20 



The Florists' Review 



May 13, 1920. 



played. The exteriors of Trepel's stores, 

 although not all alike, owing to dif- 

 ferent locations and styles of fronts, 

 have large electric signs displaying the 

 name of ,Iose]ih Trepel. The interiors of 

 the stores are uniform in being fitted 

 with sn\all French mirrors and purple 

 velonr cliair cusliions, draperies, etc. 

 All of the woodwork and the wicker 

 furniture is white enameled and the 

 floors are of wliite tile. In one store 

 alone, the Flat hush avenue and Beverly 

 road store, 1,800 French mirrors wen- 

 used. 



Mr. Trtpcd says tiiat ho has hy in- 

 means readied the end of his chain a)id 

 he expects to a<ld many more links. 



PEONIES AT SARCOXIE RUINED. 



Main Store of Joseph Trepel's Chain, at Lewis Avenue and Hancock Street. 



li;i>('iin'iit at thi' 



loriici' (if l-"iill( 



Starts Chain. 



Ill' vcmaiiiiMl at this jdacr until ll'ti.'i. 

 when lie w;is lurccd tn \a<-:i1c'. owiny 

 to the fact that the huildiiig was ])uv 

 ■ ■hase<l liy a drpMrtment store. He thi'u 

 located ;it l.i'wis avcuue and Hinicucl; 

 street ami did an enormous liusiuess 

 t'rom th<> start, enabling liim in liHiH tn 

 imrchase a building of his own at Hroad 

 way and Reid a\'enue and open ;iii addi 

 t ional store t here. 



Tlie business, fdUiided u]Min the idea 

 iif ser\i(e and an eHdrt tu jilease tlie 

 customers, was cdntinually niereasing 

 .•ind it grew to su(di an extent that in 

 litlO he opened his third store, at Hroad- 

 way and Decatur street. 



By this time the liusiuess was well 

 established and he liad a good working 

 nrgani/.at ion Imilt around him and lie 

 was insjdred with the idea of opening 

 .1 chain of llower stores, something whi(di 

 had never been attemptetl by any florist. 

 .\ccordingly lie started work on his 

 idea and in lltll he opened his fovirth 

 store. Kight from the start his idea 

 proved practical. He was well satisfied 

 with his effort and ojiened one more 

 new store each year thereafter until in 

 i;U4 he had seven stores operating in 

 his chain. The Keview at the time 

 ;;ave au example of his ])ublicity as 

 ••Brooklyn's largest florist" when his 

 chain numbered four links. It was a 

 post card, carrying tlie portrait of his 

 daughter and views of the fronts of 

 •• My T);id.iv's Four Stores." 



War Hits Plans. 



With 1914 came the world war, un- 

 settled conditions and high prices, Mr. 

 Trepel discontinued adding any more 

 links until after the armistice was 

 signed in lOl*'*. Then he a^.nin became 

 .•ictivc and his chain has been length- 

 ened by the a<ldition of four mo'-e stores, 

 making a total of eleven stores imw in 

 e|ieration. 



In conducting the business Mr. Treiiel 

 has live separate departments, each with 

 lis own specialty ."ind its (iwn attend 

 anls. They are the i)urchasing dejiart- 

 ment, where four buyers are maintained, 

 two for cut flowers and one each Idr 

 platits and suyiplies: thi' clerical dejiart- 



ineiit, wliicdi !Mr. Tr(>ji(d beliexes is tlu- 

 most essential one in the management 

 iif chain stores, whiih is cunductcMl by 

 .'I head bookkeeper aiul Idur assistants; 

 the su]iply department, which is o]ier- 

 ;iled in the building at Bi'oadway and 

 Keid avenue, wher(> wire frames are 

 iu;ide, which, after being mossed, are 

 distributeil to tlie \arious stores ready 

 for use, all other sup]>iies being dis- 

 tributed in the s;une way; the delivery 

 department, having aut(nuobile service 

 .•IS well as sjiecial messengers, and the 

 titail department, wlii(di, because of its 

 contact with the juiblic, is most im- 

 portant, as service is the predominating 

 t'eatuie of the stores. At the ju'esent 

 time tlieii' are ll'.j jienple employeil in 

 the \arious stores and dejiaitments. 



Uniformity of Appearance. 



The uniformity of apix'arauce, which 

 is a featur(> of nearly all chain stores, 

 is not lacking in the Trejiel chain. With 

 most stores of this type all the 

 fronts are painted a like color and have 

 a certain trade-mark prominently dis- 



Hail Storm Devastates Fields. 



.Accomjianied by exceptionally heavy 

 hail and rain, a hurricane svvei)t across 

 the central and southwestern portions 

 of Jasper county, M issouri, on the after 

 noon of May 6, causing almost instan- 

 taneous fiooils and doing great damage 

 to growing crops and jiroperty. Vir 

 tiially all of the jieony fields near Sar- 

 coxie were devastated, causing a loss 

 That will total thousands of dollars. 



Accortling to newsjiaper reports, hail 

 fell until the jiround was covered to a 

 depth of eiglit to ten inches on level 

 ground and in many places it drifted 

 along the roads to a depth of three feet. 



Peony growers i-epoit that only a halt 

 crop had been grown this year because 

 of the unfavorable weather conditions 

 and two-thirds to three-fourths of this 

 h.'tlf was destroyed by the storm. Some 

 ol the fields wer(> completely demolished, 

 nothing but a few stalks and stems ic 

 inaining after the storm had passed. 

 .\ number of farm buildings were 

 w reckeil near Sarcoxie. 



B(Mries and small fruits also suffered 

 untold damage. A heavy downpour ac- 

 companied the storm, more than an incli 

 of water falling in fifteen minutes. 



Wiped Out Holiday Crop. 



The cut flower crop of peonies for Me 

 niorial day is almost, if not completely, 

 ruined. Wild Bros. Nursery Co., l>ro 



Signs Such as These Make a Landmark of a Trepel Flower Store. 



