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JUNB 2, 1021 



The Rorists' Revic^v 



19 



THE RETAIL STORE 



A PAGE OF HINTS AND HELPS 

 FOR THE RETAIL FLORIST 



TOPEKA'S NEW STOBE. 



Hayes Makes Another Move. 



That competition and cooperation can 

 go hand in hand was plainly shown at 

 the opening of the new store of James 

 Hayes, Jr., at Topeka, Kan. At the 

 right of the illustration of the interior 

 of the store, shown on this page, there 

 is seen a large and beautiful basket 

 filled with Premier roses. This was 

 sent to Mr. Hayes, with the compliments 

 and good wishes of the Topeka retail 

 florists and growers, at the time of his 

 opening the store. Quite a contrast to 

 the days, not so long ago either, when 

 the florist on one block thought that 

 the florist on the next block was his 

 sworn enemy, and acted accordingly. 



And Mr. Hayes did open a real 

 store. Located as it is in a town of 

 about 50,000, it is a store that would 

 rank with the best of them in a large 

 metropolis. In order properly to de- 

 scribe the well-chosen equipment of the 

 store, the thing to do is to start in at 

 the front windows and proceed to the 

 rear. The show windows are nine feet 

 deep, with a trellised mirror effect and 

 opening wide into the store. The floors 

 are of glazed, jet-black tile. The floor 

 in the store is of tile, easy to clean, 

 but bad to slip and fall on. The walls 

 of the store are of tapestry brick, built 

 eiglit feet in height, and of cream color. 

 Above this brick wall is a painted sur- 

 face. The lighting fixtures are of hand- 

 wrought bronze in quaint style. At 

 intervals in the brick wall are piers 

 which will be capped with large urns 

 of liedge plants. The interior, when it 

 is set with flowers, looks like a garden. 

 The display tables are topped with jet- 

 black opal glass. 



At the rear of the room is a stairway 

 leading up to tie well-equipped rest 

 room for the weary or waiting cus- 

 tomers. This stairway is cream-colored 

 and carpeted. On the main floor, under' 

 the balcony and behind the brick wall, 

 is the workroom aijd a new. department 

 of the store, handling bulbs. The whole 

 interior of the store is remarkably well 

 done and is a pretty sight. 



Third Store. 



This is the third move of the com- 

 pany. Thirty-five years ago, James 

 Hayes, Sr., established a greenhouse at 

 Seventeenth and Strong avenues. His 

 sales and deliveries were all handled 

 direct from the greenhouse. In 1890 he 

 branched out with a downtown store, on 

 West Eighth avenue, in an old building 

 which occupied the site of the present 

 Orpheum theater. The room was twenty- 

 five feet square. The downtown branch 

 was considered a decided venture at 

 that time. In 1913 the West Eightk 

 avenue store was abandoned, and another 

 "gamble" was taken in the moving to 

 819 Kansas avenue, where half of the 

 store was leased. Now comes the third 



move, to their present location, where 

 there is 2,500 square feet of space for 

 the display and workrooms. 



While James Hayes, Sr., was estab- 

 lishing a reputation for his flowers, 

 James, Jr., was growing up in the green- 

 houses. After spending five years in 

 the growing of plants and flowers, the 

 young man was given an interest in the 

 business. Seven years ago, the son 

 bought out the father's share. The 

 senior, who is now 74 years^of age, re- 

 tired from the business at the time that 

 his son took over the whole tiling. 



Opening Day. 



May 17, the opening day, is a day 

 that will long be remembered, not only 

 by the Hayes family, but also by the 

 general public. Everyone who stepped 

 into the store was given a rose. Over 7,- 

 000 roses were given away. Men, women 

 and children were all there. A crowd 

 of over 200 was waiting at the door 

 when the store was opened. A band 

 was playing catchy strains and every- 

 body was happy. In the line waiting 

 to get a flower was the wife of one of 



glad to see him on active duty once 

 more, even though it were only for a 

 flay. 



ONE DAY'S BUSINESS. 



One of those florists who are enthu- 

 siasts about telegraph business was 

 talking, in his shop in Pasadena last 

 week, about the florists' business in the 

 summer months in that wonderful city, 

 filled to overflowing with wealthy trav- 

 elers every day during the winter 

 months. 



' ' We are busy every day, thanks 

 largely to telegraph orders," he said; 

 "you would be surprised how many 

 telegrams we send from the transients 

 to the home folks, each greeting ' Saying 

 It with Flowers.' We have received as 

 many as twenty telegraph orders in a 

 (lay. Mothers' day was a sure indica- 

 tion of the continuance and the value 

 of this service to the retail florists of 

 the country. 



"But apart from the travelers, our 

 home trade is booming even now. Take 

 today as an example: Early this morn- 

 ing we sent a handsome basket of roses 



Interior View of the New Store of James Hayes, at Topeka* Kan. 



Topeka 's wealthiest oil producers, and 

 just behind her were two little pick- 

 aninnies. They all got flowers. 



James Hayes, Jr., was unable to be 

 present on account of illness, but the 

 many wishes of success and the numer- 

 ous congratulations, which almost every- 

 one in Topeka wanted to extend to the 

 popular proprietor, were well taken by 

 his father, whose many friends were 



to the daugliter of 'Lucky' Baldwin in 

 honor of the advent of his first grand- 

 child. At 2 p. m. we decorated for 

 a large dinner at the Flint Ridge Coun- 

 try Cluh; at ;5 p. m. we filled a large 

 family order for the funeral of a prom- 

 inent citizen and at 7 p. m. furnished an 

 elaborate wedding decoration at the 

 hotel. 



"Never before have we had the ex- 

 perience of all four happening in one 



