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 Skptbubeb 14, 1916. 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



HOW CHEAP SALES HUST. 



' I The following Is the papoi- of Aloysina Zech, 

 read before the Chicago Florists' Club, Sep- 

 tember 7. 1016.1 



At the last meeting I promised to 

 read a paper on whether it is harmful 

 or beneficial to the flower business for 

 the department stores to sell powers at 

 ridiculously low prices. 



There has been much said for and 

 against it. Some will say it makes new 

 flower buyers, because people buying 

 from department stores would not go 

 to a flower store to buy, but that when 

 they get in the habit of having flowers 

 at home, they will buy from the legiti- 

 mate florist. Others say it hurts the 

 florist in a way, because the public gets 

 to believe that flowers have little or no 

 value and that the florists are hold-up 

 people. 



Why Department Stores Do It. 



The department stores advertise fresh 

 cut flowers at a price that is less than 

 the cost of producing the stock, such 

 as carnations at 8 cents per bunch of 

 twenty-five, or roses at 6 cents per 

 dozeii. The general public does not 

 know a good flower from a poor one. 

 A flower is a flower to ^he average per- 

 son, regardless of quality. Therefore I 

 say that the public should be educated 

 in regard to the quality of flowers. Just 

 imagine a department store advertising 

 roses at 12 cents per dozen the day be- 

 fore Mothers' day, when the price in 

 the market is $2 and $3 per hundred for 

 the shortest roses. Can the retailer sell 

 his stock at these figures? 



One department store last year came 

 out with a big ad offering Easter lilies 

 ^t 19 cents a pot, saying that it was 

 going to protect the public and not 

 overcharge on flowers.' Don't you think 

 a thing like this -hurts the flower busi- 

 ness! In the wholesale houses it can 

 be noticed at once. As soon as the de- 

 partment stores have a sale on flowers 

 the retailers do not buy anything. When 

 you ask them why they are not buying 

 they answer, "If we buy we cannot 

 sell, as people tell us they will go to 

 the department stores, and then we 

 have to throw away our stock." The 

 department stores do not give a rip 

 about the florists. They do not make 

 money out of the flowers they sell, but 

 have found out that flowers have a 

 better way of getting customers into 

 the store than any other item they can 

 advertise. They are only selling flow- 

 ers for an advertisement, and not, as we 

 are, for a livelihood. 



Fixing the Responsibility. 



Now, I will say that all three 

 branches of the cut flower business are 

 to blame for these conditions. Take 

 the wholesaler first. He is overloaded 

 with stock, the buyer for the depart- 

 ment store comes in, and the wholesaler 

 unloads on him for a song. Now, 

 would it not be better if most of this 

 stock was thrown in the barrel and the 

 balance sold for a better price? In 

 the end the wholesaler would sell, say, 

 one-third of his supply and get as much, 

 if not more, money than by unloading 

 to the department store. 



In the second place, take the grower. 

 When the market is glutted he should 

 sort his cut and send only the best to 

 the market, in place of sending in every 

 flower, whether good or bad. By send- 

 ing only the best stock to the market 

 during the glut he would cut down the 

 supply and in that way retain the mar- 



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I WHO'S WHO t^eI and why | 



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ALOYSIUS ZECH. 



TtlEBE are few fiorists in the vicinity of Chicago who do not know "Allie" 

 Zech, for he has spent his entire business life in the trade. The son of John 

 /ech, he began work in the wholesale house of Zech & Mann while he was younger 

 than anyone else in the place, advancing with the years until he became his 

 lather's chief reliance in the business. Then, suddenly, the unexpected death of 

 the senior called the son to the helm. Mr. Zech has not yet exhausted the energy 

 of youth; one never sees him idle and he is an active participant in all trade 

 affairs, especially the recreation features of the Chicago Florists' Club. 



ket. But most growers figure on how 

 much stock they can cut. Then they 

 will say, "I cut so many flowers dur- 

 ing the season," not saying how good 

 they were. If the grower would help 

 in this way during a glut, it would help 

 to cut out the department stores. 



Now, in the third place, take the re- 

 tailer; he could help to cut out the de- 

 partment stores by buying more stock 

 during a glut. 



Retailers Can Help. 



The retailer of today does not carry 

 a stock of flowers in his store. He buya 

 a few and then waits for an order, and 

 goes to the market and buys just enough 

 to fill his orders. When a glut comes 

 in the market, why does not every re- 

 tailer buy a good supply and run a 

 sale of his own and not let the de- 

 partment stores do it? He could sell 

 many more flowers in this way. 



When stock is plentiful, the retailer 

 could go to his wholesale house and 

 order a large quantity of flowers for a 

 certain day, then go to the printer and 

 get out some handbills to be delivered 

 by mail or by boys to every house in 



his neighborhood, letting the people 

 know that he had made arrangements 

 with the growers to supply him with 

 a large stock for a certain day at a 

 lower price than usual, and that he 

 wanted to give everybody in the neigh- 

 borhood the benefit of this low price, 

 and then sell this lot of flowers at a 

 figure lower than usual. Don 't you 

 think in this way every retailer could 

 dispose of more flowers and create more 

 flower buyers? 



Another way for the retailer would 

 be to buy a lot of flowers and put them 

 up in small boxes, say six fiowers to a 

 box, and enclose a card carrying his 

 compliments and have them delivered 

 to all his customers, or to all the people 

 in his neighborhood. This would ad- 

 vertise the retailer and also make new 

 flower buyers, and the best thing it 

 would do would be to eliminate the de- 

 partment stores from the flower busi- 

 ness. 



Now, if all three branches would work 

 along these lines, I am sure it would 

 help all concerned. , I would like the 

 view of some grower, retailer and other 

 wholesaler on this subject. 



