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THE SUMMER WINDOW 



FROM THE INSIDE 



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How do you look at your summer window, from the outside, as the 

 public sees it, or from the inside, as the salespeople see it? In other words, 

 is the window a help in selling f Does it in any way influence those who 

 pass to enter and huyf 



T the recent convention of 

 the American Association 

 of Nurserymen President 

 Welch, from Iowa, in the 

 center of things, where 

 they have the broad view, 

 got ofif this little pream- 

 ble: "The new era of 

 b«nnes8 has come upon 

 us with a rush of energy 

 that no century has shown before; just 

 as men are men, so times are times." 

 And times change, change rapidly. The 

 trouble is, all men are not able to 

 change with them. 



The point is that where once a florist 

 might have been justified, in midsum- 

 mer, in neglecting the sales-making 

 qualities of his window and decorating 

 it only for the curious, today condi- 

 tions are so different that never, not 

 even in summer, should selling ability 

 be passed unconsidered. 



Show Flowers. 



Every retail florist who has given 

 even the slightest study to the subject 

 of window decorating has discovered, 

 from experience if not otherwise, that 

 there is a great difference in the com- 

 mercial values of certain classes of dec- 

 orations: One will bring the people into 

 the store to buy, while 

 another will merely 

 cause the curious to 

 comment. Of course 

 the ideal is the decor- 

 ation that causes talk 

 as well as causes im- 

 mediate sales. Sales, 

 and the soojier the 

 better, can be conceded 

 to be the chief object 

 sought. 



In considering the 

 character of decora- 

 tion to be used at any 

 time, it probably will 

 be admitted by all that 

 a window display to 

 sell flowers must show 

 flowers; it would Tae 

 too much to expect 

 that anyone would en- 

 ter a store because of 

 a window display to 

 ask for something not 

 shown in it. Conse- 

 quently, if we expect 

 our windows to sell 

 flowers, we must show 

 flowers. In olden times, 

 speaking of time as it 

 passes in this trade, it 

 was the fashion for 



the fine retail stores along Broadway in 

 New York (most of them are on Fifth 

 avenue now) to discontinue the dis- 

 play of cut flowers in their windows 

 July 1 and for two months to show 

 specimen ferns. There was, of course, 

 some danger that persons who did not 

 pause to read the sign would mistake 

 the place for an undertaker's shop, but 

 it is no unusual occurrence for an under- 

 taker to be asked his price for the 

 plant in his window! 



Are the Ducklings for Sale? 



Also it is of record that a Chicago 

 retail florist once sold complete the 

 Japanese garden shown behind his 

 plateglass, and many a retailer has had 

 inquiries as to "What will you take for 

 two of the ducklings" in the summer 

 window, from people who realized that 

 they were not regular items of stock. 



It simply goes to show that even in 

 summer, when the demand for flowers 

 admittedly is at low ebb, the principal^ 

 feature of a window decoration might* 

 better be the things one has for sale. 

 How many people, after having seen 

 water windows in different kinds of 

 stores, can tell which one was at the 

 florist's? What profit is it to attract the 

 attention of the multitude if nothing 



Rubber-Necks" Surely; Flower Buyers Possibly. 



links that attention to the merchandise? 

 In a certain city at this moment 

 there are two water windows in one 

 block. The florist has a well con- 

 structed pile of moss-grown rocks with 

 a rill of water flowing down from the 

 heights to a pool in the center, turning 

 a millwheel on its way. There isn't 

 a flower in sight, scarcely a plant. 



A Window with a Message. 



On the adjacent corner a music house 

 has a lake scene, with pond lilies and 

 flsh in the water; there is a canoe with 

 a man and a woman, the man pad- 

 dling, the woman running a phono- 

 graph! The turntable of the machine 

 carries a record and is revolving, actu- 

 ated by a concealed electric motor; it 

 seems to be playing, you will note. /At 

 one side is a neatly lettered sign call- 

 ing attention to the value of music on a 

 summer's outing and stating the price 

 of the outfit shown. That's advertis- 

 ing; it's linking the eye-catcher with 

 the selling force; it actually makes 

 sales. 



With rare exceptions flower store 

 summer windows fail to do it. 



Few Flowers Needed. 



The first objection the florist makes 

 is that in summer cut 

 flowers will not keep 

 in the window; that he 

 cannot afford the use 

 of the necessary quan- 

 tities with frequent 

 changes. And that 

 leads to another point 

 in window decorating: 

 The average florist 

 puts far too much 

 stock in his window. 

 At Philadelphia the 

 first Sunday of the re- 

 cent National Flower 

 Show, one of the best 

 stores was observed to 

 have, on a velvet drape 

 in its window, a good 

 selection of vases and 

 flower bowls, the tall- 

 est vase having just 

 one rose, a perfect 

 specimen, and one of 

 the bow^s was filled 

 with sweet peas. The 

 store was closed, but 

 there was sales force 

 there; the writer could 

 go straightT bock to 

 that store, but he 

 doesn 't remember one 

 from another the 



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