16 



The Florists^ Review 



Mat 24, 1917. 



mended one of his own preparations, 

 Slug Shot, and told me to dust the Slug 

 Shot between the plants, under the 



benches and along the walks. I did so 

 and the results were gratifying. The 

 bugs were cleaned out in' short order, 



and I certainly recommend Slug Shot 

 to every florist who finds these lice in 

 his houses. Alexander A. Laub. 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



FOR THE GIRL GRADUATE. 



The "sweet girl graduate" in June 

 will share the spotlight with the bride 

 and graduation is almost as important 

 in her young life as is marriage to her 

 older sister. When she steps forward 

 to receive her diploma she will be wear- 

 ing a new gown with a corsage or will 

 carry a bouquet. Whether the corsage 

 or bouquet is a gift or a purchase, it 

 represents a sale by a florist. 



While the authorities in many cities 

 and towns have placed a ban on flowers 

 at public school graduations, in others 

 there are girls' schools or coeducational 

 institutions which still permit the girl 

 graduates to wear or carry bouquets. 

 The wise retailer will find out when 

 and where schools of this character will 

 hold graduation exercises. When the 

 day is near he will put in his window a 

 few of the class pennants and bouquets 

 tied with the class colors — all classes 

 have pennants and colors — -and suggest 

 that flowers make appropriate gradua- 

 tion presents and that his store is the 

 place to buy them. 



Of course this suggestion is unneces- 

 sary to a great many florists, who an- 

 nually reap a rich harvest from gradua- 

 tions. They, many years ago, realized 

 the possibilities for business at gradua- 

 tion time and have made the most of 

 them. Elaborate window displays are 

 made showing the bouquets and cor- 

 sages for girl graduates. 



But many retailers are overlooking 

 this chance for sales and, with a little 

 effort, might increase their business in 

 this way. 



INDIVIDUALIZING CIRCULARS. 



The sales manager of a concern doing 

 a nation-wide business several years 

 ago conceived the idea of "individualiz- 

 ing" the letters he sent to customers of 

 his firm. To do this he signed his name 

 with green ink. In time he became 

 known to the men who received his let- 

 ters as "the man who uses green ink." 

 Communications from this concern be- 

 came to them letters from a man they 

 knew, and not merely from an inanimate 

 corporation. 



Everyone likes to do business with 

 persons he knows. The flower-buyer is 

 not different from the general run of 

 buyers of other commodities. He will 

 go out of his way to buy of a man he 

 knows. For that same reason, circulars 

 Bent to the florists' customers will be 

 much more effective if there is some- 

 thing about them that is personal. 



When we are sending out circulars 

 for Memorial day, why not go through 

 them yourself and have your clerks go 

 through them, and on the ones going 

 to persons known to us add with a pen 

 some little inscription with yo\ir name 

 or the name of the clerk signed to itf 



To do this will require a little time and 

 effort, but the results will more than 

 pay for both. By continuing the prac- 

 tice whenever advertising matter is 

 mailed, it will not be long before the 

 letters will be opened and the contents 

 read, instead of being given a mere 

 glance as most circulars are. 



volume of business. It is of record that 

 in this store 1,600 sales have been made 

 within the space of one business day. 



WHO ARE THEY? 



In these days of scientific merchan- 

 dising, the man who is following the 

 lines of least resistance studies his field 

 and shapes his methods in accordance 

 with the knowledge gained. Some flo- 

 rists, no doubt, study the demand, and 

 the source of the demand, but there are 

 many whose knowledge along these lines 

 is decidedly limited. 



In this connection it is interesting 

 to note that a certain florist in a good 

 sized city considered the subject and 

 concluded that he would find out as 

 much as he could about the people who 

 were buying his flowers. In the natural 

 order of things he had the names of 

 many of them. An investigator had 

 no trouble in getting the facts that were 

 wanted. It was found that the store 

 was drawing the greater part of its 

 patronage from salaried persons, those 

 whose incomes ranged in most cases 

 from $10 to $25 per week. The result 

 was that the florist made it the policy 

 of his establishment to cater directly to 

 persons of moderate means; instead of 

 wasting time trying to sell them some- 

 thing out of their reach, he made it a 

 point to provide things such as his peo- 

 ple think they can afford. The result 

 has been a remarkable increase in the 



A NEW CHARLESTON STORE. 



The business of F. L. & F. J. Aichele 

 lias grown rapidly during the five years 

 they have been in Charleston, S. C. 

 Recently the retail end of their busi- 

 ness, the Carolina Floral Store, was 

 moved from its old quarters at 339 King 

 street into a new and modern store at 

 the corner of King and George streets. 

 A view of the interior of the store is 

 •<hown in the accompanying illustration. 



Besides the new store, the firm is 

 erecting a range of six greenhouses, com- 

 prising 40,000 feet of glass, at Saxon, 

 S. C, fifteen miles distant from Charles- 

 ton. Messrs. Aichele recently purchased 

 forty acres at Saxon, and when the 

 greenhouses are completed will have one 

 of the largest establishments in the 

 state. Roses, carnations and chrysan- 

 themums will be the leaders at the new 

 liouses. 



Five years ago Messrs. Aichele moved 

 to Charleston from Baltimore, Md., and 

 ]iurehased the Newman range of green- 

 houses and the ten acres of nursery 

 stock adjoining. 



THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. 



Wliat do you first think of when New 

 York is mentioned? Is it the Statue 

 of Liberty? Is it the Woolworth build- 

 ing, Broadway, or the ^Little Church 

 Around the Corner? What the diminu- 

 tive house of worship is to the metrop- 

 olis, the Little Flower Shop Around 



New Home of the Carolina Flower Store at Charleston, S. C. 



