KOP Insiders: Dan Caplan, Vice President of Arrangements Unlimited

KOP Insiders delves into the stories of the people who make King of Prussia one of Pennsylvania’s most dynamic live-work-play-stay destinations.

In depth interviews provide insight into the companies that make up our diverse business community and put a face to the individuals behind the business. In this edition, we are joined by Dan Caplan, Vice President of Arrangements Unlimited.

Tell us a little bit about you, about Arrangements Unlimited and what your role is within the company.

Arrangements Unlimited is a full-service event planning and design firm. We’ve been around for 48 years now. We’re a family business, and we like to say we are a little big company. Once you start working here, you kind of become family and it becomes a family tree of event people. I’m the second generation and currently the Vice President and one of the owners. I came into ownership in January of 2020, which wasn’t a great time for an events company. It was actually supposed to be our best year ever but turned out to be our worst year due to the pandemic. I think one of the reasons that we’ve stayed in business so long is because we pivot, we’re flexible.

Arrangements Unlimited is unique because we do everything in-house. We’re planning the event, we’re building the props, and we’re making the flowers here; an all-in-one-stop shop. We have done events everywhere, of course in the tri-state area, then Arizona, California, Vegas, all the way to Paris. We pride ourselves on having a bunch of different ideas come together. Whether it is your traditional wedding, a mitzvah, a corporate event, or bespoke, we bring 48 years of experience doing it.

Arrangements Unlimited flower installation at the Alloy in King of Prussia

How long has Arrangements Unlimited been in King of Prussia? What brought your business here?

We’ve been in King of Prussic for about 13 years now. In 1975, the company was called Pretty Bunches, and it was operating out of a house in Fort Washington. We delivered flowers door to door with a subscription, which we actually brought back during the pandemic; it came full circle. In the 80’s we moved to a slightly bigger space and then in the 90’s we moved to Conshohocken. Then, finally, we relocated to KOP in 2010.

There were a couple of reasons we chose King of Prussia. One is, of course, accessibility. King of Prussia really is accessible. We’re getting business from the Malvern area and West Chester and surrounding areas. But we’re still close enough to the city. If we’re at the Westin, the Four Seasons, or any of these downtown places, we can just hop in and hop out with no problem. That’s reason one–location, location, location.

I grew up in the Conshohocken area and as the mall and KOP Town Center have evolved, it has stayed on brand for us. The new section of the mall, Davio’s, Fogo de Chão, these kinds of places help keep the whole homogenous feel. We feel like we fit right in with that whole group. There’s a very good bunch of people here to pull from for freelance work or as we call them, our weekend warriors. It’s a nice balance of all the demographics. The area covers so many different targets. It just hits the nose on so many things that we wanted for our business.

It’s a destination. You say King of Prussia and people say, “Oh the mall.”

There are just so many different reasons to be here. Another reason are the venues that are right around us. Whether it’s a quick hop to Conshohocken, or the Alloy in King of Prussia– which we love–the proximity of those things too was really helpful when we first moved.

Community-wise, as a parent, I can pick my son up from daycare and go right around the corner to the Upper Merion Township building to play on the playground, and then to the library. Or, I could visit the farmer’s market or take advantage of the food trucks. Being here has opened my eyes to a lot of different things that I wouldn’t typically search out. 

What makes KOP a good fit for your employees and how has it contributed to the company culture that you’re trying to build?

It’s helped in a way that isn’t completely obvious right away. But anytime that we make it easier to work here, we make people happier, and happier people get along better; it’s like dominoes falling. If you needed to run an errand or pick up something, there’s a Giant around the corner or there’s a Wawa. If somebody wants to run to get lunch, they don’t have to navigate all around. If we need to get a paint pen, we can run to Michael’s; whatever we need is right here. That’s a big deal when you’re talking about being at work from 9 to 5 or 10 to 6, an extra half hour or so, makes a difference.

King of Prussia is really trying to be all things to everybody and it’s doing a good job.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about moving their company to the KOP area?

As a place you come to every day, silly things like parking make a difference. At KOP, you are able to park your car and traffic is manageable. There are so many people coming through King of Prussia for the Town Center, Wegmans, the mall, Target and more that if you have a front-facing business, you’re going to get walk-in customers because they saw your sign. The community at KOP offers so much variety in things to do and places to go. It’s been amazing to watch a city being built around us. As it continues to grow, it means more people, which means more business, which means more workforce, all of these great things.

The floor is yours. Tell us anything you’d like to share about yourself or Arrangements Unlimited.

One of the reasons that King of Prussia fits us is because I see a lot of community in it. I see a lot of community outreach. A place that is family building and having a family in this community, it’s a natural fit for us, family to family.

About Arrangements Unlimited

 Arrangements Unlimited, a family-owned business, has been styling custom events for almost 50 years. Whether it’s a Mitzvah, wedding, or large corporate event, the Arrangements Unlimited team brings years of passion and experience to make each celebration one of a kind. Founded by Lois Caplan and Lynne Brownstein, Arrangements Unlimited evolved from a flower delivery service in the late 70s to one of the largest event production companies in the area. With the addition of Dan Caplan in the early 2000s, Arrangements Unlimited has maintained its place in the upper echelon of events.

450 South Henderson Road, Suite F, King of Prussia, PA, 19046 | arrangements-unlimited.com