14 



The Rorists' Review 



NOTBMBEB 28, 1918. 



and myself, and at times when funeral 

 work is heavy have extra help. Our 

 business now is not confined to the re- 

 tail end, but we do a large wholesale 

 trade. ' ' 



With the exception of the show case, 

 of candy and the table of stationery, 

 it will be noticed that besides the flow- 

 ers and plants all the other kinds of 

 merchandise displayed are those that 

 will be found in a majority of flower 

 stores. There are jardinieres, vases and 

 baskets, all flower store accessories, 

 while all the available spaces in the 

 store are used to display flowers. 



Incidentally it seems that Mr. 

 Bartcher is a versatile man. Before en- 

 tering this business he was a foreman 

 in a cabinet shop and when he planned 

 the new store he built all the fixtures 

 himself. 



Small Beginnings the Rule. 



Small beginnings have been the rule 

 rather than the exception in the flower 

 selling business. The successes are 

 usually the result of a steady growth 



from a modest start, brought about by 

 good management and the constantly in- 

 creasing demand for flowers. Some have 

 started as did Henry Penn, in Boston, 

 selling flowers on the streets, progress- 

 ing through the stages of a street stand 

 and a hallway booth into high-priced 

 stores on prominent business corners. 

 Others, like Charles H. Grakelow, Phila- 

 ctelphia, started in the front room of a 

 residence. The careers of many men in 

 the florists' business are as romantic 

 as those of the so-called captains of in- 

 dustry, who have risen from laborers 

 to directors in the world's largest busi- 

 ness affairs. 



That something that is called "busi- 

 ness instinct," with which most of the 

 successful retailers were born and which 

 a few have acquired, is as necessary in 

 managing a flower store as a department 

 store. Statistics show that not more 

 than one in five who start in business 

 succeed in keeping away from failure; 

 undoubtedly this percentage holds good 

 in the flower business. 



Many Make Quick Success. 



But it is doubtful if any business has 

 seen more rapid successes than that of 

 selling flowers at retail. The small start 

 with flowers, whether they be a side 

 line or the leading feature of the busi- 

 ness, quickly accomplishes one of three 

 things — it rapidly makes the proprietor 

 prosperous; makes him satisfled to con- 

 tinue for his board and keep, or he goes 

 or is put out of business. Apparently 

 there is required greater business 

 acumen in retailing such perishable 

 stock than in doling out the staples. 

 Quick thinking, astute buying and be- 

 ing on the job all the time are what 

 count in the flower business. 



Which leads to the belief that a man 

 who is successful in business should 

 hesitate about taking on flowers as a 

 side line, unless he wants to devote his 

 entire time to managing that phase of 

 his activities. Also they are liable to 

 push his original business right out the 

 back door and leave him with nothing 

 except one of the most alluring busi- 

 nesses in the world on his hands. 



THE RESTRICTIONS ARE OFF 



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BUILDING BAN LIFTED. 



Official Announcement. 



The State Councils of Defense have 

 been notified of the removal of the re- 

 maining restrictions on nonwar construc- 

 tion throughout the United States, and 

 building operations of any character 

 suspended by the war may now be re- 

 sumed without further permits. Chair- 

 man Baruch, of the War Industries 

 Board, has announced: 



"Immediately following the signing 

 ■of the armistice November 11, tlie non- 

 war construction section took steps to 

 loosen the restraints on the [building] 

 industry, and in a formal order issued 

 that day removed a great many of the 

 barriers. Since then, and with a view 

 to assisting the industry back to a com- 

 plete peace basis as quickly as possible, 

 a careful canvass has been made of the 

 conditions in each state with respect to 

 building materials, transportation, and 

 the supply of fuel and labor. 



"In this investigation the nonwar 

 construction section sought the views 

 of the industry itself and of tlie State 

 Councils of Defense. The replies re- 

 ceived, coming from practically all the 

 states, showed a unanimous opinion in 

 favor of such action.' ' 



Plans and Prospfects. 



