

' ..aii ■' II 



18 



The Florists' Review 



June 24, 1920 



commission business, is best fitted to 

 carry on this work for an entire market. 

 The management is to be surrounded by 

 a board of sales managers, one from 

 each licensed and bonded wholesale com- 

 mission house and from each wholesale 

 grower selling direct, this board of sales 

 managers to oversee the handling of 

 the entire daily receipts of their re- 

 spective markets. 



The mission of the department of 

 analysis and statistics would be to com- 

 pile under a code system all incoming 

 consignments and shipments against the 

 city's and country's outgoing quantity 

 sales and thus be able to give out in- 

 formation to every distributing agency 

 that would be of direct benefit in in- 

 creasing the revenue to the grower and 

 safeguarding production on a most prof- 

 itable basis. 



Benefits to Be Derived. 



Every grower in sending a copy of 

 his consignments to this department of 

 analysis and statistics thereby would 

 give the department the facts of what 

 the true market conditions really were — 

 the first step to stabilize the prices to 

 the retail dealer and to regulate the law 

 of supply and demand to some extent to 

 everyone's advantage. 



The wholesale growers dealing direct 

 and the commission dealers will then 

 know with some degree of accuracy the 

 daily addition or reduction of the mar- 

 ket supply, certainly an advantage over 

 the individual haphazard conclusions of 

 one wholesaler as to what constitutes 

 market prices. 



The department, if necessary, could 

 be empowered to restrict the seller in 

 making unscrupulous demands upon the 

 retailers at holidays or during a flower 

 famine, and likewise to prevent as far 

 as possible the sale of the growers ' prod- 

 ucts at unreasonably low prices. 



The system would point out improve- 

 ments in production, such as what can 

 be raised most successfully and is in 

 keeping with the wants of the whole- 

 sale and retail dealers. 



Price Kegulation. 



It would introduce price regulation, 

 to keep in balance inclinations to ex- 

 tremes of high prices and low prices, as 

 a means of bringing to an end unwhole- 

 some practices. 



Critics of growers, wholesalers and 

 retailers could interest themselves in 

 this department for a remedy. 



Autocratic price fixing, or market con- 

 trol (hardly possible in cut flowers), is 

 not thought of, but a department as 

 above suggested could act as a guide to 

 prices on all cut flowers and plants. 



Such a department would repay the 

 grower many times over by checking to 

 the greatest degree waste in cut flowers 

 and price depreciation, and when func- 

 tioning properly ought to be far better 

 than an ungovernable, unscientific meth- 

 od of making our consignments to the 

 individual wholesale house and its mis- 

 directed selling prices on outgoing stock. 



The grower who peddles direct to the 

 retailer and who is now outside the 

 jurisdiction of the commission dealer 

 would learn to appreciate this service 

 and get into line as a member of this 

 organization and as a consignor to the 

 commission merchant. 



The statistics arrived at would give 

 roses in all their varieties in all lengths 

 of stem, and also carnations of all col- 

 ors, subordinated to a grading in their 

 original bunches. The number of plants 



and the number of blooms cut would 

 complete the records, thus getting at the 

 truth about every wholesale greenhouse 

 establishment for this market. Chrys- 

 anthemums, sweet peas, violets, orchids 

 and all miscellaneous stock consigned 

 could be kept track of on the quantity 

 basis. 



Majumum and. Minimum. 



A minimum and maximum selling 

 price is in order. 



A minimum selling price would be a 

 bottom figure in time of an over- 

 abundance of stock, whether due to 

 heavy crops or weak buying. Unsold 

 stock would serve a more useful pur- 

 pose than killing prices. 



A maximum price would be as high as 

 possible consistent with allowing rea- 

 sonable profits to the retail florist. 



A minimum and maximum price would 

 be sure to redeem our investment, our 

 cash outlay for coal, labor, fertilizers, 

 hail insurance, tornado insurance, wear 

 and tear of benches, pipes and boiler 

 and the general depreciation of the 

 greenhouses themselves, besides adding 

 thousands of dollars annually to the 

 growers' income. 



Some may shake their heads and say 

 that all this sounds well in theory, but 



VnVERY now and then a well^ 

 >Si pleased reader speaks the word 

 which is the meant of bringing a 

 new advertiser to 



Such friendly assistance is thoroughly 

 appreciated. 



