

CHRISTMAS TRADE ^ 



MAKES NEW RECORD 



The Christmas trade reports are umisually similar this year — it was 

 a big Christmas, the largest ever, and it was profitable to the individual 

 in proportion to the way certain unusual and unfavorable conditions af- 

 fected or failed to affect the busines s of that individual. 



/-- 



City 



T^=^^^t| AKING it by and large, 

 this year 's Christmas busi- 

 ness went ahead of that of 

 the best previous Christ- 

 II ^ mas just in proportion to 

 l^*^i^ the individual's capacity 

 L'-N^ for meeting the conditions 

 p^ ff^ — there was no limit to the 

 Bi^^s:^^ demand, but the business 

 was seriously limited by 

 the fact that the rush was of short dura- 

 tion. The early days of the week were 

 uncommonly wintry over almost the en- 

 tire United States, but the temperature 

 moderated as the week drew to a close 

 and, where the weather had operated 

 to check early buying, at the finish it 

 was a favorable factor in a 

 most unholy rush. 



It is worth while noting 

 that the same conditions 

 ])revailed in almost all parts 

 of the country — weather 

 conditions were similar; de- 

 mand was uniformly the 

 strongest ever known; the 

 business had to be done in a 

 few short selling hours, 

 practically all in the last 

 three days and as much De- 

 cember 23 as all the rest of 

 the week; plants were a 

 less conspicuous feature 

 than in recent years, for the 

 reason that the supply was 

 not 80 large as usual and re- 

 tailers, failing to obtain as 

 many as wanted, were 

 forced to fall back on cut 

 flowers; the supply of cut 

 flowers, checked to an 

 alarming degree by the se- 

 vere weather of the pre- 

 vious week, almost every- 

 where proved larger than 

 •'xpected. 



Different Qroups. 



Of course there were ex- 

 '•eptions, but they are not 

 sufficiently numerous to 

 'nore than prove the rule — 

 this was a Christmas of 

 -trikingly uniform c o n d i- 

 ■'ions over the whole coun- 

 ty. 



The flower business has 

 "■o broadened in the last 

 few years that it has di- 

 vided into groups, the inter- 

 <^sts and experience of each 

 S:roup somewhat different 

 from the others. 



Most numerous of these, 



and probably representing the greater 

 part of the business done at the holiday, 

 is the group composed of those who 

 operate greenhouses and retail there- 

 from. In most cases these men are lo- 

 cated in small towns, or at least in the 

 residence or suburban districts of 

 larger ones. Earely do such places ex- 

 ;?perience a rush that is beyond their 

 ability to wait on trade, but in the ag- 

 gregate they dispose of an enormous 

 quantity of stock and form the real 

 backbone of the trade. They never 

 cleaned up closer than they did this 

 Christmas. 