With the removal of the ban on build- 

 ing operations, many in the trade will 

 take heart of grace and proceed with 

 the development of postponed plans for 

 the construction of new greenhouses or 

 the remodeling and improvement of old 

 ranges. The construction program 

 which will be a feature of the dawn- 

 ing post-bellum era will be the means 

 of enabling many in the trade to "carry 

 on" as they could not do under war- 

 time restrictions, to which all submitted 

 willinply as necessary to win the war. 

 Now that the great desideratum is an 

 accomplished fact and normal conditions 

 are being restored as fast as practicable, 

 the trade may look forward to a realiza- 



tion of the enlargement which has been 

 confidently predicted for the future. 

 With fuel restrictions practically a 

 thing of the past and labor troubles soon 

 to be removed by the return of troops 

 in the process of demobilization, and the 

 release of labor due to cancellation of 

 war contracts, the removal of the ban 

 on building operations predicates the 

 resumption of activities which will put 

 the trade in a position to prepare for 

 the expansion which the unprecedented 

 war-time demand for flowers assures. 

 The handicaps of the stressful time are 

 being lifted one by one and it would 

 seem that the return to a normal basis 

 of operations will be marked by even 

 more than prewar prosperity for the 

 trade, if present indications are to be 

 taken as a gauge of future conditions. 

 Readjustment. 



The time required for the processes 

 of readjustment will afford opportunity 

 for the florist to observe the signs of 

 the times and to coordinate means and 

 materials as they become available to 

 the uses of the new order, which in 

 many respects will differ from the old, 

 and the lessons learned during the stress 

 of war-time upheavals will stand him in 

 good stead in the exigencies of the re- 

 construction period. 



COAL STORAGE LIMIT OFF. 



All storage restrictions on bituminous 

 coal were removed November 23 by the 

 United States Fuel Administration in 

 conformity to the action of the War 

 Industries Board in canceling its pref- 

 erential industries list. Anthracite 

 coal is not affected, however, by the 

 ruling of the Fuel Administration. 



Every industry and every householder 

 in the country now may store as much 

 bituminous coal as desired or obtainable, 

 as the action of the War Industries 

 Board removes the necessity for the 

 Fuel Administration to distinguish long- 

 er between different classes of indus- 

 trial plants. 



The restrictions just raised provided 

 for the accumulation by the consumers 

 in the preference classes, as defined by 

 the War Industries Board, of reserve 

 stocks of bituminous coal, in accordance 

 with their location in relation to various 

 mine fields and their classification on 

 the preference schedule. 



All industries located farthest from 

 distribution points, particularly those in 

 New England and in the northwest, are 

 found not only to be well stocked, in 

 accordance with Fuel Administration 

 specifications, but in many cases have 

 surpluses above those amounts. 



HOLIDAY BAR REMOVED. 



The movement inaugurated several 

 weeks ago by the National Council of 

 Defense to discourage the people of the 

 country from buying other than neces- 

 sities, or "common-sense Christmas 

 presents," and urging that what buying 

 would be done should be scattered 

 through the intervening months so as 

 to eliminate the demand of the stores 

 for extra clerks to handle the crowds, 

 lias been halted. Now the National 

 Council of Defense takes the other view 

 and urges that the holiday buying be 

 normal. 



The end of the war, of course, has re- 

 leased many thousands from doing es- 

 sential war work. A great number of 

 these, under the "work or fight order," 

 had come from the departmenx and other 

 retail stores. Now they are no longer 

 needed by the government and will re- 

 turn to their former positions. 



Few flower stores suffered the loss of 

 clerks through the work or fight order, 

 but many of the young men have gone 

 from these establishments into the 

 army. However, there is a good chance 

 that many of them, who got no farther 

 than the training camps, will be back 

 on the job to help out in the Christmas 

 rush. 



The removal of the ban on Christmas 

 shopping will be hailed with satisfaction 



