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The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 1, 1920 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



THE LATEST IN HEADWEAIL 



Though florists depend on the old 

 ways of the florists' craft for their 

 steady business, something novel is of 

 much assistance to get some publicity 

 occasionally in the daily press without 

 paying high advertising rates. Beal 

 flowers for trimming women's hats will 

 never, in all likelihood, be so commonly 

 used as to add greatly to florists' in* 

 comes generally, but the recurring fad 

 stirs the public interest. The follow- 

 ing appeared on the front page of the 

 Boston Becord, a place where money 

 could not put an advertisement: 



HATS TRIMMED WITH 



REAL lilVB FLOWERS, 



AND BX A FLORIST. 



Women I Women ! 



Hats trimmed with cut flowers — while you 

 wait. 



It's the latest fad In Paris — and In Boston. 



Imagine Itt Live flowers on spring millinery 

 creations I 



Penn the Florist was flrtt to take up the Idea 

 in Boston. His store on Tremont street, opposite 

 Park, was yisited by many women wishing to 

 have the latest in headwear. 



WAB TAUGHT PBICE IJISSON. 



Changed Betailers' View. 



Undoubtedly at some time in his 

 eareer every florist has given some 

 thought to the matter of gathering 

 business through prices alone. That so 

 few have gone further than mere pass- 

 ing thought speaks well for the hxtel- 

 ligence and business acumen of the 

 trade at large, but for those times in 

 the future when the idea of price appeal 

 again presents itself one should remem- 

 ber the lesson of the recent war period, 

 in which it was demonstrated that re- 

 tail prices had little effect in determin- 

 ing to which store buyers would go. 



Any great movement which affects 

 the country at large, even though tem- 

 porary, necessarily brings about changes 

 in business customs which often become 

 permanent. The recent war did this 

 to a degree and many radical changes 

 occurred in the methods of conducting 

 practically every line of business. 



Before the war retailers gave con- 

 siderable attention to prices asked by 

 their competitors. In fact, some seemed 

 fto see absolute failure staring them in 

 the face if they charged even a few 

 cents more than their competitors. 



Under Changed Conditions. 



When the war came the rapidly chang- 

 ing market conditions made prices in 

 general quite unstable. 



During this time the government was 

 giving much time to thrift propaganda, 

 fts well as openly urging the people to 

 •ave in every possible manner. Logi- 

 cally this should have inspired the 

 public to shop around and diligently 

 iBcek out the least expensive place to 

 trade. 



What actually did happen was that 

 the public kept right on buying where 

 lit had been in the habit of buying, and 

 if the price of an article was 5 cents 



more than that asked at a store a 

 block away, the customer paid the 5 

 cents. 



This demonstrated to retailers who 

 had not realized it before that their 

 reputations were not built solely on 

 price comparison, but that quality of 

 service was an extremely important 

 item. 



Customers Pay for Service. 



People who want service are not only 

 willing, but expect to pay for it. The 

 woman who takes her string bag and 

 goes out to the cut-price market to buy 

 her Sunday dinner does not expect the 

 same service she would get from high- 

 grade establishments located in a more 

 convenient and better neighborhood. 

 Thus the chaotic conditions brought 

 about by the war awakened retailers 

 to the fact that a store gets the class 

 of trade it endeavors to attract, and 



if it makes its reputation ou superior 

 quality and service it will attract the 

 class which desires quality and service. 

 If its reputation is based on low prices, 

 it will attract the class of people who 

 consider themselves shrewd buyers. 



* * Comparison is the mother of value. ' ' 

 Practically everything we say implies 

 comparison, but only on a basis of equal 

 class. When we speak of a fast horse 

 we compare his speed with that of other 

 horses, not with an express train, which 

 would probably travel much faster. 

 Thus people, in judging competitors' 

 stores, do not compare quality of service 

 and low prices with the same relative 

 value in mind. 



What the retail florist of today has 

 to consider in competition is not so 

 much whether his competitor is charg- 

 ing a few cents above or below his price, 

 but whether he is getting his share of 

 the class of trade he aims to attract. 



t'\^'^',vs;^:.vs>(i^ 



TATE'S TIPS 



SPBINa'S OPPOBTUNITIES. 



Start with the Season. 



Soon after this reaches the reader 

 another Easter will have passed into 

 history; the big and trying day for the 

 florists will be over. No doubt you 

 have done well not only with your 

 Easter business, but with business in 

 general throughout the winter. You 

 have been handicapped with scarcity 

 of stock and high prices, but you have 

 met these conditions successfully. There 

 is not a retailer of my acquaintance who 

 is not doing business at the old stand 

 and in every case he seems happier. 

 But let us remember that the season 

 is not over yet. When I was a boy 

 my mother insisted each spring that 

 each one of the children should take 

 sulphur and molasses to clear the blood 

 of impurities that had accumulated dur- 

 ing the winter; so a little heart-to- 

 heart business talk in these columns may 

 have much the same effect on the retail 

 florist. 



A Spring Chat. 



Spring is with us. There is not a 

 woman in the country who has not her 

 mind set upon a new outfit and, if we 

 could read the minds of men, we might 

 be surprised to know that this same 

 germ is mixed with interest, contracts, 

 bonds, stocks and the money market. 

 What is the reason for this? They have 

 just become tired of looking at old 

 wardrobes and crave something differ- 

 ent. The eye becomes tired of looking 

 too long at the same thing and registers 

 a protest to the brain; with what re- 



sult? A physician will tell you that 

 the cause must be removed. 



This brings me to the point where I 

 want to prescribe for the retail store 

 owner. The first thing I am going to 

 ask is that you go out on your pave- 

 ment and study your window for a 

 time. I will admit it has been pretty 

 and much admired all through the 

 winter, but has not the general plan 

 been much the samef Be honest with 

 yourself. Has the past admiration not 

 been for some extra fine flowers of 

 some sort that have often been slipped 

 into the same place that had held the 

 previous day's leader or drawing card 

 and not for the general scheme of deco- 

 ration T Be frank, aren't you just a bit 

 tired of it yourself? 



Housecleanlng Time. 



Spring is here. Let's have a general 

 housecleanlng. Let's get the window 

 ready for the spring season. First give 

 it a thorough cleaning. By this I mean 

 a general scrubbing all over. Perhaps 

 the paint has become dingy, but it will 

 only take a few days to put one coat of 

 white on it, both inside and out. 



While you are at this, did you ever 

 think of the lighting system? Study 

 this out and have an expert go over this 

 matter with you; it will only require the 

 changing of a few wires. Remember to 

 have your bulbs arranged so they will 

 not be seen and to use reflectors so 

 that the light will be thrown into the 

 window itself. Have everything out- 

 side the window itself as dark as pos- 

 sible, but let the window be brilliant. 



To illustrate that, how often have we 

 passed some home, perhaps on a wintry 



