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PLANNING A BETTER 



AUTUMN OPENING 



Has the fall opening become a commonplace f Has the same thing • 

 been done over and over again until there is need for something new to 

 restore drawing power? If the answer is in the affirmative, now is the 

 time to plan the features that will bring life to the function. 



Fiiiii^!^piiirffi 



HE first thing to do, if one 

 is to have an autumnal 



"opening," is to consider 



Y JL *^® date. This largely is 

 jl ^ a local question, to be 

 iVi-S^ decided by factors that 

 ^■■v^ would have no bearing 

 •^ ffC^ on any other case. If the 

 B^==^^ local merchants in other 

 lines are having a fall 

 fashion week, a street fair, or if there 

 is any other concerted endeavor to get 

 the people downtown in the evening, 

 or to start fall buying, the florist usual- 

 ly will do well to make his effort then t 

 — but in most cases, ..^ 

 even when the florist ' 

 goes it alone, the open- 

 ing is too early. 



Of course, we all are 

 anxious to set the busi- 

 ness ball rolling as early 

 as we can, as the earlier 

 the season opens the 

 longer it probably will 

 last. 



Mid-November Sight. 



But it is just sheer 

 waste of energy to try 

 an opening before crisp 

 weather comes. October 

 is too early -^ in many 

 sections the Indian 

 summer, when the foli- 

 age is flaming, is the 

 finest outdoor season of 

 the year. 



November is early 

 enough for an opening, 

 the second week better 

 than the first. This year, 

 with Thanksgiving post- 

 poned to November 30, 

 the week of November 

 15 will be at least as 

 good as any, as by then 

 the people of adequate 

 means will be taking up 

 their indoor activities 

 and will be in the mood 

 to brighten their sur- 

 roundings with the 

 things the florist has to 

 sell. 



Having set the date 

 for the fall opening, 

 preparations for it 

 should be along two dis- 

 tinct lines: First of all, 

 of course, it is necessary 

 to prepare an attractive 

 display; there is abso- 

 lutely no use in trying 

 to have an opening un- 

 less there is something 



special for people to see. The second 

 part of the work will lie in the direc- 

 tion of getting people into the store 

 to see what you have on display; this 

 simply means advertising. It is useless 

 to get up a show unless some steps are 

 taken to get the people in. 



The Decoration.' 



Probably the easiest thing any retail 

 florist does is to dress up the establish- 

 ment for some special occasion. The 

 work of decoration is so simple to one 

 whose business is along that line that 

 it is likely to be given less attention 



Lady Demonstrators Will Put Life into a Fall Opening. 



than it requires. In other words, the 

 decoration is apt to be so similar from 

 year to year that novelty is lost; the 

 visitors will remark on the beauty of 

 the establishment, but not on its dis- 

 tinctiveness; it will be like other 

 flower stores. 



When this point is considered the re- 

 tailer will not be content with the 

 purchase of an extra quantity of un- 

 usually fine flowers and their arrange- 

 ment around the store. Instead, he 

 will put special thought on obtaining 

 a decoration distinctly different from 

 anything he has used in other years. 

 "' ■' Eeproduced in connec- 



tion with this article are 

 some interesting illustra- 

 tions showing the store 

 of the E. Q. Hill Floral 

 Co., Indianapolis, as it 

 appeared during its 

 opening last November, 

 arranged by C. C. 

 Thomas. 



Some Special Features. 



One of the features of 

 the store decoration was 

 a number of panels like 

 the one illustrated on 

 page 12. T h e b a c k - 

 ground for each of these 

 panels was foliage-green 

 silk plush with a bam- 

 boo frame trimmed with 

 wild smilax. In front of 

 this plush background 

 the individual baskets 

 showed off in a most 

 effective fashion and 

 they gave the visitor an 

 idea for home decora- 

 tion. The panel shown 

 in the illustration was a 

 basket of Major Bon- 

 naffon chrysanthemums, 

 but all the larger flow- 

 ers, mums, roses, carna- 

 tions, etc., were shown 

 in similar striking fash- 

 ion. 



A Pretty Demonstrator. 



Note the pergola ef- 

 fect in the show window 

 as shown in the store 

 illustration. There were 

 no flowers in the win- 

 dow, only in the back- 

 ground. The window 

 decoration, be it ever so 

 beautiful, usually lacks 

 novelty. So Mr. Thomas 

 put a living model in his 

 window to demonstrate 



'.:.^ ■ ..^i 





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