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COUNTING THE COST 



Oi^ A CORNER STORE 



The big question is whether the extra cost of a corner location is repaid by 

 the advantages it affords. Some of the most successful florists have decided 

 in the affirmative. Here are some of the arguments on which they base their 

 opinions. "To let" signs in corner saloons make their consideration timely. 



RANTED that, generally 

 speaking, the corner loca- 

 tion is the best for a re- 

 tail store, does it hold the 

 jame advantages for flo- 

 'ists that it does for other 

 kinds of business, and are 

 those advantages valuable 

 enough to pay for higher 

 rental ? Do the advantages 

 hold only for shops doing a transient 

 trade, such as cigar stores, saloons and 

 drug stores? Or are there benefits as 

 valuable, or nearly as valuable, to the 

 florist? 



Most retail florists in the large cities 

 — that is where the difference between 

 the corner and the middle of the block 

 is greatest — have been content with lo- 

 <!ations near to a street crossing. Of 

 later years, however, the number of 

 those who have established tlfceijiselves 

 in corner stores has been increasing. 

 None of those who have done so have 

 later abandoned the location as too 

 costly. Indeed, some have commented 

 on the increased patronage they have 

 gained, and are emphatic in the support 

 of their choice. 



What the Advantages Are. 



The greater number of people passing 

 is only one of a number of advantages 

 presented by the location at a street in- 

 tersection. That may be the sole object 

 of a cigar store in locating there. But 

 to the florist appeal fully as strongly 

 the extra window space, the opportunity 

 for outside display, the 

 additional entrances, 

 and the better interior 

 arrangement that is 

 possible. 



Extra window space 

 is particularly valuable 

 for the florist. From 

 the pages of The Re- 

 view one learns how 

 varied are the many 

 displays of striking 

 quality that may be 

 made with the means 

 which this trade pos- 

 sesses. The increased 

 opportunities for this 

 particularly valuable 

 species of advertising 

 enable a part of the 

 excess rental to be 

 charged off to adver- 

 tising, if the florist 

 wishes. The greater 

 amount of window 

 space plus the greater 

 number of passing peo- 

 ple who may be reached 

 multiplies the advan- 



tage of the corner over the middle-of- 

 the-block location not once, but several 

 times. 



Particularly to the florist, also, do the 

 facilities for outside display avail them- 

 selves. Take the case of the store of 

 Simmons & Son, Toronto, Ont., shown in 

 the illustration below, for instance. 

 The paved sidewalk on the right has 

 meager space for even tub plants and 

 trees. But the side^ street, to the left, 

 offers not only more room, but even a 

 patch of ground where plantings can be 

 made. 



Outside Display. 



Those who have seen Thorley's store 

 on Fifth avenue, New York, realize how 

 conspicuous a corner it is, with its lavish 

 greenery, of boxwoods, window boxes 

 and display windows. In the old phrase, 

 it sticks out like a sore thumb. Ever^ 

 automobile passenger, of which there 

 are thousands that pass daily, sees the 

 store and knows that there's a florist. 



A customer walked into a florist's 

 store and remarked, "I'm glad a florist 

 has moved into this neighborhood. I 

 would rather give you my orders here 

 than send them "downtown." 



' ' But, ' ' replied the florist, ' ' I 've been 

 in this vicinity ten years. I have just 

 moved from the middle of the block to 

 this corner, a distance of not over one 

 hundred yards. ' ' 



"Well, well," exclaimed the cus- 

 tomer, * ' and to think I never saw you ! ' ' 



Such "low visibility" is, of course, 



Every Person 'Who Passes Thb Store Knows It's a Florist's. 



' extreme, but the comparative value of the 

 two locations is well illustrated. 



Better Arrangement. 



There are practical advantages in the 

 interior arrangement of the store that 

 are alsb of great value. The workroom 

 can be partitioned off in the corner 

 store without interfering with the other 

 facilities. The side door offers an exit 

 to the automobile delivery truck, and 

 orders need not be carried out through 

 the store. The convenience of this 

 method is something that appeals to 

 every florist who takes pride in a neat 

 salesroom and in customers' comfort 

 there. 



Ventilation is as necessary to the wel- 

 fare of stock in a retail store as in a 

 greenhouse. A corner store permits 

 a better supply of outdoor air than a 

 store which is encloaflc' by buildings on 

 two or three sides. Florists so located 

 assert that this one advantage alone 

 means much in dollars and cents. There 

 is less cut stock lost, and potted plants 

 can be kept in better condition and are 

 more salable. 



Practical Psychology. 



There is something about a corner 

 that makes the store occupying it stick 

 in a person's mind. It ptobably comes 

 from the fact that the corner is a nat- 

 ural meeting place. Seldom does a man 

 make an engagement with his wife or 

 another man, and suggest that they 

 meet in the middle of a block. If the 

 meeting is to be on the 

 street, it is at a corner. 

 The wait, and there us- 

 ually is one, serves to 

 fix the corner store in 

 the memory of the per- 

 son as he or she stands 

 there. 



The corner store, also, 

 is a marker for the 

 neighborhood. The per- 

 son who livej in the 

 vicinity knows his 

 street by the store at 

 the corner — not by the 

 one next to the corner, 

 or by the one in the 

 middle of the block. 

 "Here is our corner," 

 is frequently heard on 

 street cars. 



If the flower store be 

 on a corner, it is cer- 

 tain that when one's 

 thoughts turn to flow- 

 ers, the thinker will re- 

 member the store that 

 has been fixed in his 

 mind. The association 



