May 27, l(t20. 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



^}^;i i^iiyjiiyj|t^itAiJiiyji'!^i}LaMiMi»!^i'^ 



BARBER'S WAY TO WIN BUYERS 



III'JRJ'] is s(i nuicli sciitiincnt 

 associated with tlic buying' 

 (pf (lowers on tlie part of 

 tlie {iiililic that tlie juirely 

 (■oniinercial side of the 

 )i u H i n e s H is soniet iiiies 

 overloolu'd, neglected or 

 iiiiiiiinized by tlie deah'r in 

 them. Vet the tlorist who 

 would n)ake iiioney iniisl 

 obserxc the same laws that i^overn 

 the selling of any other commodity, such 

 as dry goods, groceries or clothing. The 

 'successful retailer must either liiid new 

 customers or make them. 



An instance of tliis is contained in 

 fhe career of Albert Barln'r, owner of 

 I he I'ark Floral Co. stores in Cleveland, 

 ■\krou, Warren and Youngstown, ()., 

 who has been exceedingly successful in 

 his methods of soiling tlowers. Kach 

 vear his sales liave shown a l>ig increase. 

 This vear he has set out for an increase 

 ..f $100,000. 



Out of Debt First Year. 



Albert Barber's business history is 

 '|uitc pertinent. It shows what a young 

 man can do when lie sets about it in 

 the right way. After a varied experi- 

 ence in a greenhouse and as flower 

 •salesman, Mr. Barber decided to go into 

 business for himself. In the sjtring of 

 l!n4 he rei\ted a 15xL'0 room in the 

 I'ark building, on the I'ublic Square, 

 at Cle\(dand, jiut in a stocdv of flowers, 

 tiame<i the jilace the I'ark Flower Shop 

 and opi-ned for liusiness. His big idea 

 was to icach salaried people, as well 

 as others (d" similar means, and to at- 

 tract their attention lie sold violets for 

 ."id cents a. bunch. He figured on de- 

 veloping a large trade by splitting prof 

 its witJi his custoniers and his plan was 

 .•I winiuT. A great deal of his trade was 

 ''cash and carry," so that his saving 

 (111 delivery service was a big item. He 

 uas successful from the first, and he at 

 tributes his success to price, quality and 

 service. 



When Mr. Barber started the I'ark 

 Flower Shop he did it on borrowed 

 ca])ital. During the first year his sales 

 amounteil to $18,000. Out of this amount 

 lie lepaid the borrowed money and went 

 right on expanding. Following his 

 initial success in Cleveland, he started 

 similar stores in Akron, Warren and 

 Youngstown, and later began handling 

 flowers by wholesale. Early tliis year 

 he acquired the W. A. Calhoon green 

 houses and conservatory, located in a 

 fine residential district on Euclid av- 

 enue, Cleveland, and covering land 

 128x200 feet in area. He plans to make 

 the conservatory one of the slyow f)laces 

 of Cleveland and the center for a city- 

 wide telegraph delivery service, to the 

 development of which he i-s giving jiar- 

 ticular attention. 



As a means of devclojiing more flower 

 buyers he has planned an extensive ad- 

 vertising and educational camjiaign. 

 This has been turned over to a print 

 ing and advertising concern, which will 

 prepare the copy, get out the printing, 

 compile the mailing lists and dispatch 

 the mail to pros])ects in Cleveland, 

 Akron, Warren and Youngstown. Mr. 

 Barber passes all the details over to 

 his advertising manager and keeps him 

 self free to concentrate on direct sales 

 jTomotion. 



Blotters to Bring Buyers. 



A carefully selected mailing list is 

 the basis of this campaign. There is 

 one list of 5,000 downtown business and 

 professional jieople, 5,00(1 women and 

 750 out-of town prospects. (Jnce a 

 month advertising literature will l)e 

 mailed to the list of business men and 

 to the other lists. A blotter mailed 

 two weeks previous to St. Valentine's 

 day was quite distinctive. It was 

 printed in red and dark blue on pink and 

 bore this reading matter, strikingly dis 

 played: 



KcmoiiilxT St. Valentiiio'a da.v. Kctiniary H. 

 M.iki- liir liMppv li\ I'Xiin-s-iim; thuiinlitf iil roii 



slilcriit inii with a ri).v:il violet fc.rsn;;*'. ■■r an 

 .".rtislii- liiiin[)iT of line? frnils liotir appropriuto- 

 anil in tiood taste. I'lionc tin' I'ark Floral Co. 



Tliis was followed with address and 

 telephone numbers. At the right was a 

 fine engraving of a most appetizing 

 basket of fruit, with the figures "$3 

 to $li)" just above it, and on the left 

 appeared another fine engraving show- 

 ing a c((rsage of violets, with the figures 

 ".f.'J (o $10." 



The blotter mailed to out-of-town 

 florists in February bore this reading 

 matter: 



Don't worry. Wire us for F". T. D. (lollvorle* 

 In Olcvi'l.uid, Youngstown, Akron and Wnrrfn 

 'I'lipj- will have ttic s.'imo cure tliat joii ■woiiM 

 Kivc them. I'ark Floral Co. 



At the left end there was a^'neatly 

 engraved picture of a vase of roses. 

 Like the blotter sent to the list of 

 business men, this one was a striking 

 jdece of fine printing, up-to date in 

 every respect. 



A different design will bo used each 

 month in the blotters and advertising 

 sent to all classes of prospects. The 

 general purpose is to keep the stores 

 of the Park Floral Co. before the pros- 

 pective customers in a pleasing way, 

 so tliat when they want flowers for any 

 occasion the I'ark sliop will ])0{) info 

 mind. Advertising matter adapted to 

 the season will be mailed out regularly 

 each month, rain or sliine. Since one 

 of the most successful enterprises in 

 the city of Cleveland has been built u\> 

 by the system of advertising which Mr. 

 Barber has adopted, he is confident that 

 it will be ecpially successful in enabling 

 him to sell flowers on a larger scale 

 than hitherto. 



Flowers at the Right Time. 



S{ie;iking ol the new tlo%ver buyers 

 whom he exjiects to develop by this 

 j)rocess, Mr. Barber says: 



' • Thrre are many men and women 

 emplovi'd iu the stores and ofiices down 

 in the city who will buy flowers in 

 a moderate way if the matter is pre- 



Exterior and Interior Views of the Park Flower Shop at Youngstown, O., One of tlie First in Albert Barber's Chain. 



