Filled with v^nthusiasm as the result of an unexpectedly good 

 season, the Trade is making preparations for a record Easter 



EVER in the history of the 

 flower business has there 

 been a fairer prospect for 

 the Easter trade. Taking 

 the country by and large, 

 prosperity never was 

 greater; there is no un- 

 employment; the people 

 have plenty of money and 

 the high degree of activ- 

 ity in practically all lines of business 

 shows, that the money is being spent 

 freely. Also, in spite of the fact that 

 this is an exceptionally late Easter, 

 weather conditions are such that peo- 

 ple are awaiting the arrival of spring 

 with keenest anticipation. 



Spring Thoughts of Flowers. 



Easter, coming so late, almost surely 

 will bring bright, warm spring weather 

 and the press of 

 purchasers April 

 22 promises to 

 break all records 

 in this trade. 



Christmas was 

 excellent with 

 nearly all florists 

 who retail, busi- 

 ness up to Ash 

 Wednesday was 

 rather better than 

 in any recent 

 year, and during 

 Lent demand for 

 flowers has been 

 ahead of ordinary 

 records. The re- 

 sult has been that 

 the trade has un- 

 dertaken Easter 

 preparations with 

 an unusual degree 

 of enthusiasm. 

 Easter for many 

 years was the big 

 day in the florists ' 

 business; recently 

 it has been 

 equaled, if not 

 eclipsed, by 

 Christmas sales, 

 but the energy 

 that is being put 

 into preparations 

 for next week 's 

 selling promises 

 this year to put 



Easter back at the head of the proces- 

 sion of special flower days. 



Plans for Three Busy Days. 



As the flower business has broad- 

 ened, florists who retail have given in- 

 creased attention to the advance 

 preparations for special days. It has 

 come to be recognized that the sales 

 for such a day as Easter, once limited 

 by the supply of stock, of recent years 

 have been limited principally by one's 

 ability to wait on trade. In spite of 

 the best efforts of the retailers, the 

 public persists in putting off purchas- 

 ing until the last moment. One retail 

 florist, in studying his sales records, 

 finds that he does rather less than the 

 normal business for the first three days 

 of the week preceding Easter; that by 

 Wednesday the buyers are nibbling. 



The Fashion Nowadays is to Put in Everything Within Reach. 



but that the Easter sales virtually all 

 are made in the last three days. His 

 record shows that he does more busi- 

 ness on the Saturday preceding Easter 

 than in all the rest of the week, while 

 Friday easily doubles Thursday's sales. 

 Notations in his memorandum book, a 

 volume every florist should own and 

 use, indicate that almost always a 

 pleasant Easter Saturday sees many 

 customers turned away because of the 

 inability to wait on them promptly. 



Extra Help and Space. 



The problem, then, is to devise the 

 means of waiting on an increased num- 

 ber of customers during the short 

 hours of the Easter rush. To a certain 

 extent the pressure is relieved by hav- 

 ing all stock marked in plain figures 

 and enjploying a number of extra sales- 



persons. The 

 prices of all cut 

 flowers are plainly 

 written on a large 

 blackboard in the 

 workroom, while 

 a wood label car- 

 rying the price 

 mark is in every 

 plant. Extra help 

 capable of taking 

 orders when mer- 

 chandise is thus 

 plainly priced usu- 

 ally can be had 

 and solves one 

 part of the prob- 

 lem. The question 

 then is to obtain 

 sufficient selling 

 space. If this is 

 unobtainable, it 

 imposes a limit on 

 what the florist 

 can do in a day. 

 Often, however, a 

 neighboring store 

 is vacant and can 

 be used for plant 

 sales. With such 

 an annex a florist 

 is in position to 

 double his day '» 

 business by adver- 

 tising. And 

 everybody recog- 

 nizes that now 

 there is so much 



