68 



The Florists^ Review 



July 22, 1926 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 





BRINCHNO IN NEW BUYEBS. 



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Tele^aph Display Draws. 



When the, comparatively speaking, 

 quiet summer months bring rest and 

 leisure to the retail florist, he may, if 

 he has not had too much business the 

 rest of the year, use the spare time now 

 at his disposal to pick up some extra 

 business, add some new customers to 

 his list and, incidentally, increase his 

 profits. The material for accomplishing 

 this is ready at his hand and the results 

 have been demonstrated frequently. 

 The subject of the telegraph delivery 

 of flowers is still so novel that the 

 florist may use it as a drawing card to 

 bring new buyers into his shop if he will 

 devote the necessary energy to its ad- 

 vertisement. 



By advertisement, in this instance, is 

 not merely meant the insertion of copy 

 in the local newspaper. That is always, 

 of course, effective toa certain extent. 

 But there are additional methods of 

 publicity which have their own value. 

 Chief among these, as has been demon- 

 strated time and again, is window dis- 

 play. This is a means of vividly pre- 

 senting the idea of telegraph delivery 

 to the public that achieves notable re- 

 sults. Examples of it have been given 

 in these columns in a number of notably 

 successful cases. 



Accompaniments. 



To accompany the window and re- 

 enforce its drawing power, letters and 

 newspaper advertising are used. The 

 combination of the various publicity 



mediums seems to act more forcefully 

 than any one of them does, proportion- 

 ately, alone. The results at a season 

 when people are not buying heavily of 

 flowers seems sometimes surprising. 



In view of this fact, it pays florists 

 at this season to undertake the featur- 

 ing of their telegraph service. They 

 have the time and the necessary effort 

 to spare, and some extra business will 

 be welcome The material for a suitable 

 window display is not costly; indeed, 

 the total outlay of florists who have 

 made such a brief campaign, if it may 

 be called so, has been remarkably small 

 for the returns yielded. 



An Example. 



To indicate the opportunity which 

 awaits florists who wish to answer its 

 knock, the case may be cited of L. 

 Turner Sons, at Kenosha, Wis. During 

 the first two weeks of July they staged 

 the window display shown in the illus- 

 tration on this page. In the left-hand 

 window, miniature telegraph poles 

 planted in lycopodium and moss led from 

 Kenosha, conspicuously marked on a 

 colored map, to the leading cities in 

 the United States. Telegraph instru- 

 ments likewise appeared in a prominent 

 place. Flower boxes bearing labels and 

 placards gave further reenforcement to 

 the idea of the display. In the right- 

 hand window a large poster explained 

 the telegraph system of florists and with 

 it appeared telegraph poles, instru- 

 ments, boxes and placards as in the 

 other window. 



The window won newspaper notice, 

 being described in the Kenosha Eve- 



ning News. With such description went, 

 naturally enough, the reporter 's explana- 

 tion of how the florists' telegraph sys- 

 tem works, the best of printed pub- 

 licity. The practice of L. Turner Sons 

 of calling their store "The F. T. D. 

 Shop" aided in this campaign. This 

 phrase, appearing on stationery and pub- 

 licity matter, keeps the suggestion of 

 wire orders constantly before patrons. 

 In the newspapers at the time of the 

 window display appeared a striking ad- 

 vertisement of over six inches on two 

 columns. Heavy type at the top said: 

 "Read what a Flowergram did for a 

 Poor Lonesome Wife." Below was a 

 reproduction of feminine handwriting 

 on hotel stationery, which read as fol- 

 lows: 



You Darling Hubby: 



That trip seemed perfectly endless! And when 

 I got to my room here — talk alK)ut lonesome — 

 I thought I would die! 



But now I have such sweet company! I 

 hadn't been here five minutes when your Flower- 

 gram arrived and those precious blossoms made 

 me feel that the thoughtful Dear who sent 

 them is very near to me indeed. Oh, I'm so 

 happy! Who but you would think so unceasingly 

 of my comfort? A thousand thanks! 



Shall write a long letter tonight to tell you 

 all about my trip. 



Faithfully yours, 



^ Betty. 



How such a campaign works is best 

 indicated by L. Turner Sons' own state- 

 ment: 



The Bestdts. 



"It was really surprising to see what 

 interest was shown in our windows. 

 People came into the store continually 

 to ask questions, and to have the exact 

 working of the florfsts' telegraph de- 

 livery explained to them. Many had a 

 hazy idea, but did not know definitely 

 how they could have flowers delivered 

 in other cities. 



"The number of telegraph orders 

 taken in our store during the last few 

 weeks has run very high, especially con- 

 sidering that the quiet season for the 

 florist is now beginning. And we are 

 interested to notice that people are com- 

 ing into our store to send flowers by 

 telegraph whom we have never seen in 

 it before. We really feel that our 

 telegraph windows have been more than 

 a success." 



TRADE'S GREAT OPPORTUNITY. 



Window Display that Brought Telegraph Orders at Kenosha* Wisconsin. 



Business Through Education. 



A great deal of space in these col- 

 umns has been devoted of late to the 

 necessity of educating the public in 

 new and greater uses of flowers. In this 

 article I am going to stop for a moment 

 to consider just what education means. 

 Naturally, the first thing one does is to 

 consult that well known authority on 

 the subject, Noah Webster. His defini- 

 tion of education is as follows: "The 

 act, process or result of educating; the 

 systematic training of the moral and 

 intellectual faculties." This is a quite 

 simple definition of the word. Only 

 recently, however, it was my privilege 

 to listen to a sermon delivered by that 



