CUMBERLAND — Loney’s Flower Bar brings a unique floral experience to downtown Cumberland.
The shop at 11 N. Liberty St. is named after owner Shannon Sprenkle’s grandmother Lona, who went by Loney, and offers floral arrangements along with a hands-on bouquet-making experience.
The business was a recipient of a Project Restore grant, an initiative that provides financial incentives for small businesses to revitalize vacant retail and commercial space.
“… I’ve always loved flowers. I have a wedding and event business, a rental that we do, and we ended up doing some flowers for that,” Sprenkle said. “And so when the grant came available, I had always kind of had a dream of having a flower shop.”
A photo of Loney sits next to the register, a reminder of her and the frequent gifts of flowers to Sprenkle that inspired the shop.
Shoppers can come in, select the size of their arrangement and whether or not they would like a vase. They’re given an apron and a flight of small vases and sent into the flower cooler to select the flowers they want in their arrangement.
After choosing their flowers, they are given a set of tools and assistance to arrange the flowers.
In addition to the flower bar, Loney’s offers arrangements for weddings, dances, events, flower subscriptions and a gift shop. The business also offers a mobile flower bar that can be rented for events.
“I like to have fresh flowers, I would be one of those people that stood in line down at the farmer’s market to get flowers,” she said.
Loney’s currently receives its flowers from a wholesaler in Bedford, Pennsylvania, but as temperatures warm, plans to purchase from local growers.
Loney’s Flower Bar is one of the first flower shops in downtown Cumberland since Bopp’s Flower Shop. Located on Liberty Street, Bopp’s was the primary flower provider in downtown Cumberland for years before closing in the 1980s.
Sprenkle brought a bit of Bopps with her into her new business by having one of Bopp’s employees, Barb Bridges, work with her at Loney’s.
“I love the flowers and, you know, I try to stay busy doing stuff with my house with flowers and stuff, and I have a centerpiece that I change out frequently,” Bridges said.
Formerly a nurse practitioner, Sprenkle left the practice to pursue her dream of opening a flower shop after receiving the grant.
“I had called the city and asked if there was any availability for any grants and, at that time, there wasn’t. So then Melinda (Kelleher, Main Street manager) had reached out to me and told me that there was a grant available,” Sprenkle said. “So, I applied for it, and I got it, which required me to step away from the practice.”
The grant allowed for two new or existing businesses to move into the 500-square-foot spaces on North Liberty. Loney’s Flower Bar and Sprinkles Candy Bar were both recipients and are now open.
“There’s a shortage of flower shops in the area, so we’d like to be kind of the one stop shop for weddings, events and everyday flowers,” Sprenkle said. “And gift shops, we don’t have any gift shops in the area anymore, we’re trying to get some unique things in for people to buy as gifts, too.”