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Decbmbbb 18, 1919. 



The Florists' Review 



17 



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THE HIGH COST OF FLOWERS. 



Wliat Is the Advance? 



The questions, "If the grower is 

 obliged to pay 100 per cent more for 

 everything that is used in the produc- 

 tion of flowers, what must he demand 

 for his product!" and "If he demands 

 a legitimate return, what effect is this 

 going to have on the retail store?" were 

 the subjects for discussion at a recent 

 florists' club meeting. After a lengthy 

 debate, the only phase of the problem 

 that was clearly established was the 

 fact that production had advanced 100 

 per cent in the last five years; indeed, 

 there were some who made the claim 

 that 100 per cent would not cover it. 

 There is no end of discussion as to 

 what the proper advance in the price 

 of flowers should be, or just how much 

 advance the public is going to stand 

 before they will stop buying flowers. 



Going back to pre-war conditions, let 

 us see just how much the cost of flow- 

 ers has advanced during the last five 

 years. As I write this I have before 

 me a price list, dated November 16, 

 1914, issued by one of the most reliable 

 wholesale firms of an eastern city. A 

 comparison of the prices quoted in this 

 with a price list, from the same city, 

 published in The Eeview November 13, 

 1919, will give us a clear idea of what 

 the advance has been in the wholesale 

 market. It might be well to remind 

 readers that the dates of the price lists 

 we are considering are at the time chrys- 

 anthemums are at their height, thus 

 causing the prices of roses in both years 

 to be below normal, with such varieties 

 as Premier and Columbia missing. 

 Prices Before and After War. 

 We will start with American Beauty. 

 The 1914 list has five grades quoted, 

 viz.: Special, $22.50; fancy, $20; extra 

 $15; first, $10; second, $8. The 1919 

 list has two grades: Long, $50 to $60; 

 short, $12 to $20. The figures for 

 mums, which controlled the market dur- 

 ing the weeks quoted, are, for 1914, 

 $10, $12 and the best at $15 per hun- 

 dred; in 1919, fancy are $25 to $30, 

 select $15 to $20, ordinary $5 to $8. 

 Cattleyas in 1914 were $40 per hun- 

 dred; "in 1919, $100 to $150. Space will 

 not permit more figures; anyone who 

 files his price lists for reference can 

 easily make comparisons. The above 

 figures show that a substantial increase 

 has been made. . 



Now, taking these figures as a basis, 

 is it not reasonable to assume that the 

 growers' profits are as great in 1919, 

 with the increased cost of production, 

 as they were in 1914! These figures 

 seem to indicate that the increased cost 

 of production has been taken care of 

 and any florist who finds that with the 

 prevailing quotations of today he is 

 unable to meet his cost of production, 

 with a fair profit besides, would better 

 look elsewhere for the reason. 



Keep Cost Down and Quality Up. 



The florists' business has now ad- 

 vanced to a point where efficiency in 

 production is just as necessary as in any 



manufacturing business. Both grower 

 and retailer should remember that it is 

 their duty, through efficiency in produc- 

 ing and distributing their product, to 

 put it into the hands of the consumer 

 at as reasonable a cost as will be con- 

 sistent with quality. The public ex- 

 pects to pay more for flowers, just as 

 it does for everything else, but we 

 should remember there is a limit and 

 should make it a point to study the 

 consumers' interests as well aa our 

 own. 



Another point we should remember is 

 that flowers are not an absolute neces- 

 sity, in the sense that they cannot be 

 done without, but the same can be said 

 of every automobile built for pleasure. 

 Take any of the large automobile fac- 

 tories and you will find that they have 

 efficiency experts whose business it is 

 to keep the cost of production down 

 and the quality of the machine up. Com- 

 petition compels them to do this. And 

 the time has come when the fiorists 

 must consider these two important 

 points. 



WJll the PubUc Pay? 

