A Floral Affair, a Lansdale flower shop owned by Stephanie Schreiber Graff and Holly Battistoni, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. The business's official anniversary is Oct. 1, though December marks five years of being on Main Street in Lansdale.
Graff and Battistoni both started out as the flower vendors for Costco, with Graff doing the Montgomeryville location and Battistoni doing the King of Prussia and Sanatoga. Graff also did floral design for various events in her garage. The duo started their shop on Skippack Pike, before opening on Main Street in Lansdale a couple months later.
Locating in Lansdale was a no-brainer for them.
"It’s proximity for me because I do live in Lansdale, where I obviously support my local community,” said Graff. "Holly used to be in Schwenksville and now she’s in Collegeville, so we’re both pretty local.”
The specialty of the shop (at 743 W. Main St.) is floral designs, from wedding bouquets and centerpieces to everyday flower arrangements. The owners personally deliver their creations to 14 different ZIP codes while also working with flower shops across the country and even outside the USA to send flowers anywhere.
"I know there are other flower shops in Lansdale, but we’re more of a custom floral studio than a crank-it-out retail shop,” said Graff.
Aside from selling flower arrangements, the business is hands-on in the community, partnering with local organizations. They work with Andrea Roney and the theater group at North Penn High School for fundraisers, such as selling flowers for the shows and for the proms and the Winter Ball, to help raise money for the theater's activities.
The women also teach design classes at Elm Terrace Gardens three weeks out of the month, each month of the year. They work with each unit to instruct residents how to design arrangements. A Floral Affair also donates floral centerpieces for Manna on Main Street’s Thanksgiving dinner.
While A Floral Affair is known for its flowers, the shop also carries a variety of other gifts, including some new products. They recently added football signs – Eagles, Steelers and Penn State – but they can order signs for whatever team a customer may want. They also have décor signs, plush animals, chocolate, and a fall line of flower holders.
"We do try to have the majority of things we have as being made in the United States,” said Graff. "Locally would be nice.”
This year, they will be selling wreaths, wooden yule log baskets, grave blankets, and mums. They will have the wreaths decorated, but they will be able to be customized. "Since Acme closed, for the people in the Borough, there’s nowhere to go to get a mum or to get a Christmas wreath.”
Moving forward, the company is looking to doing more things with the community, such as teaching design classes either at the store or at a group’s location. They are also looking to open a produce stand in the spring and summer, and they have even had a conversation with the mayor about this idea.
Though A Floral Affair has been on Main Street for five years, not many people are aware of its existence.
"I posted on the [Citizens For the Revitalization of Lansdale] group for the first time and I was surprised at how many people didn’t realize we were here,” Graff said. "If you don’t know about us, stop in, check us out. We love meeting new people. You won’t be disappointed."
