22 



The Florists^ Review 



NOTKMBKB 11, 1920 



tive material is suitable to form the 

 drawing feature of the display. One 

 would perhaps prefer another to the 

 harvest phase of the day, to distinguish 

 the Thanksgiving day window from a 

 mere autumn display. The Puritan 

 reminiscences provide the best mate- 

 rial for window displays. Upon a read- 

 ing of some of Longfellow's poems of 

 those days, one could conjure up a dozen 

 or more different scenes easy to stage 

 in the florist's window as a suggestion 

 for Thanksgiving day and to associate 



it with flowers in the minds of passers- 

 by. On this score the possibilities are 

 unlimited. 



These are a few suggestions. They 

 should stimulate others in each florist's 

 mind, in keeping with his own locality 

 and his own facilities. But wherever 

 he is, the opportunity is big. Through- 

 out America the last Thursday in 

 November should bring a greater de- 

 mand for flowers this year than ever 

 before, a demand far greater if florists 

 of the country undertake to "talk 

 turkey ' ' — and flowers — to the public. 



and other supplies are stored in the 

 room and the basement below. 



PICKINa TJP MONEY. 



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THE RETAIL FLORIST 



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FLOWERS FOR FUNERAliS. 



Various estimates place the propor- 

 tion of flowers for funerals at one-third 

 to one-half of the total sales of florists 

 iu this country. Whatever the exact 

 amount, there is today no other branch 

 of sales which comes near rivaling that 

 one the year around. Not without good 

 reason do some retailers call it their 

 "bread-and-butter" business. 



What it amounts to in an individual 

 store may be seen by the illustration on 

 this page, which shows the work made 

 up for one funeral, that of the secretary 

 of the order of railway telegraphers, 

 by the C. Young & Sons Co., St. Louis, 

 recently. Eighteen pieces are shown, 

 an equal number each of baskets, sprays 

 and wreaths. 



In this group it is interesting to note 

 the proportion of each type of order. It 

 indicates, if one may generalize there- 

 from, what is being generally noted in 

 the best florists' stores; namely, a 

 change from the one-time demand for 

 all sorts of odd designs to a call for 

 funeral offerings depending, not on 

 shape, but on artistic arrangement for 

 their effect. Baskets are coming more 

 and more into vogue for funerals. Sim- 

 ple sprays are largely asked for, and 

 tastefully made wreaths represent the 

 usual extent of the desire for a design. 

 Occasionally a florist has a call for an 

 odd and intricate piece, but nowadays 

 that is the exception. Recognition of 

 real beauty has led to the demand for 

 the looser forms of arrangement. 



MAKING SPACE COUNT. 



Many flower stores cover a larger 

 floor area than that of Penn the Florist, 

 in Boston, but few do so large a busi- 

 ness. One is inclined to wonder, upon 

 entering it, if this is the place whore 

 this firm's tremendous business is done. 

 For the year's total is one that would 

 stagger many florists. The reason that 

 so much can be done, and is done, in 

 this space is learned upon inspection. 

 Arrangement and system tell the tale. 



How simple are the travels of an or- 

 der is instructive. Order tickets are in 

 duplicate. Both go to the cashier's 

 window. One goes upstairs to the 

 bookkeeping ofSce as the cashier's rec- 

 ord. The other goes to the shipping 

 desk, which is but a few feet from the 

 cashier's cage. If the order is to go out 

 immediately, the clerk who receives the 

 order gets the necessary stock and lays 

 it, with the order, on an adjoining table 

 to be made up. When this is done, the 



flowers are boxed and addressed and 

 laid on the next table. The order ticket 

 is still attached. When the delivery 

 boy takes the box, the ticket is detached 

 and put aside. During the day these 

 tickets are taken to the bookkeeping de- 

 partment; they indicate that the order 

 has been filled and sent. In the book- 

 keeping department, the two copies of 

 each order are matched and pinned to- 

 gether, thus forming a complete record 

 of the day's transactions. Since they 

 are being collected and paired during 

 the day, a complete record of each day's 

 business is available early the following 

 morning, if not the same night. 



Beginning November 1, Penn the Flo- 

 rist installed a National cash register 

 of the type that classifies each order or 

 parts of an order, so that at the end of 

 the month the firm will know how much 

 business was funeral work, how much 

 corsage orders, etc. 



Of course, holiday business cannot all 

 be handled in this store. On special oc- 

 casions a neighboring store is employed 

 for receiving stock and making deliv- 

 eries. As high as 4,600 deliveries in a 

 day have been made from this extra 

 store at Easter time. During the re- 

 mainder of the year baskets, pottery 



Quarters and Dimes for Betallera. 



Nobody suggests that flower stores 

 imitate drug stores, which nowadays 

 chase the elusive nickels so assiduously 

 that the jimcracks on display almost, if 

 they do not totally, obscure the original 

 apothecarial purpose of such places. It 

 is foolish to put in so many side lines 

 that the main line is submerged. But 

 there is little danger of that with flower 

 stores; most of them still neglect their 

 legitimate opportunities. 



Take, for instance, plant foods and 

 insecticides. How many florists carry 

 them? They would not be out of place 

 in any store which sells plants; indeed, 

 nearly every florist who sells plants has 

 numerous requests for "something to 

 make them grow." Not to have such 

 things at hand, even in sight, is a 

 neglect deplorable in more ways than 

 one. In the first place, every florist 

 should try to supply as many as possible 

 of the needs of his customers. He sup- 

 plies the pot cover; then why not the 

 bit of plant food! In the second place, 

 in addition to satisfying the customer's 

 desire, each such sale adds a quarter or 

 a dime to the florist's profits and does 

 it without adding in any way to his 

 overhead expenses. 



Within recent times some of the large 

 retailers have come to appreciate that 

 a really desirable sum is to be added to 

 the annual profits in this perfectly legit- 

 imate way. Trying it out, numbers of 

 them have found it paid to have several 

 kinds on display and to advertise them 

 by means of the show cards, booklets 

 and envelope stuffers supplied by the 

 manufacturers. "Now we never fail to 

 mention plant food when selling potted 

 plants," says a prominent St. Louis 

 retailer. There are many good plant 

 foods, each having its particular advan- 

 tages. The housewife wants "some- 

 thing for her plants." Gratify her 

 wish. 





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Eighteen Pieces for One Funeral Ready to Leave St. Louis Store. 