These retail growers buy little stock 

 in wholesale markets — with rare ex- 



WEATHER CONDITIONS DECEMBER 23 

 The Day of the " Big Push " to Buy Flowers 



3 



o 

 o 





Kastern states — 



Albany 28 



Atlanta 46 



Boston 30 



Buffalo 20 



Charleston 48 



New York 32 



Parkersburg 30 



Philadelphia ..■S..34 



Pittsburgh 28 



Raleigh 44 



Washington 38 



Gulf states — • 



Abilene 52 



El Paso 54 



Galveston 56 



Jacksonville 54 



Miami 72 



Mobile 54 



Montgomery 50 



New Orleans 52 



San Antonio 58 



Tampa 66 



Vicksburg 52 



East-central states 



Alpena 16 



Chicago 25 



Cincinnati 26 



Cleveland 22 



Detroit 20 



Escanaba 12 



Evansville 32 



Fort Wayne 22 



Grand Rapids 22 



Green Bay 8 



Indianapolis 26 



Madison 14 



Marquette 8 



Memphis 42 



Milwaukee 18 



Nashville 36 



Peoria 22 



Ste. Marie 10 



Bprlngfleld, 111 28 



30 24 

 52 32 

 34 26 

 22 14 

 54 36 

 34 24 

 38 18 

 38 24 

 34 6 

 52 26 

 44 28 



66 42 

 62 44 

 60 42 

 68 40 

 78 66 

 54 32 

 54 28 

 60 38 

 62 36 

 74 50 

 58 30 



22 10 

 26 12 

 28 10 

 26 10 

 24 8 

 18 -4 

 34 16 

 26 8 

 24 8 

 16 -2 

 28 12 

 18 2 

 18 

 44 30 

 22 6 

 40 14 

 28 12 

 20 

 30 16 



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City 





West-central states — 



Bismarck -4 -2-14 



Charles City 18 24 -2 



Concordia 24 24 6 



Davenport 18 22 6 



Dps Moines 22 22 6 



DevUs Lake -4 -4-16 



Dubuque 16 22 



Duluth 2 10-12 



Kansas City .SO 34 16 



Keokuk 24 26 14 



Little Rock 40 44 28 



North Platte 14 16 -2 



Oklahoma 42 48 26 



Omaha 18 20 



Sioux City 18 20 



St. Louis .32 36 18 



St. Paul 10 12 -fl 



Springfield, Mo.... 36 48 22 

 Wichita 32 40 20 



Mountain states — 



Boise .34 .34 32 



Cheyenne 24 30 12 



Denver 32 36 16 



Helena 8 6 



Phoenix 62 60 34 



Pueblo .38 44 14 



Salt Lake 34 36 26 



.*!anta Fe 28 36 22 



Sheridan 2 10-12 



Pacific states — 



Fresno 44 46 38 



\a>9, Angeles 52 56 42 



Portland, Ore 36 38 .30 



.Sacramento 42 46 36 



.San Francisco 48 52 42 



San Diego 54 58 48 



Spokane 30 36 28 



Canadian — 



Calgnrj- -C -4-12 



Montreal 12 14 8 



Quebec 12 16 12 



Toronto 20 26 16 



Winnipeg -10 -4-10 



ceptions they sell at prices that limit 

 their activities to the stock matured iit 

 their own greenhouses, but this year,, 

 prompted perhaps by the general infla- 

 tion of commodity prices, they appear 

 to have asked somewhat better money 

 than heretofore and to have had no- 

 diflBculty in getting what they asked. 



With the Retailers. 



The second largest group in the trade 

 is composed of those who conduct retail 

 stores. Their number has increased im- 

 mensely in the last two or three years. 

 Just by way of statistics, there now are 

 228 cities of 25,000 population in the 

 United States and it is believed there is 

 not one of these without 

 one or more downtown re- 

 tail flower stores. It is esti- 

 mated that in the fifty cities 

 of 160,000 and up there is 

 one retail flower store for 

 each 5,000 inhabitants — it 

 still is far less than the 

 number of saloons in the 

 wet towns, but the flower 

 stores are making steady 

 progress and are merchan- 

 dising great quantities of" 

 stock. 



Some of the retail flower 

 stores have greenhouse con- 

 nections, but the greater 

 number draw their stock 

 exclusively from wholesale 

 growers or commission 

 houses. As a rule they sell 

 at better prices than, do the- 

 men who retail in the pack- 

 ing shed, but their best 

 holiday is not necessarily 

 one that is best for the- 

 growers. This Christmas 

 they 'lad to pay rather 

 more than usual for their 

 stock, both plants and cut 

 flowers. Those who did not 

 raise their retail prices 

 therefore did business on a 

 narrower margin than here- 

 tofore at Christmas. But 

 demand was strong enough 

 so that price was not a bar 

 — the limits were imposed 

 by the size of the store, the 

 supply of stock and the 

 question of help. 



It is apparent that many 

 retailers would have been 

 better satisfied if stock had 

 been a little more plentiful,, 

 and quite a few had some- 

 thing worth while left un- 



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