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Let Our Watchword be "Preparedness" 



N VIEW of all the eircum- 



I stances connected with 

 this year 's Christmas 

 trade, the keynote of the 

 situation is preparation — 

 immediate, watchful and 

 active preparation. The 

 heavy demand at Thanks- 

 giving, coupled with other 

 favorable indications, gave 

 assurance of an immense Christmas 

 business. Now that the miners' strike 

 is nearing a settlement, there is an 

 abatement of our fears about coal 

 scarcity and the consequent government 

 restrictions, the insufficient means of 

 transportation and other untoward con- 

 ditions. Any remaining uncertainties 

 serve to confirm the one fact as to the 

 need of a "forehanded" course — serve 

 to accentuate the necessity that our 

 watchword be "Preparedness." 



Preparedness and. 



Of course it is vitally 

 general rule, that 

 we endeavor also to 

 increase the volume 

 of business, by such 

 means of publicity 

 as are available. 

 Other things being 

 equal, the prosperity 

 of a man's business 

 is in exact propor- 

 tion to its publicity; 

 his success depends 

 upon the amount of 

 effort that he makes 

 to draw attention 

 to his merchandise. 

 That is a self-evi- 

 dent fact, a mere 

 truism. But it seems 

 proper at this time 

 to place the empha- 

 sis not so much on 

 publicity as on pre- 

 paredness, since the 

 extent of each flo- 

 rist's Christmas 

 trade will be gov- 

 erned to an unusual 

 degree by the ade- 

 quacy or inadequacy 

 of the stock and fa- 

 cilities that he pro- 

 vides. The retail 

 florist's present task 

 is not so much to 

 create a demand as 

 to be fully equipped 

 to cater to the de- 

 mand that already 



PubUcity. 

 important, as a 



exists. In street parlance, "it's up to 

 us" to make our stores lively, attractive 

 and "going" concerns, in spite of any 

 difficulties caused by the miners' strike. 

 Moreover, some of the best methods 

 of preparing for business may also 

 serve as a means of increasing busi- 

 ness. Preparedness and publicity are 

 closely related. The nearness of their 

 relationship will be indicated to some 

 extent in one or two of the following 

 paragraphs, and can be more fully dem- 

 onstrated by the readers themselves. 



High Prices No Hindrance. 



There is one circumstance which, 

 though at first thought it might sewn 

 unfavorable, is really a reason for en- 

 couragement; that is, the high level of 

 prices. The everlastingly troublesome 

 question of Christmas prices should ac- 

 tually be less troublesome, less of a 

 bugaboo, than in almost any previous 

 year. There is much truth in the argu- 

 ment that undue raising of prices at 



Artbtic Basket Arrangements are Popular and Profitable at Christmas. 



special seasons like Christmas is detri- 

 mental to the business. But that argu- 

 ment is less applicable at present than 

 in almost any previous year. In the 

 first place, a few varieties of stock, 

 on account of the more normal condi- 

 tions of the source of supply, will not 

 be so scarce and high-priced as they 

 were a year ago, and it will be well to 

 push the sale of these plentiful items. 

 Moreover — and there seems to be need 

 of saying this again, however fre- 

 quently it has been said before — people 

 have become thoroughly accustomed to 

 rising prices. Scarcely anything else 

 in our daily life seems so fully expected, 

 so inevitable, so much a matter of 

 course, as the skyward movement of 

 prices. Daily price rises seem as natural 

 and certain as sunrise. If one article 

 does not soar in price, another does, 

 thus keeping the record of ascents un- 

 broken. 



Convincing a Customer. 



Yet flowers have not advanced in price 

 in proportion to 

 most other com- 

 modities. It should 

 not require a great 

 deal of skill, then, to 

 convince a customer 

 that the charges for 

 flowers are reason- 

 able. Under pres- 

 ent circumstances, 

 there is not likely 

 to be any valid ex- 

 cuse for not receiv- 

 ing fairly profitable 

 prices. No, not nn* 

 fairly profitable; 

 there is no intention 

 here to advocate 

 profiteering. 



One phase of 

 preparation, that of 

 ordering suitable 

 stock early or mak- 

 ing definite ar- 

 rangements to ob- 

 tain it, is so impor- 

 tant that it deserves 

 more than the casual 

 reference already 

 made to it, and yet 

 is so indisputable 

 that it scarcely 

 needs to be dis- 

 cussed at length. 

 Every florist is more 

 or less aware of the 

 necessity of study- 

 ing in advance the 

 probabilities of the 



