August 16, 1917. 



The Horists^ Review 



17 



business is too small to employ such a 

 bookkeeper, there are many capable men 

 and women looking for such work to 

 occupy leisure hours. The amount of 

 information you will secure about your 

 own business by doing this will, I feel 

 certain, increase your interest greatly 

 in your business. By letting yourself 

 know what you have already achieved 

 it will enable you to set a goal for future 

 efforts, and you will always liave some- 

 thing to look forward to. 



Other details of management I will 

 refer to while considering the best 

 methods of increasing the business, as 

 all these problems have an intimate 

 relation to each other. 



New Business. 



With a good location, attractive show 

 windows well looked after, a limited 

 amount of judicious advertising up to 

 three or four per cent of the total sales, 

 arid the careful handling of all orders, 

 a retail florist's business will grow as 

 rapidly as one can well extend his facili- 

 ties to look after it, and this without the 

 aid of outside soliciting or crape chas- 

 ing. 



By the careful handling of orders, 

 I mean not only that the flowers must 

 be fresh and accompanied with sufficient 

 green whether the green is charged for 

 or not, but also that they must be done 

 up to appear to the best advantage when 

 received. We must always think of the 

 effect produced on the person receiving 

 the flowers. There is no excuse for a 

 gift of flowers being wrapped only in 

 a paper parcel for delivery. They should 

 be in a box, and not bundled in, either. 

 In certain cases they should be in a bas- 

 ket or vase. It must be acknowledged 

 that many florists do not realize the im- 

 portance of delivering flowers in a neat 

 and attractive manner. 



To avoid orders being overlooked, and 

 charges being forgotten or lost, and 

 to prevent disputes with customers, 

 adopt a systematic routine for the han- 

 dling of orders. Learn how others do 

 it, and do likewise unless you can im- 

 prove on their methods. I realize that 

 I would be infringing on your patience 

 if I were to go into full details on this 

 subject, but I will take the liberty of 

 making a few remarks on the use of 

 duplicating order books. 



Handling the Orders. 



For many years I was strongly op- 

 posed to their use, l>ut now I am just as 

 strong in their favor. I have used 

 them for three years, and find that the 

 advantages outweigli many times the 

 disadvantages. 



Take the casli order, for instance. 

 The original, which goes to the customer 

 as a receipt, is a copy of the order, show- 

 ing all details. This prevents many 

 disputes. On a cha-ged order the orig- 

 inal remains with the duplicate until 

 the time for delivery, and it is then 

 filed without leaving the order desk. 

 This prevents its being lost. Shipping 

 tags are written in ink and attached 

 to the duplicates. All orders are filled 

 from the duplicate and notes of substitu- 

 tions and made-up work are added and 

 initialed by the clerk filling the order. 

 These are our delivery records, and they 

 are filed in the order of delivery. Once 

 a day the original charges are filed 

 alphabetically, summarized and handed 

 over to the bookkeeper. This will show 

 you a few of the advantages of the 

 duplicate order sheet. 



For c. o. d. orders a special c. o. d. 



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[WHO'S WHO li^f- AND WHY | 



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M. A. BOWE. 



VISITORS to the S. .\. F. convention next week will find the retail stores of New 

 York city among the many interesting things they will see. And one of the stores 

 that will be es2)ecially int<Mesting is that of M. A. Bowe, '.VA2 Fifth avenue, the pro- 

 j)rietor of which is presidetit of the New York Retail Florists' Association. By virtue 

 of his position in the association, Mr. Bowe will he foremost among the local men 

 who will do all they can to make the stiiy of the visitors i)leasant. But even though 

 he were not the head of the retailers' organization, Mr. Bowe would give the guests 

 at Gotham a hearty welconic 1 ecause he is a genial })erson. For i>roof of the last 

 statement look carefully at the jiortrait above. 



delivery hook is the hcst and simplest 

 method. 



Delivery. 



Owing to the large territory which 

 florists hav(> to coNcr when making de- 

 liveries, auto (hdivery and messenger 

 hoys jirove the must satisfactory 

 methods. The lowest-priced niacdiines 

 with completely encdosed hodies, al- 

 though not cheajier in iijjkeep and fuel 

 c()nsnm])tion, afTord the (piickest means 

 of delivering floweis, and therefore^ the 

 hest means in our climate, l-'ioni my ex- 

 ]ierience, I would not recommend using 

 one of these machines for (hdivery for 

 more than one year. .Vfter a year's serv- 

 ice sell it and buy a new one. It pays. 

 A delivery hody. if well built, will 

 outlast four or five chassis. Employ 

 good, reliable help. It will cost you 

 more, hut it pays in the long run. The 

 satisfied customer is your hest adver- 

 tisement, (lood service in the delivery 

 of orders has more to do with l)uilding 

 up a successful business than all the 

 other causes combined. 



Bedding Plants. 



Before I sit down I would like to say 

 a word with regard to the sale of bed- 

 ding plants in a retail store. It is a 

 troublesome and unsatisfactory business 

 for retail stores. My advice is, "Don't 

 handle them.'' They suft'er greater 

 damage in a few days than the profits 

 on them amount to. Should you grow 

 them yourself, sell direct from the 

 greenhouses, and make yo\ir customers 

 go there. Don't say, "They won't go." 

 They will if shown the advantages. We 

 have ]»roven it, and although we have 

 not sold a bedding plant at the stores 

 for years, we have developed the largest 

 retail bedding plant business in the 

 ])rovince, with gratifying results. 



Herkimer, N. Y. — Xeal Gleason, who 

 owns a gret'iiliouse here, intends start- 

 ing in the florists' business, growing 

 carnations, roses and ])ot plants. He says 

 that the peo])le of Herkimer now are 

 forced to go out of town for flowers and 

 that there is a good demand for stock. 