 Let us look for a moment at the 

 second question quoted at the beginning 

 of this article, "What effect will this 

 have on the retail stores!" This can 

 mean but one thing — ^will the public 

 pay the advanced price the retailer is 

 obliged to charge! Several who spoke 

 on the affirmative side of this subject 

 said they were unable to get all of the 



stock they required. I have been 

 around to a number of growers and 

 there is certainly no part of their 

 ranges idle and, as far as I can see, there 

 are as many flowers produced today as 

 there ever were. The wholesale houses 

 are well cleaned up at all times. Then 

 is it not reasonable to assume that there 

 are as many flowers being sold today as 

 ever! Any retailer will tell you that 

 business this fall has equaled that of 

 last year. Is not this, when you take 

 into consideration the epidemic of flu, 

 an indication that business is improv- 

 ing! 



There is just one point I want to call 

 attention to, and my reason for doing 

 it is that I have heard it quoted so 

 often. It is this: An old customer 

 wUl often come in and ask the price 

 of a certain article. When he is told, 

 he will say it is ridiculous and some- 

 times wUl go out without making a 

 purchase or will be compelled to take 

 something else^. I believe this is the 

 greatest cause of the uncertainty that 

 exists today among the florists. Re- 

 member your business is passing 

 through a process of change; people are 

 buying flowers today who never bought 

 them before. Be guided by the gross 

 business you transact and not by the 

 complaint of an individual, no matter 

 how good a customer he may be. Of 

 course, it is well to try to educate such 

 a customer and in most cases you will be 

 able to reason with him. Every retailer 

 has the same conditions to contend with. 

 Be firm, though courteous, and you will 

 win out. 



To sum up on the question, I believe 

 that the grower is now getting for his 

 product sufficient to meet the advanced 

 cost of production and that the retail 

 branch of the business has never been 

 in a more healthy condition. Tate. 



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PERSONAL GLIMPSES 



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BUSINESS WOMEN. 



Hester A. Oetz. 



One of the most salutary signs of the 

 times is the increasing part being played 

 by women in fields formerly regarded as 

 the exclusive province of men. Perhaps 

 the realm of politics supplies the most 

 striking examples. The business world 

 of today is replete with instances of 

 the widow assuming the burdens of the 

 prematurely departed husband and bear- 

 ing them with signal success, and of the 

 young woman who, after thoroughly 

 training herself, initiates a business of 

 her own, to say nothing of the wife or 

 assistan'; to whose guiding hands the 

 success of many captains of industry 

 may justly be attributed. The florists' 

 business offers no exception; on the con- 

 trary, it is a pursuit in which sex plays 

 little part and one in which women are 

 preeminently fitted to succeed. 



In Cleveland Hester A. Getz has 

 proved beyond cavil that a woman can 

 make good in the business of retailing 

 flowers. Her best friends are her patrons, 

 acquired and kept by the scrupulously 

 exacting manner in which their orders 

 are executed. Miss Getz employs no 

 men upon her selling staff; she flnds 

 women better adapted to the needs of 



her business. Personality and refined 

 taste pervade her shop, in which lovers 

 of choice flowers delight to linger, the 

 effect being a generous loosening of the 

 purse strings. Each succeeding year 

 finds her business increasing in volume 

 as well as in profit. She is an enthu- 

 siastic member of the F. T. D. and regu- 

 larly attends the conventions in quest 

 of new ideas, and her belief in the mer- 

 its of publicity is attested by her con- 

 tributions to both the local and national 

 funds. Hester A. Getz is a type of the 

 new business woman destined to play 

 an important role in the future of the 

 commercial flower business. 



Helen M. Schlnraff. 



Those who know this energetic woman 

 cannot help admiring her because of the 

 degree of success she has achieved. The 

 manner in which she has pushed aside 

 obstacles and forged her way to the 

 front would be a credit even to members 

 of the sterner sex. Hard and intelligent 

 work, united with a determination to 

 succeed, is responsible for the enviable 

 standing of Helen M. Schluraff, at Erie, 

 Pa., in the florists' business today. 



It is an acknowledged fact that 

 women get closer to their business and 

 give greater attention to detail than do 

 men; such traits inestimably qualify 



