Febbdabt 17, 1916. 



The Florists^ Review 



13 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



ST. VALENTINE'S DAY. 



The trade was handicapped a bit this 

 year, but the business for the day 

 nevertheless was so good as to afford 

 high hopes for the future. In many of 

 the city news-letters in this issue of 

 The Review it will be found the sales 

 of flowers for valentine purposes not 

 only broke all records but were so large 

 as to rank the day as one of the big 

 special flower events of the entire year. 

 There are those who are so enthusias- 

 tic as to predict it soon will class with 

 Christmas in its demand for gift 

 flowers. 



The obstacles this year were three in 

 number. Perhaps not all three operated 

 in any one place, or perhaps there were 

 places where everything was favorable, 

 but: In many markets stock has been 

 scarce and high, so that retailers were 

 deterred from buying liberally and ad- 

 vertising widely; in the east winter 

 gave a dying kick that day, many 

 places reporting the lowest tempera- 

 tures of the year; and Monday is pro- 

 verbially a poor day for a flower gift 

 holiday. 



An interesting feature is that the 

 post-oflSce people in many cities noted 

 a sharp decrease in the number of val- 

 entines passing through the mails and 

 that in several instances it was ex- 

 plained in the daily papers as due to 

 the "increasing custom of sending 

 flowers." That's what we like to read. 



NEW STORE IN THE SOUTHLAin). 



Down in the Lone Star state, in the 

 city of Dallas, two enterprising men 

 pooled their experiences and interests 

 and launched out into the florists' craft 

 August 21. They are Ernest Rische, 

 Jr., and Charles C. ChoUar, both of 

 whom bring years of experience to 

 their venture, the Rische-Chollar Floral 

 Co. Mr. Rische is a young man. He 

 was formerly manager of the retail 

 store of the Texas Seed & Floral Co., 

 and for the last two years has been 

 manager of the Lone Star Floral Co. 

 Mr. Chollar does not need an introduc- 

 tion to the Texas trade, having been 

 associated with some of the largest 

 firms in the state. During the last two 

 years he has been decorator for the 

 Brown-Dawson Co. 



The accompanying illustration pic- 

 tures the interior of their shop, at Elm 

 and Stone streets, Dallas. The store 

 was opened August 21. In addition to 

 cut flowers, floral designs, plants, seeds 

 and bulbs, the owners retail canaries 

 and goldfishes. 



ADVERTISING AND ITS COST. 



Consider Results First. 



The number of retail florists wjio 

 talk to the public through the news- 

 papers has increased rapidly in recent 

 years, but there still are a good many 

 who say, "I can't afford to advertise." 

 They have absolutely the wrong idea. 



According to a somewhat hackneyed 

 phrase, advertising is not an expense, 

 but an investment. Some men like to 

 invest in oil wells, gold mines, gold 

 bricks or the hope of quick riches. If 

 they consider advertising as being in 

 this class, well, they are correct in 

 saying they can not "afford" it. But 

 for the man who finds an endowment 

 policy in a strong company a good in- 

 vestment, advertising is attractive. 



How Much to Invest. 



Advertising is of two classes: That 

 done with the expectation of direct re- 

 turns and that done for the purpose 

 of building a reputation. If a man ad- 

 vertises to make immediate sales he 

 can go as far as results justify, but it 

 may be taken as axiomatic that the 

 first sale never paid anybody — it is the 

 repeats from the new customer that 

 bring the real profits. 



For the upbuilding of a business a 

 retailer may spend what he will. The 

 intelligence with which he spends the 

 money will count for more than the 

 amount of the expenditure. 



It certainly is a capital crime to set 

 apart a sum for "advertising" and to 

 spend it without regard for results — a 

 man can get a reputation easily enough 

 by the thoughtless use of money, but 

 it seldom is a reputation that does a 

 business man any good. A florist may 

 have money to burn, but he will find 

 not many people worth while like the 

 smell of the smoke. Don't buy space 

 until you have something worth while 

 to put in it. 



Eight Cents out of Every Dollar. 



For general publicity purposes it 

 still is the practice to set aside a cer- 

 tain percentage of the gross sales and 

 the question frequently is asked, "How 



much is a retail florist justified in put- 

 ting back into his business?" It all 

 depends. Andrew L. Demling says 

 Penn, in Boston, reinvests in this way 

 eight per cent of the annual sales and, 

 as Penn's sent The Review proof sheets 

 of the interview, it must bo correct. 



How Penn Started. 



It was the chance remark of an early 

 customer that started this Boston flo- 

 rist advertising, according to Mr. Dem- 

 ling. ' * It was a good many years ago, 

 and I was doing a modest business in 

 my first establishment over in Chap- 

 man place," Henry Penn is quoted in 

 the Cincinnati Enquirer as saying. 

 "One morning a well-known citizen of 

 Boston came into my store and said: 



' ' ' Mr. Penn, what are you going to 

 soak me for a dozen carnations!' 



"It set me thinking. That man 

 didn't know before he came in that my 

 prices and quality were right. There 

 were thousands of people in Boston 

 who didn't know it. Why? Because 

 I hadn't told them. Yet if they were 

 to become my customers — if my busi- 

 ness was to assume the proportions I 

 was determined it should — they would 

 have to know it. 



"It was plainly my duty to tell 

 everybody in Boston that this 'Penn' 

 spelled quality, service and economy in 

 flower buying. How? 



"There's only one medium through 

 which your message reaches everybody. 

 The newspaper. There's only one way 

 to make people realize what you're 

 telling them — to tell them constantly, 

 and so conspicuously they can't over- 

 look it. 



A Quick Sales Proposition. 



' ' Advertising is peculiarly essential 

 to the flower business," he continued. 



New Store of the Rhche-CbolUr Floral Co., DalUa, Tex. 



