308 



HORTICULTURE 



October 23, 1320 



HORTICULTURE 



EatmbUihcd bj WUUam J. Btowmrt In IMM 



Vol. XXXII 



October 23, 1920 



No. 17 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



HORTICULTRE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 739 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 



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■otared as second-class matter December 8, 1004, at the Post Office 

 at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1897. 



There is every indication that the Dutch 

 Surplus Bulbs t)ulb growers will liave a great number of 

 surplus bulbs to dispose of in the United 

 States this season. With conditions as they are now, these 

 bulbs will be sold, apparently, at any price which will 

 turn them into cash. It is obvious that this sort of dump- 

 ing of bulbs into American trade channels is a bad propo- 

 sition for American business men engaged in handling 

 bulbs. It is pretty discouraging to the man who pays a 

 federal tax and municipal taxes to have such oompetition 

 to meet. Of course every good business man welcomes 

 fair, honest competition, which in the end helps to keep 

 business on a proper level. This method of price cutting, 

 though, is demoralizing in the highest degree. It creates a 

 feeling of resentment and disti-ust. It quite naturally 

 spreads the impression among the smaller florists that 

 seedsmen and importers are profiteers. This is far from 

 being true, of course. 



Probably there is no vocation outside of the florist busi- 

 ness which calls for so much hard work, with so modest a 

 return on the capital investeo. It is not beneficial, but on 

 the contrary harmful to the entire trade to have any sort 

 of transaction which interferes with the legitimate busi- 

 ness of American seedsmen or importers, and which cuts 

 out their reasonable profits, to the advantage of the for- 

 eigners who do not pay the same taxes and who inject 

 themselves into the Ameriiau trade only at occasional in- 

 tervals when they have an overplus of stock to get rid of, 

 regardless of w-hat it brings. 



One of the most helpful addresses of the 

 Personal recent (invention of the F. T. D. at Indian- 

 advertising apolis was that of Ira C. Hai-per. While 

 this address dealt largely with methods of 

 bookkeeping and kindred .oubjects, it dwelt also upon sev- 



eral important points in retail trade. One of these points 

 was "personal advertising," to use the expression of the 

 speaker. And what he meant by this was the effort of 

 the proprietor to create an atmosphere through his own 

 personality, both when he himself is on the floor and as 

 reflected by his clerks during his absence, which would 

 give a feeling of welcome and comfortable complacency to 

 all customers. 



There Is no question about the tact that a store may 

 have a distinct atmosphere. Everybody who shops knows 

 this to be true. In some stores the customer always feels 

 at home, always feels that the clerks take a real pleasure 

 In waiting upon him, always feels that he is getting the 

 best service which can be given. In other stores quite the 

 contrary is true. He has a feeling of being neglected or 

 slighted, even though he cannot put his finger upon any 

 positive fact to substantiate it. When he goes away, even 

 though he may have made a satisfactory purchase, he 

 does not have the pleasant feeling which will almost cer- 

 tainly ensure his return. In his talk Mr. Harper said: 



"How often have we heard the expression, 'I like to 

 deal with Mr. Smith because of the comfortable feeling 

 with which he surrounds himself and his patrons. He is 

 not too big nor too busy to meet any of his customers. His 

 clerks are neat and courteous, and everyone of them acts 

 as though disappointed because he cannot wait upon all 

 who come into his store. You never have a fear of meeting 

 a grouchy clerk in his store. In fact, even when most busy 

 they all have a cheerful look or a bright word for those 

 who visit their store.' " 



Certainly this is a consummation devoutly to be 

 wished by every proprietor of a retail florist shop. It is 

 the open sesame to business success. It is the thing which 

 is more often missed than quality stock, and a tasteful 

 arrangement. It is something which few men are able to 

 bring about without careful thought and a systematic plan. 

 It means at the best a feeling of good will between the 

 proprietor and his employees. Everything which brings 

 about co-operative work will help to induce this result. 

 Usually, though, it is necessary to go ftirther and to instill 

 into the clerks a feeling of pride akin to that of the pro- 

 prietor in the welfare and standing of the store. It is not 

 possible in a store where the help is constantly changing. 

 It is easiest to create in a shop where the clerks have a 

 financial interest in the business. Even then it is neces- 

 sary for the owner to get his employees together at fre- 

 quent inte:-vals and talk over the general situation, thus 

 bringing about a mutual feeling of responsibility. In es- 

 sense this is a school for salesmen, but except in a very 

 large establishment it will be carried on in an infonnal al- 

 though perfectly serious manner. 



In every big department store it is a customary prac- 

 tice to give lectures or talks to the employees. All too 

 often the owner of a small establishment does not realize 

 that the same principle holds in his store as in those many 

 times its size. There are difficulties to be encountered, 

 no doubt. 



Some clerks seem constitutionally grouchy. Others 

 lose themselves in their personal thoughts. Such clerks 

 are to be replaced as soon as possible, and with anything 

 like fairly good material to work with a wise and broad 

 minded owner can greatly increase his returns without any 

 actual outlay of money. Said Mr. Harper: 



"I am a firm believer in the advertising value of the 

 personnel of any business house and the place of business 

 itself." So is every man in the retail trade who has given 

 the subject any amount of consideration and who has 

 studied the effect of a store's atmosphere on the people 

 who enter it. 



