^- ■'5' *>■' > 



HE 



( '// 



1-. ^^( 



'^v'VC^^'V^^^'S 



^E^U^^ 



POMPONS PULL 



PROFITS PROMPTLY 



Retailers have learned that the dainty little pompon chrysanthemum is a 

 most useful flower and that, when placed in a pretty basket, it proves one of the 

 best of sellers the first part of the season. Pompons soon will be plentiful and 

 the retailer who pushes them will see his sales increase. 



ANNINESS" is a good old 

 Scotch word that fitting- 

 ly describes a trait in 

 many of the more success- 

 ful members of the trade. 

 These florists have the 

 ability to see opportuni- 

 ties whereby they can in- 

 crease their sales and 

 profits by taking advan- 

 tage of certain conditions in the market 

 — conditions that are known to all of 

 us, but which all of us have not the 

 quickness of perception to turn to good 

 account. In consequence the successful 

 retailers turn a quick trick, pocket a 

 neat profit and are preparing to do the 

 same thing again, only in a different 

 way, when some of us wake to the fact 

 that we have overlooked a profitable op- 

 portunity. Such a retailer lives in al- 

 most every city in the country. By his 

 success, he easily can be picked out. 

 How one such florist turns conditions to 

 a good account may suggest ideas to 

 others in the trade. 



How One Florist Does It. 



This man is a close student of condi- 

 tions in the wholesale market. Daily he 

 visits the different wholesalers and 

 talks with the growers who happen to 

 be there. From them he learns what 

 stock is going to be plentiful about Sat- 

 urday; what are the 

 prospects of a glut, or 

 whether the most sea- 

 sonable of stock will 

 be scarce. The infor- 

 mation thus gained he 

 turns into cash profits 

 for himself. 



Perhaps he finds out 

 that the cuts of pompon 

 chrysanthemums prom- 

 ise to be exceptionally 

 heavy the last part of 

 the week. So he hus- 

 tles off to the man who 

 does his printing and 

 prepares to feed the 

 goose that every once 

 in a while lays for him 

 a golden egg. He has 

 printed cards which 

 announce t h at next 

 Saturday pompon 

 chrysanthemums will 

 be extra fine in qual- 

 ity and extra low in 

 price, but he does not 

 name the price. He 

 also supplies the infor- 

 mation that pompons 

 will be a good buy 

 next Saturdav. therebv 



appealing to every person's desire to 

 get a bargain. These cards he mails to 

 his regular customers. Friday, or per- 

 haps earlier, he begins to get orders. 

 By Saturday morning he is ready to buy 

 the stock, much of which already has 

 been sold. Should the conditions be such 

 as the growers have predicted, he gets 

 his stock cheap. He sells it at prices 

 which bring him the usual profit, but 

 which are looked upon by his custom- 

 ers as "bargain prices." 



Opportunities Are Many. 



This retailer, and many others who 

 have the same amount of "canniness," 

 have done this many times. Perhaps the 

 opportunity comes through roses being 

 in heavy supply; perhaps carnations are 

 a glut; but whatever the medium may 

 be, he is merely taking advantage of 

 a recognized trade principle — that the 

 time to sell any commodity is when it is 

 in season. 



During the next six weeks that com- 

 panion of Jack Frost, the pompon chrys- 

 anthemum, will be at its best. Last 

 year pompons sold best in the early part 

 of the season. While their popularity 

 waned after about November 10, by 

 which time they had been heavily in 

 evidence for several weeks, some of tlip 

 later varieties of pompons sold well at 

 good prices after the glut had pagsed, 



Push the Pomponst Give Their Season a Flying Start. 



especially at Christmas and New Year's. 



It has been only during the last four 

 or five years that the production of pom- 

 pons has been large enough to make 

 them recognized factors in the supply 

 of autumn flowers. They came into pop- 

 ularity first because they provided a 

 novelty. Growers realized good profits 

 on them and began to produce larger 

 quantities, and this year they will be in 

 heavy supply in all the markets of the 

 country until Thanksgiving or later. 



Much of the popularity of pompons 

 with the flower buyers came through 

 the use retailers made of them. They 

 are adaptable for many things. Some 

 of the double white varieties can be 

 used instead of carnations in funeral 

 designs. They even are useful for cor- 

 sages, while the sprays add much to dec- 

 orations. 



But what are most popular with buy- 

 ers are baskets of pompons. Take 

 a bunch of these small flowers and put 

 them in a basket with a touch of rib- 

 bon and you have something that sells 

 as well as the proverbial hot cakes. 



Pretty Baskets Help Sales. 



Basket manufacturers and supply men 

 liave realized this popularity and each 

 season sees their output better adapted 

 to pompons. Small baskets, with or 

 without liners, are best. The flowers 

 may be put in water, 

 but sometimes wet 

 moss is used. 



Ketailers should be 

 sure to have enough of 

 these small baskets in 

 stock, because there 

 will be a big call for 

 them now that the sea- 

 son of small mums is 

 on. Ribbon, too, is es- 

 sential, the satin-edged 

 gauze, or light ribbon, 

 being best for these 

 light, graceful flowers 

 and the small baskets. 

 The wide, heavy satin 

 taffeta ribbons do not 

 go well with pompons. 

 Small baskets filled 

 with the less expensive 

 seasonable flowers are 

 having a wonderful 

 popularity and are 

 bringing good returns 

 to the retailers. Last 

 spring this was espe- 

 cially so. Baskets filled 

 with sweet peas, tulips, 

 jonquils, short-stemmed 

 roses and other flowers 

 sold rapidly at from 



