MAncn 8, 1021 



The Florists^ Review 



27 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



LA CBOSSE THEATEB OPENINa. 



At the recent opening of the new 

 Bivoli theater, at La Crosse, Wis., the 

 foyer and entire theater were beautifully 

 decorated, under the supervision of C. 

 E. Schaefer, superintendent of the flo- 

 ral department of the John A. Salzer 

 Seed Co. 



The effect of the mass of flowers was 

 unusual and pleasing. As seen in the 

 accompanying illustration, the lobby 

 was bedecked with floral baskets and 

 other Arrangements, with a floral horse- 

 shoe as the center of attraction. This 

 masterpiece contained over 2,500 roses 

 and other flowers, and was the source of 

 much favorable comment. The illustra- 

 tion shovvs the card, which bore the sig- 

 nature of "La Crosse Friends." 



The theater proper and entire stage 

 were decorated with huge baskets of 

 American Beauty roses. The artistic 

 ability of the decorator was freely com- 

 mented upon. The decoration of this 

 theater was by far the largest display 

 of this kind that La Crosse has ever 

 witnessed. 



GOOD UOHTINa AIDS SALES. 



How to Improve Artificial Lighting. 



Retailers in all lines are finding it 

 more and more profitable to pay a 

 greater amount of attention to the 

 artificial light they use. Many stores 

 find it necessary to use considerable 

 artificial light throughout the day and 

 they have discovered that this light 

 has something to do with the volume 

 of sales. In some cases it even influ- 

 ences the degree of satisfaction that 

 the goods give to the purchaser. 



It is not only the amount of light 

 that must be considered, but the color 

 of light as well. Dry goods and cloth- 

 ing stores find it advisable to have 

 their light as near daylight as possible. 

 The butcher finds that light of one 

 tone makes his meat appear attractive, 

 while under another tone the meat 

 looks less appetizing. So thcire are cer- 

 tain tones or tints that are of greater 

 value in the flower store. 



The value of artificial light and the 

 different ways in which it can be used 

 to stimulate sales, however, is only be- 

 ginning to be realized by the average 

 retailer. He is not always aware that 

 today it is possible to secure lights and 

 fixtures that will give any desired 

 color or tint. Electric lamps are made 

 to give color values from the natural 

 light of the filament to a close ap- 

 proach to daylight. Bowls and shades 

 for these lights are also on the market 

 which give just the tint which makes 

 the gotods displayed appear to best ad- 

 vantage. 



Important for Plant Colors. 



At first sight it may not be apparent 

 that it is highly important that the 

 florist give the color of the light in hi« 

 store great attention. He may, how- 



ever, have noted that, when plants are 

 displayed in the store they do not sell 

 so readily as when they are displayed 

 on the sidewalk or in the window, 

 where they are viewed in daylight. In 

 fact, he may have found that people in- 

 sist on buying those plants which are 

 displayed under daylight, even though 

 those in the store, which are lighted by 

 artificial light, are from the same lot 

 and arrived at the store at the same 

 time. 



Knowing that all the plants are the 

 same, it is likely that the florist has 

 not observed that those plants shown 

 under artificial light do not look quite 

 so green, fresh and healthy as those 

 displayed in daylight. If he has no- 

 ticed this fact he may not have realized 

 that this is due to the fact that the 

 effect of artificial light is not the same 

 as that of daylight. 



The color of any object is due to the 

 light that it reflects. If light of a 

 different color is thrown upon it, the 

 object itself may appear of a different 

 color. One of the extreme examples of 

 this is a red object under the mercury- 

 vapor lamp. The red appears black be- 

 cause there are no red rays in the lamp 

 and consequently the red object cannot 

 reflect light. The same process takes 

 place to some extent with every change 

 of color. If artificial light docs not 

 have the correct proportion of rays of 

 light of the true color of the plants, 

 then they will not look so fresh and 

 attractive under artificial light as they 

 do under daylight. If, however, the 

 artificial light favors those colors which 

 the plants reflect, then under artificial 



light they will look as well as, or bet- 

 ter than, they do under daylight. 



Exaggerate One Color. 



Since artificial light is never so bril- 

 liant as daylight, it is usually better 

 to have the color of the plants exagger- 

 ated rather than subdued. Only by 

 such exaggeration are they likely to 

 look as well under artificial light of 

 the common brilliancy as they do in 

 daylight. 



The ordinary electric light is of too* 

 blue a tint to serve the purpose. The 

 light should be given more of the green 

 tint of the plants by means of tinted, 

 diffusing glass bowls. There are today 

 a number of lighting experts who make 

 a specialty of procuring exactly the 

 right lighting effects, but any florist 

 can get a practical idea of what instal- 

 lation will bring results by trying out 

 different lamps and bowls and noting 

 the effects on his stock. 



If sufficient attention is given to 

 artificial lighting, both in regard to 

 color and brilliancy, it is found that 

 just as good results can be obtained 

 under artificial light as under daylight. 



Giving the lighting problem suflicient 

 attention also increases the value of 

 the store from a sales standpoint. Parts 

 of the shop that have not been useful 

 in selling can be improved by lighting 

 them in the right way. The light must 

 be sufficiently bright and the color 

 must be the right tone to bring out the 

 good features of the stock displayed. 



There are several methods by which 

 the color values may be changed at 

 little expense. First, however, it will 



La Crosse Florist's Decoration for the Opening of a New Theater. 



