22 



The Florists^ Review 



NOVEMIiKU IS, lifJO 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMEN1 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



"^ 



HOUSING PLANTS. 



During Winter Months. 



There is jierlinjis no siii<;le feature 

 ('(iiuiected with the Ihirists' business 

 that ]ir(>\cs more uiisat isfaetory to all 

 concerucil than the heusin<; and care 

 of house ]'lants iluriiij; winter. I am 

 sure that eNcryeiii' who reads this arti- 

 cle can recall some unjileasant experi- 

 ence^ coniiccteil with tins jiart of the 

 business. Tlicic are many who will not 

 lianiik' this class of business under any 

 circumstances; they lia\e sim])ly made 

 a rule not to do it, and live up to that 

 rule. .This sometimes means tliat they 

 incur the ill will of a Ljood customer and 

 in many cases lose that customer. But 

 their arfjumeiit, Mliich is a jjjoorl one, is 

 that it is a llfty-fifty ehance that they 

 ■would h;i\(' lost the customer anyhow, 

 even thoii;;li they liad cai'ed for the 

 ]dants throuLjh an entire winter, if, when 

 S]iriii<; came, they had not a niu(h bet- 

 ter jilant to return than was recei\ed in 

 the I'.all. Ill fact, I know of numerous 

 cases, iii\ ii|\ iiiLT a i^ood customer, when 

 a perfei-t ]dant was substituted for a 



half-dead, scrawny-looking specimen 

 when the hoardor.s were called for in the 

 s]irin<x. This is one of the modes of 

 business that have been practiced by 

 tlorists that has helped to keep the trade 

 where it is in the eyes of the public. 



Taking Chances. 



In these days when we hear so much 

 of quarantine and its strict enforce- 

 ment, do we ever stop to think of the 

 chances we are takin^j when we take a 

 p:ilm or a Boston fern that has been ex- 

 ])osed to all sorts of conditions into a 

 liouso of healthy stock? Who can tell 

 what pests we are importing into our 

 houses and the amount of trouble they 

 will cause? Yet, in nine cases out of 

 ten, it is because the ])lant is sick and 

 not presentable in the house that it is 

 sent to the florist, with tlie idea that in 

 a few months it will be returned a bet 

 ter and finer s]iecimen. I have seen 

 plants sent to a florist that were just 

 co\-ei-e(l with scale and me.aly bui;. The 

 lirst thinji; the florist was r('(|uired to do 

 for his own ]irotectinn was to clean 

 them. Xow, the jioint I wish to impress 

 is this: You are caring for a sick plant; 



zJjm /ydiiM / fJou/erii '^ 



Let PLNN'5 



Chrysanthemums 



Carry Your 



THANKSGIVING 

 MESSAGE 



These big bright golden blossoms 

 will bring to >our dear ones the 

 true spirit of Thanksgiving. 



)'ou may send these or any other Flozvers for the 



festive occasion to friend or relative any u: here 



in the United States or Canada vcith the 



aid of Penn 's Flov:crgrani Service 



Boston's 



Flowerphonc 



Beach h^m 



124 



Tremont 

 street 



When you think uj jloueis thivk oj Fi ini 



Part of the Reason Why Thanksgiving Is a Big Day in Boston. 



does your charge warrant you to render 

 this professional service, or should you 

 charge extra for it^ You will say that 

 if you charged for every little thing, 

 customers would soon realize that it 

 would be cheaper to throw their old 

 ]dants away and buy new ones. And 

 that is just what yon want them to 

 realize, for this is a fact, for the tdd 

 l)lant under the most favor.able condi- 

 tions and care will never again be a 

 ])erfect plant. But the ])oint for the 

 florist to look iit during the high cost of 

 labor is that you are ]iaying for every 

 live minutes sjient u])on that plant. 



Labor Charges. 



After over forty years' connect i(ni 

 with the florists' business, I do not be- 

 lieve that there is another industry in 

 the world today in which so little at- 

 tention is jiaid to labor. Did you ever 

 stoj) to think that if something goes 

 wrong with the ])lumbing system in your 

 home and you call a j)lumber, he charges 

 from the time he leaves his shop until 

 he gets back, ,'ind they are not ]>ikers 

 when it comes to charging. Bat the 

 jioint is, who would expect them to do 

 otherwise just because you liappened to 

 be a good customer? The public is edu- 

 cated to ]dumbers' charges, as they are 

 to other mechanics' charges. What is the 

 reason for this? Well, there is a rea- 

 son and one that we, as a trade, have 

 to face. The mechanics were paying 

 mechanics' wages when the florists were 

 gettinff well trained men for anywhere 

 from if 10 to $2') and board per month. 

 In other words, the mechanic was 

 obliged to be careful in his charge for 

 every item of labor. 



How many are there reading this 

 article who cannot remember the time 

 when a customer came to your range 

 and bought an order of plants and you 

 were only too glad to hook up a horse 

 and send a man to plant them? Your 

 man's labor was never counted, but 

 could you, with the high cost of labor 

 and gasoline, afford to do that today? 



Figure Cost. 



But to get back to housing plants 

 over winter. It was my privilege to be 

 in a com])any of florists recently when 

 this question was discussed and it was 

 most interesting. One man, who has 

 been most successful as a grower, said 

 that he thought seriously of inaugurat- 

 ing a "Bertillon system" in his busi- 

 ness; that is, to take a photograph of 

 the plant when it was received and, if 

 there was any question, produce this 

 when the plant was called for. But 

 there was a man in that company who 

 is a statistician; he knows the cost of 

 ]iroduction of everything on his jdace; 

 he has the housing of plants figured 

 down to a daily rate. I shall just use 

 one illustration: For plants in 6-)nch or 

 S-inch [lots, the charge is 2^2 and 3 cents 

 ]ier d;iy for the number of days they 

 are in his charge, payable monthly. This 

 is for s])acc and ordinary care; all other 

 charges, such as repotting, pruning, etc., 



