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September 25, 1919. 



The Florists^ Review 



15 



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ATTENTION is closely fixed by the 

 trade in Toledo on the Sunday 

 closing movement. This was inaugu- 

 rated last June and worked well through 

 1he summer. Now that autumn business 

 lias begun again and sales are on the 

 increase, disturbances have arisen that 

 threaten the success of the new regime. 

 Press of business or desire for more has 

 caused defection in the ranks of those 

 who were party to the agreement last 

 -lune. That this backsliding may prove 

 infectious among those not so thor- 

 oughly convinced that closing does not 

 deprive them of a certain number of 

 sales is feared by members of the trade 

 who do not wish to return to the old 

 ways under any circumstances. 



The present is a critical time. 

 Whether the standard set will be ad- 

 hered to when business presses, or 

 whether the rush of trade will cause 

 th'j revocation of the June agreement, 

 is the question of the hour in Toledo. 



Sunday closing was 

 started in Toledo June 8. 

 It was agreed to close 

 at all times with the ex- 

 ception of the occasions 

 when Easter, Mothers ' 

 (lay, Christmas and other 

 holidays should fall on 

 Sunday. This was the 

 only exception. 



encountered a little trouble during the 

 last week, which threatens to undo all 

 the work thus far accomplished. There 

 are several of the flower shops opening 

 again oi| Sunday, because their desire 

 to reap a few dollars on Sunday is so 

 great that they cannot refrain from 

 opening their stores, compelling their 

 employees to come back to work on 

 Sunday and making life miserable again 

 to some extent for those connected with 

 the trade. There is a rumor current 

 about town that if a few more stores 

 open, all the downtown flower stores will 

 throw their doors open again. Then 

 almost every flower store will be open 

 once more. 



Leading Stores Will Bemain Shut. 



' ' Let me state here, however, with all 

 the pride of which such a movement is 

 deserving, that Toledo's best florists, 

 those who possess fine ideals and know 

 that the shroud has no pockets, are 



The June Agreement. 



TYPICAL TROUBLE. 



At the meeting held 

 at the store of S. N. 

 Peck June 3, attended 

 by about ninety per cent 

 of the retail florists of 

 Toledo, it was unani- 

 mously decided that clos- 

 ing should go into effect 

 the following Sunday 

 and the order should 

 liold good from that day 

 on. The florists deliber- 

 ated on this question for 

 some time and it was the 

 general oi)inion of those 

 present that this idea 

 i-ould bo carried out 

 finely. 



Everyone present signed an agree- 

 ment to this effect. The next step was 

 the appropriation of a large fund to 

 -sufficiently advertise the closing so that 

 everyone in the city would learn of it 

 and to give them warning to order their 

 Sunday flowers in good time. It was 

 agreed that deliveries would be made 

 as late as possible on Saturday nights, 

 so that all orders would be properly 

 taken care of. 



As time went by, the florists began 

 to realize more and more the benefits 

 of the movement for the betterment of 

 working conditions for the employees 

 as well as the employers. All the flo- 

 rists of Toledo were enthusiastic about 

 Sunday closing and had no doubts as 

 to its success until the approach of au- 

 tumn and the consequent climbing of 

 sales endangered the unity of the trade. 



In commenting upon the difficulty 

 which has sprung up with the advent 

 of autumn business George B. Schramm 

 said: "The Toledo Florists' Club has 



In putting their agreement to close on Sunday to 

 the test the florists of Toledo are encountering the ob- 

 stacle that impedes trade movements for the better 

 every year and in every city. A few florists will not 

 close on Sunday ; because these few do not, others be- 

 lieve they cannot afford to, and soon there is danger of 

 the few ruling the actions of the many. But .strong co- 

 operation l)y the many, with steadfast perseverance 

 and continued appeal to the public, will win this and 

 other betterments for the trade. 



still closed and are doterniined to stay 

 I'losed, regardless of the fact that a 

 few who signed their names to an agree- 

 ment to stay closed forever are among 

 the first to break this contract and to 

 (i[iOM tlieir stores again. 



Movement General. 



"This Sunday closing order in the flo 

 rists' tra<le has had a much greater ef 

 feet on the public than it would if this 

 same movement were started in another 

 city, in view of the fact that there is 

 in progress a movement all over the 

 »'ity for early closing. All stores in 

 the business district are closing at (i 

 o'clock on Saturday evenings, and it 

 is almost safe to say that the drug store 

 is the only business place open after 

 that hour. With this movement in 

 progress in Toledo, it surely behooves 

 the florists to close their doors for at 

 least one day a week, on Sunday, and 

 not to wish to be open at all hours the 

 week long just because someone might 

 come along looking for a bouquet of 



flowers or some such insignificant order. 

 "A certain New York agent in vis- 

 iting Toledo congratulated the florists 

 of this city on the excellent start we 

 have made and said that he felt that 

 within the course of a year or so every 

 flower store in the United States would 

 be closed on Sunday. He added that 

 the flower stores had been classed with 

 fruit stands and shoe-shining parlors 

 long enough i.nd that it was about time 

 that we informed the public that flower 

 stores were of a better class. 



"The trade throughout the country 

 should devote a large share of its energy 

 to the closing of all flower shops on 

 Sunday for the betterment of the em- 

 ployers and employees and of the trade 

 itself. In endeavoring to get more 

 young blood interested in the trade, we 

 find that the younger generation is tak- 

 ing a dislike to it because of the too 

 long hours. I, and also the Toledo Flo- 

 rists' Club at large, would crre.atly ap- 

 preciate comment on this 

 Sunday closing idea, 

 from men who are im- 

 portant factors in the 

 florists' trade through- 

 out the country. Let's 

 end the idea of working 

 all day and all night and 

 Sundays into the bar- 

 gain, and start a nation- 

 wide movement to close 

 all flower stores on Sun- 

 day. ' ' 



No Business Lost. 



Actual experience has 

 shown the florists of To- 

 . ledo tliat no loss in busi- 

 ness is suffered by clos- 

 ing on Sunday. The pub- 

 lic quickly becomes used 

 to ordering on Saturday 

 the flowers it actually 

 wishes for Sunday. The 

 chance orders — the pur- 

 chases that come from 

 the whim of the moment 

 — are, cold calculation 

 ])roves, few and of slight 

 importance. Of the condition of busi- 

 ness while Sunday closing was prac- 

 ticed, P>ank M. Schramm said: 



' ' In June twenty-six Toledo florists 

 jiledged themselves to close their shops 

 on Sunday throughout the year. Up to 

 this time we have not been able to note 

 any corresponding decrease in business. 

 August, in which there were fewer 

 deaths than for many years, made a 

 fine increase. There is no doubt in my 

 mind that if the florists will stick to 

 their word and give the plan time to 

 work out until the public is educated, 

 business will not suffer one iota. 



"It certainly is time that florists 

 classed tliemselves as real business men, 

 not as mere slaves of the public's whim; 

 as merchants, not as drudges who must 

 be on the job day and night to the det 

 riment of sane American family and 

 social life, merely to make a few dol- 

 lars. Now is the time to demonstrate 

 whether florists are going to live in the 

 customs of the past or whether they 

 are going to take their place among 



V 



