Maiicii 3,' 1021 



The Florists^ Review 



27 



{{ RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



LA CROSSE THEATER OPENING. 



At tlie recent opening of the now 

 Rivoli theater, at La Crosse, Wis., the 

 foyer and entire tlieater were l)eaiitifullv 

 decorated, under the supervision of C. 

 E. Schaefer, superintendent of the flo- 

 ral de])artnient of the John A. Salzer 

 Seed Co. 



Tlie effect of the mass of flowers was 

 unusual and pleasing. As seen in tlie 

 acconijtanying 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, ami was tlio source of 

 much favorable comment. The illustra- 

 tion shovvs the card, which bore the sig- 

 nature of "La Crosse Friends." 



The theater projier 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 tliis 

 theater was by far tlie largest disjjlay 

 of this kind that La Crosse has ever 

 witnessed. , 



GOOD LIGHTING Vj5-S_SAIiES. 



How to Improve Artificial Lighting. 



Retailers in all lines are finding it 

 more and more profitable to j)ay 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 tlie Amount of light 

 that must be considered, but the color 

 of light as well. Dry goods an(i cloth- 

 ing stores find it advisable to have 

 their liglit as near daylight as possible. 

 The butcher finds tliat light of one 

 tone makes his meat appear attractive, 

 while under another tone the meat 

 looks less appetizing. So there are cer- 

 tain tones or tints that are of greater 

 value in the flower store. 



The value of artificial light and the 

 'ifferent ways in which it can bo use«l 

 to stimulate sales, however, is only be- 

 ginning to be realized by the average 

 retailer. He is not always aware tliat 

 today it is possible to secure lights aad 

 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. Rowls and shades 

 for these lights are also on the market 

 whicli give just the tint which makes 

 the goods displayed appear to best ad- 

 vantage. 



Important for Plant Colors. 



At first sight it may not be ajiparent 

 that it is liighly important that the 

 florist give the c(dor of the light in his 

 store great attention. He' may, how- 



ever, have noted tliat, when plants are 

 displayed in the store they do not sell 

 so readily as when they are displayed 

 on the sidewalk or in the wiiulow, 

 where they are viewed in flaylight. In 

 fact, he may lia\-e found that peojde in 

 sist on buying those jilaiits which arc 

 displayed under daylight, e\en though 

 those in the store, which ar(> lighted by 

 artificial light, are from the same lot 

 and arri\ed at the store at the saiiie 

 time. 



Knowing that all the jdaiits are the 

 same, it is likely that the florist has 

 not observed that those plants shown 

 under artificial liyht do not look quite 

 so green, fresh and lu'althy as those 

 disjilayed in d;iylight. If he has no- 

 ticed this fact he may not have realized 

 that this is due to the fact that tlu> 

 effect of artificial light is not the same 

 as- that of daylight. 



The color of an^ object is due t" the 

 light that it reflects. If light of a 

 different colur is thrown upon it, the 

 object itself may aj)ipear of a different 

 colur. One of tlie extreme examjiles of 

 this is a red object under the mercury 

 vajior lamp. The red ap])ears black l«e 

 cause there are no red rays in the lamp 

 and conso(iuently the red object cannnt 

 reflect liglit. The same jirocess takes 

 place to some extent with every chaiigt> 

 of cidor. If artificial light does n(>t 

 have the correct jiroportion of rays of 

 light of the true color of the jdants. 

 then they will n(>t look so fresh and 

 attr.'ictive under artificial light as they 

 do uiidi'r daylight. If, lio\ve\er, the 

 artificial light favors those colors whicli 

 the plants reflect, then under artificial 



light they will look as well as, or bet- 

 ter than, they do umler daylight. 



Exaggerate One Color. 



Since artificial litiht is never so bril- 

 liant as daylight, it is usually better 

 To have the color of the plants exagger- 

 ;ited rather than sul)due<i. Only by 

 such exaggeration are they likely to 

 look as well under artificial light of 

 the common brilliancy as they do in 

 diiylight. 



The ordinary electric light is of too 

 blue a tint to serve the ]>urj)ose. The 

 light should be given more of the green 

 tint of the plants by means of tinted, 

 diffusing glass bowls. There are today 

 .'i miiiibcr of lighting exjierts who make 

 a sjiccialtv of procuring exactly the 

 right light iiig cfl'ects, but any florist 

 can get n jiracticiil idea of what instal 

 l.ation will bring results by trying out 

 difTerent lamjis and bowls and noting 

 the effects on his stock. 



If siiflicieiit attention is given to 

 artificial lighting, both in regard to 

 c(dor ;ind brilliancy, it is found that 

 just as good results can be obtained 

 under artitici.il liglit as under ilaylight. 



(li\in'g the lighting problem' suflicient 

 .■ittention also increases the value of 

 the store from a sales standpoint. Parts 

 of the shop that have not been useful 

 in selling I'aii be iiii|iro\ed by lighting 

 them in the right way. The light must 

 be sufliciciit ly bright and the color 

 must be the right tone to bring out the 

 gooil features of the stock (lis]dayed. 



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. 