Give us the name of anyone from 

 whom you are buying, not an adver- 

 tiser. We especially wish to interest 

 those selling articles of florist's use 

 not at present advertised. 



FLORISTS* PUBLISHING CO. 

 530-60 Cazton Bldg. Chicago 



that it will not work in practice. I 

 think, however, if we will show an in- 

 clination to throw aside some of our 

 fixed habits, it may not be so diflicult 

 for the trade to achieve this change of 

 marketing methods. 



A maximum and minimum price oper- 

 ating from day to day on a fluctuating 

 basis ought to be better than gambling 

 to obtain our profits at holiday times, 

 to the dislike of the retailer and the dis- 

 satisfaction of the consumer. 



Every time we experience a glut we 

 lose money. Every time we run into a 

 tight market we take our chances on 

 what our sales reports will be. Let us 

 build up our business by aiding the re- 

 tailer to satisfactorily serve the public. 

 Of course, with present ways of whole- 

 saling, except for holiday prices, the 

 temper of the unorganized retailer is 

 to make every effort to keep prices 

 down, imperiling our existence. 



Accounting. 



The S. A. F. has called attention to 

 the subject of the cost of production in 



greenhouses. The Chicago Florists' 

 Club, during the administration of Fred 

 Lautenschlager, selected a committee to 

 make a report on that subject. This 

 work undoubtedly now rests with us. 



The national, state and local govern- 

 ments, in order to ease the country's 

 financial war burdens, out of necessity 

 will interfere with the business of the 

 cut flower producer by taxing our in- 

 dustry, making it compulsory for us to 

 keep a set of books from which the tax 

 collector may gather the truth. Guess- 

 work in making assessments, by merely 

 looking into the greenhouses, will not 

 continue always. 



The capital investment of greenhouse 

 establishments has doubled, requiring a 

 larger return of interest on the invest- 

 ment and a larger margin of profit for 

 its operation. For that reason it be- 

 hooves us to set aside surplus earnings 

 and be prepared to protect or replace 

 our greenhouse investments when such 

 condition becomes imperative. 



Learning Beal Profits. 



The hazardous risks incurred in green- 

 house investments, the speculative na- 

 ture of the sale of our products, are apt 

 to show profits that are but a sham. 

 The expense of grower's production 

 should be met by actual sales, with 

 weekly or monthly statements drawn to 

 tell the greenhouse owner of his real 

 profits or losses. 



A bureau of accounting, if perma- 

 nently formed, could study every phase 

 of greenhouse cost, so that we might 

 have a plan to determine the cost of 

 growing cut flowers and plants. Cost 

 systems are installed in all other lines 

 of industry as the most important fac- 

 tors in production management, yet it 

 can truly be said that a cost system in 

 our business is still in the stage of for- 

 mation. Cost systems would go a long 

 way toward putting a greenhouse estab- 

 lishment on a stable financial basis and 

 in the good graces of the banker. Who 

 knows how many retail growers absorb 

 their profit from store sales and sink it 

 in greenhouse losses? What profits are 

 made in the store are often lost in the 

 greenhouses for lack of knowledge of 

 what the flowers costt 



Department Store Competition. 



Department store competition, by ad- 

 vertised special sales of cut flowers, de- 

 moralizes the public mind and justly 

 arouses the suspicion of the regular cus- 

 tomers of the retail florists. 



More sales can be made through the 

 retail dealer, at an average fair price 

 for cut flowers and plants, than through 

 department stores at their ridiculously 

 low prices, from which we are bound to 

 suffer. 



Our products placed at equitable 

 prices before the consumer and kept 

 from department store competition 

 would go far to satisfy the regular all- 

 the-year-around cut flower dealer and 

 consumer. Furthermore, downward price 

 competition may be called advertising 

 and may temporarily increase distribu- 

 tion, but does so usually at a sacrifice 

 to profitable production and with an un- 

 wholesome effect on the retail dealer 

 and consumer. 



Advertising. 



The local and national advertising 

 campaigns have been closely followed. 

 Gluts cannot be entirely overcome when 

 greenhouse production gets beyond the 

 ability of the retail dealer te dispose of 



