December 2007

Living the Sweet Life: Rob and Sandy (Schuler) Archer, owners of Arch's Frozen Yogurt, Take on Life With Sweet Success

“The grace of God.”

Simply put, that’s how Rob and Sandy Archer handle their busy lifestyle.

“We have a lot going on,” says Rob. “But we are grateful for God’s help in every aspect of our lives.”

Archer is first to admit that he and Sandy are “going like crazy all the time,” but he’s quick to add, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The Archers are living life again through their kids, Okleigh (9), Wynston (7), Arielle (6), and Kai (1), spending many a weekday evening shuffling to practice (football, lacrosse, soccer) and Saturday mornings at their kids’ games.

Rob recognizes the value of organized sports in his children’s lives. “We have structure. We have things we have to accomplish. It’s nice. During the week, we have a schedule. We don’t have hours of free time to fill watching T.V.”

The Archers actually are more connected to the University than most, by virtue of their signature frozen yogurt shops, Arch’s. They’ve had various student-athlete employees over the years and their long list of customers leads of with Heather and Heidi Burge (’90-93) and continues with many U.Va. student-athletes over the years.

In June 1991, the Archers opened their first location on Ivy Road near the University Heights apartments. Sandy ran the day-to-day operations while Rob kept a full-time job at IBM in Philadelphia and commuted back to Charlottesville every weekend. He only missed one weekend out of 62, he recalls. In 1992, Rob returned to Charlottesville (Darden ’92-’94) and in Spring of 1994, they opened Arch’s on the Corner and Sandy went to Darden (’94-’96).

Living a virtual relay race, the Archers share a goal and work together. “It’s teamwork,” says Rob, “I can’t take credit for it.

“We have wonderful people working at each Arch’s location (which should be up to three by Spring ’08). With Rob’s mechanical engineering background (BS ’85), he maintains his equipment and fixes, or tries to, everything at his stores himself.

Rob’s especially thankful for Sandy’s creativity. “She’s always been the creative force,” he says. Sandy created the lounge atmosphere at the original Arch’s before Starbucks popularized the coffee house format. And Arch’s was mixing mix-ins into frozen yogurt before Cold Stone and Maggie Moo’s dished it out.

There is a period of time when your focus is on work and your social life. “As you get older,” he says, “it becomes less about you, not what you can take, but what you can give. Your perspective changes,” Rob continues, “it’s about what’s really important.”

Rob, who is also an assistant pastor in a local start-up church fellowship says there is a bigger reason you’re called to something other than dollars and cents. “If you can figure that out, then it takes the pressure off. You do what you’re called to do and God takes care of the rest.”

During the summer, Rob teaches at a Darden program for gifted minority high school students. In one of his assignments, the students are given a “theoretical” marketing strategy and business plan to critique.

The study begins by saying “the subject took early retirement from IBM to open a yogurt shop in Charlottesville.” When you look at the scenario on paper, “it looks like a bad idea,” says Archer. The kids think, “Is this guy crazy?” Then when Archer reveals that he is indeed the “crazy guy”, they all do a double take.

—Sara Hunt

This fall, in their “free” time, Rob and Sandy Archer were members of the Virginia All-Sports Reunion Committee. The reunion was held in conjunction with Homecoming, the weekend of October 12-14, 2007. “It was great,” says Sandy. “We saw people we hadn’t seen in 23 years.”

The weekend kicked off with a “Morris Day & the Time” concert at John Paul Jones Arena and a get-together at the Biltmore Grille. “It was like a flashback to be (at the Biltmore) with people we were there with years ago,” said Sandy. Reunion activities continued into Saturday morning with various athletics reunion match-ups. Rob (’84) and Sandy (’87) met on the U.Va. track team and continue to hold several Virginia track records (Rob: 400m relay, hurdles; Sandy: 800m, 1500m).

The Archers and other track alumni participated in the Wacky Wahoo Olympics where they interacted and met the current members of the track team. Rob was recognized with other record holders at the early morning event. “They really made us feel special,” he said. Sandy added, “The head coach, Randy Bungard, did a nice job reaching out (to alumni). It made us feel like we need to be more connected–we’re not as connected as we could be.”

Following the Saturday morning activities, former student-athletes gathered again for a tailgate before the U.Va.-Connecticut football game. The night wrapped up with a party at The X Lounge near the Charlottesville Downtown Mall.

“It was great to get everyone together at one event. You don’t just get to know athletes in your sport. When we were here, all the athletes lived in University Heights. Being a student- athlete at Virginia is a culture.”