrangement concepts.
Value engineered
Once we have the concepts, a team of designers turns them into actual arrangements, collaborating on some items or coming up with their own interpretations on others.
We buy flowers in all varieties and colors to keep our lineup fresh and interesting for our customers and designers alike. We also want flowers that we know will be available for at least a year.
With the arrangements made, the original group reconvenes in June/July to make final selections.
The arrangements are “value engineered” to give the best value to our customers. Perhaps better-priced flowers or containers can be used without upsetting the integrity of the designs.
Finally, the approved arrangements are professionally photographed for inclusion in the catalog.
And now it’s in the hands of our customers, who will vote with their pocketbooks and ultimately determine which arrangements stay in our lineup.

Royer’s delivers Mother’s Day flower and plant tips to Fox 43

Posted on by Neal

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Barry Spengler of Royer’s Flowers talks Mother’s Day with Fox 43’s Heather Warner.

Barry Spengler, Royer’s vice president of operations, has a simple message when it comes to Mother’s Day.
“The key,” he told Fox 43’s Heather Warner, “just don’t forget Mom. That’s bad.”
Barry offered a number of options, from one or two roses wrapped up to a mixed bouquet in a vase to porch plants such as gerbera daisies or calla lilies.
Potted plants want to be outside, he said, and require a lot of water.
“People under-water these,” he said. “They need a lot of water. I get a gallon jug, fill it all the way up. And I usually dump most of the gallon a day on it. All of the excess will run out. …
“And every once a week, I usually add the fertilizer to the jug and fill it.”
You can view the entire segment below.

How the lily became a symbol of Easter and other floral facts about the holiday

Posted on by Neal

Photo: Matt H. Wade
Photo: Matt H. Wade

Numerous accounts identify her as Mrs. Thomas Sargent, a resident of Philadelphia who visited Bermuda in the 1880s. Smitten by the lilies she saw there, she brought lily bulbs home with her.
She gave some of them to a local nurseryman named William Harris, “who began growing them, forcing them into spring bloom, and selling to other florists,” writes Leonard Perry, an extension professor at the University of Vermont. “Many began buying this flower for Easter, as they do today, with it symbolizing the Resurrection.”
“Forcing” bulbs – as we described in this post about hyacinths – is the means by which light and temperature can be manipulated in order to control the rate at which a plant grows. In most parts of the United States, lilies naturally would bloom in the summer – weeks after Easter.
Some other facts about Easter lilies:

  • Flowering and green houseplants (46 percent) account for the biggest chunk of Easter/Passover floral sales. Lilies (52 percent) account for most flowering houseplant sales. (aboutflowers.com)
  • Lilies are considered highly toxic to cats. The Society of American Florists recommends keeping lilies out of the reach of cats as ingesting even small amounts of the plant can cause kidney failure. Lilies do not pose a problem for other pets or humans. (aboutflowers.com)
  • In the home, Easter lilies prefer moderately cool temperatures (recommended 60 to 65 degrees during the day, slightly cooler at night). They thrive near a window in bright, indirect natural daylight. (Texas A&M Agrilife Extension)
  • Pennsylvania is among the states that produce the most potted Easter lilies. (Texas A&M Agrilife Extension)

 
 
 
 
 
 

Join the Royer’s Kids Club on March 15 for our free St. Patrick’s Day event

Posted on by Neal

Kids club project St. Patrick's Day (March 2014)
At the end of the rainbow is another free Royer’s Kids Club event for ages 5 to 12.

Join us March 15 for an opportunity to decorate a white carnation by giving it a smiling face. You’ll be able to take your creation home in a bud vase and watch as the green dye in the water changes the color of the flower.

Participants also will receive a balloon.
Time slots are available at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. at 17 stores in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.
Registration is required by calling your nearest store. Click here for locations and contact information.

Rather than national services, call your local florist to get the most bang for your buck on Valentine’s Day: NBC’s “Today”

Posted on by Neal

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, NBC’s “Today” put three national floral delivery services to the test. The results weren’t always pretty, with “Today” concluding that what customers received didn’t always match what they ordered from the 1-800-Flowers, Teleflora and FTD websites.
In the clip above, “Today” consults with a flower expert on the subject of getting the most bang for your buck.
The takeaway? Shop a local florist.
In his introduction, “Today” correspondent Jeff Rossen said: “Here’s tip No. 1: Experts say call your local florist. Most of them deliver. You can say to them, ‘What flowers are fresh today?’ You have that personal communication, so experts say you’re more likely to get what you pay for.”

Five Valentine’s Day options for below $50

Posted on by Neal

Love is in the air. And don’t you forget it.
Barry Spengler, Royer’s vice president of operations, visited Fox 43 today to remind viewers that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. In fact, it’s just one week away.
“With this ugly weather, everybody’s hankering for some spring,” Barry told Fox 43’s Amanda McCall. “This is a way to do it. So don’t forget Valentine’s Day.”
Barry quashed the notion that Valentine’s Day flowers have to involve big bucks. He got to the heart of the matter with five options for below $50 each:
1. Single rose: $5; “So let’s say it’s a father looking for Mom, a couple kids … . That happens a lot,” Barry said.
2. Flower handful: $5 to $10; “Some people are a little less traditional. They like tulips. We sell a lot of tulips over the holiday.”
3. Single rose with bear: $15 to $18; “Really cute. That’s a great thing for a kid, as well.”
4. Mixed bunch: $15 to $20; Barry noted that these easily can be dropped in a vase: “Most people have vases around the house.”
5. Dozen rainbow roses: $40; “They’re just mixed-color roses. We put them in a vase. We do have a little better price than red roses because [the non-red] colors are a little less expensive at this holiday.”
As an added bonus, Barry noted, Royer’s is offering an incentive to encourage customers to have their Valentine’s Day orders delivered by Feb. 13: The recipient will get a coupon for a free dozen-rose bouquet.