May 26, 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



THE RETAIL STORE 



A PAGE OF HINTS AND HELPS 

 FOR THE RETAIL FLORIST 



EMPLOYEES' CO-OPEEATION, 



Getting Help from the Helpers. 



Cooperation has been the cause of 

 much oral and written comment. But 

 the cooperation that is usually the theme 

 of the comment is the banding together 

 of the many stores in a community or 

 the working together of the whole 

 trade. The cooperation that this story 

 deals with is the working together of 

 the men in one store, the workers with 

 the workers and the workers with the 

 boss. Too often the owner of the flower 

 store runs the store all by liimself. Bill 

 and John, the helpers, go about doing 

 just what their boss tells them to do. 

 He keeps them busy giving them orders. 

 "Well, they don't know enough to do 

 any more," says some owner. But that 

 florist is forgetting that responsibility 

 breeds responsibility, that one "think" 

 is conducive to other "thinks." 



If a florist is doing his thinking, wor- 

 rying, carrying all tlie responsibilities 

 and cares, all by himself, he is making a 

 big mistake. The helper may have over- 

 alls on, he may seem to be good for 

 nothing but to dig dirt or to stand back 

 of the counter telling the price of some 

 plant or flower. But give him tlic chance 

 to think once. Ask him his opinion of 

 some contemplated action. If his opin- 

 ion is good, follow it. Then stand by 

 and watch the results. The chances are 

 about ninety-nine to one that he will 

 well repay that compliment. A few 

 days later he will come around with a 

 suggestion. And the chances are that it 

 will be a suggestion that will be worth 

 while acting upon. But whether or not 

 it is a usable idea, it shows that he is 

 interested in the business and is doing 

 some constructive thinking in order to 

 devise better means and methods for 

 conducting the store for a profit. And 

 this helper is just as likely to be able 

 to give some good idea for improving 

 the methods as is some man standing 

 around posing as a successful business 

 expert. 



Exercise Necessary. 



Give him some responsibility, and his 

 capacity for assuming responsibility will 

 grow. Capability for shouldering re- 

 sponsibility needs exercise just as much 

 as any of the muscles. A great athlete 

 18 not made in a day. If he is a runner, 

 his leg muscles are trained and are 

 given constant exercise. If he is a 

 marksman, his eyes are trained and 

 are used freely so as to become accus- 

 tomed to judging heights and distances, 

 feo if a helper is to become a real help 

 around the store, he must be trained to 

 shoulder responsibilities and do some 

 constructive thinking. And the onlv 

 way to exercise him in these two tilings 

 18 to give him some responsibility and 

 let him know that he is not wasting 

 time when he thinks. 



That is the way th.nt Lnrge, success- 

 lul corporations are run. Not liv one 



man that sits in his office and plays that 

 he is the king. He is surrounded by 

 men who counsel him at his every move. 

 These men meet and discuss the busi- 

 ness at frequent intervals. The result 

 is that each one of this group is as inter- 

 ested in the business as is the owner. 

 They are all working for the welfare of 

 the business. They are all constantly 

 thinking and working for further suc- 

 cess for the firm. 



Kings Are Worried. 



The government is the same. The 

 president is surrounded by his cabinet 

 and the members of the cabinet in turn 

 are surrounded by their groups of help- 

 ers. Each and every governmental offi- 

 cial has his advisers. And it has proved 

 a much more successful government than 

 the old, out-of-date king method. Hardly 

 a king that feels that his job is safe. 

 They are being deposed every day. 



The answer of Andrew Carnegie tells 

 the story in a few words. He was asked 

 to give the reasons for his success. He 

 replied, "I know enough to surround 

 myself with men who know more than 

 I do." 



So, every florist who operates a store 

 will find that the store will run much 

 better if he has a group of helpers who 

 are cooperating with him and with whom 

 he is cooperating. 



bile surely ought to be in the market 

 for flowers. So, acting on tliis idea, he 

 placed a flower booth among the vari- 

 ous automobile Ijooths at the eastern 

 Carolina automobile show, which was 

 lield at Eocky Mount, N. C., the second 

 week in May. As the illustration on 

 this page shows, the booth w.ns pro- 

 fusely decorated with ferns, hanging 

 baskets, boxwood plants and cut flowers. 

 There also was a Victrola playing "Say 

 It with Flowers." Each night differ- 

 ent cut flowers were used, and one night 

 there was a display with an unusually 

 handsome orchid corsage featured in 

 it. 



The booth attracted much attention 

 and was generally well surrounded with 

 a crowd viewing the beautiful display 

 of flowers. Mr. Weathers, who operates 

 the Eocky Mount Floral Co., at Eocky 

 Mount, says, "This has been a great 

 advertisement for me and I foci fully 

 repaid for my time, trouble and ex- 

 pense." 



This was an unusual place for a floral 

 display, and the idea only goes to show 

 how well flowers can be advertised in 

 almost any place where a florist wants 

 to advertise them. 



AUTOMOBILES AND FLOWERS. 



Arthur E. Weathers thought tliat any 

 one who could afford to buy an automo- 



APPROPRIATE ADVERTISING. 



Out in sunny California, in the town 

 of Anaheim, the citizens and business 

 men are not behind the times. They 

 are alive to the fact that good advertis- 

 ing pays. And one of the most distinc- 

 tive ! nd original advertising mediums 



Booth in Automobile Show that Brought Business to Norlh Carolina Florist. 



