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CHOOSING A SPOT 



FOR A FLOWER SHOP 



In what sort of neighborhood and where in that neighborhood is the best place 

 for a retail flower store? Upon the correct answer to these questions ofteni 

 depends the success of a business venture. Herein are some suggestions on 

 the subject that will be of help to those contemplating a change in location. 





O many favorable elements 

 are required to make a lo- 

 cation ideal for a retail 

 flower store that there are 

 few such places in any 

 city. However, as it is 

 upon the selection of a lo- 

 cation that much of the 

 success or failure of a re- 

 tail venture depends, the 

 favorable and unfavorable elements 

 should be carefully considered. It is 

 better to devote time, thought and study 

 to this question before the lease is 

 signed, or the purchase made, and a 

 large sum of money expended on fix- 

 tures and advertising, much of which 

 will be a total loss in the event that the 

 location is found to be unsuited to the 

 business. 



There are, of course, two classes of 

 retail flower stores — the one in the busy 

 downtown section where a great pro- 

 portion of the trade is transient; the 

 other in a residence section where most 

 of the sales are made year after year to 

 the same buyers. Picking a location for 

 either of these two types of stores re- 

 quires study of differ- 

 ent characters, but, at 

 the same time, much 

 the same. 



There was a time in 

 the florists' business 

 when most of the sales 

 were made to the 

 wealthy, or so-called 

 Well to-do class of peo- 

 ple. The last ten 

 year«, however, have 

 broii^rht a change. 

 NoM adays everyone 

 buys flowers sometime 

 during the year. 



Where Crowds Are. 



The flower stores in 

 the business districts 

 of * 'ties catch more of 

 jl'i'^ class of trade than 

 tho>.; in residence sec- 

 "0--. The traflfic past 



<loors of this type 



tore is so great 



there are sufficient 



•ers of those mak- 

 their occasional 



pended upon transient trade. He must 

 have a class of customers who are fairly 

 regular flower buyers. Hundreds pass 

 his place as against the many thousands 

 that daily see the display windows of 

 the downtown store. 



Conditions to be considered in a large 

 city will apply in cities not so large, 

 while in the smaller towns many of the 

 same elements will be found. 



Selecting a location for a flower store 

 in the downtown or business section of 

 a large city has been the rock upon 

 which many florists, who had been suc- 

 cessful in other parts of the same city, 

 have foundered. 



Reasons for Failures. 



They have picked a store in the heart 

 of the retail center; a place that is 

 passed daily by a constant stream of 

 the class of people who are flower buy- 

 ers. Yet success has escaped them be- 

 cause the rent was too much, or the 

 proximity of the store to another was 

 too close, creating a division of busi- 

 ness that turned a former success into a 

 failure and never gave the second store 



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 th, 



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daily average. It 

 ' is a question of 



it tlie proprietor of 



')re in the outlying 



"in would starve 



leath if he de- 



Flower Stores Have Found it Impossible to Earn the Rents Demanded Here. 



a chance to become a real success. 

 It is an odd fact that there are few 

 flower stores in the largest cities located 

 on street corners. There are conspic- 

 uous exceptions, of course, but the 

 florist usually is "just around the 

 corner," getting as near as possible 

 without contracting to pay the higher 

 rent that a corner location commands. 

 The exceptions to this rule are stores 

 managed by men of special talents. 



riower sales to transients are made 

 during what is generally termed "shop- 

 ping hours;" that is, between 10 a. m. 

 and 5 p. m., sometimes principally 

 within much shorter hours. There are 

 records of florists looking for a place 

 to start a store making a count of the 

 traffic during these hours in the dis- 

 trict picked. This is an arduous task, 

 but the results have been surprising. 

 For instance, one man discovered by 

 this method that during the greater 

 part of the year traffic in shopping 

 liours was twenty-four per cent greater 

 on one side of the street than the other. 

 The one side was in the shade between 

 noon and •) p. m., drawing the traffic 

 from the sunnv side. 



. Two sides of many 



])usy retail streets 

 liave sharp distinc- 

 tions. One side may 

 l)e devoted to stores 

 and shops catering to 

 high-class trade, the 

 other to department 

 and so-called bargain 

 stores. Needless to 

 say, the people the 

 latter draw are not 

 habitual flower buy- 

 ers. They buy only 

 for such occasions as 

 holidays, weddings and 

 funerals. 



Dodge Competition. 



The success of a 

 florist in a certain 

 location is apt to draw 

 others to the same 

 section. In many 

 cities it is possible to 

 walk several blocks in 

 the business district 

 and find not a single 

 flower store and then 

 come upon three or 

 four grouped cither 

 near the four corners 

 or in the middle of the 

 Idocks adjoining the 

 corners. By asking 

 the history of these 

 stores it usuallv will bo 



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