JVNB 9, 1921 



The Florists' Review 



23 



THE RETAIL STORE 



A PAGE OF HINTS AND HELPS 

 FOR THE RETAIL FLORIST 



SOMETHIKa NEW! 



The New York Evening Sun printed 

 the item below in its news columns the 

 other day, heading it, "Girl Bents 

 Bouquet to Impress Beau." The idea 

 is quite novel. Doubtless it exists only 

 in some joker's imagination: 



"That youDK woman that Just passed by the 

 shop rents a bouquet from me almost every 

 day," said the florist. 



"Rents a bouquet?" queried the customer. 



"Yes, she hires a bunch of flowers for an 

 hour or so nearly eviery day during the weelt," 

 continued the florist. "You see, when she is 

 having a man caller she seems to think that 

 it will make an Impression on him if she has 

 a bouquet delivered while he is present. After 

 he departs she returns the bouquet to me and 

 I sell it. I only charge her a small amount for 

 rental." 



BAEB SHOWS SIQ SHOE. 



If the old superstition about horse- 

 shoes bringing good luck is true, Julius 

 Baer, of Cincinnati, ought to be one of 

 the luckiest men in the world. Just look 

 at the illustration on this page and see 

 the tremendous amount of horseshoe 

 that surrounds him. Some idea of the 

 size can bo gained by the fact that Mr. 

 Baer, who is not a small man, seems to 

 be entirely lost in the decoration. This 

 large decoration and the baskets beside 

 it were some of the pieces which Mr. 

 Baer made up for the formal opening of 

 a new chain of clothing stores in Cin- 

 cinnati. 



SOME TELEGRAPH PROBLEMS. 



A Florist Tells Florists. 



Of so much importance is the busi- 

 ness policy of one retailer, not only to 

 his own business success, but also to 

 the advancement of the trade at large, 

 that the points raised in the letter 

 quoted below make it worthy of print- 

 ing in full here. It was addressed to 

 Henry A. Siebrecht, Jr., of Pasadena, 

 Cal., who states that the facts were as 

 given in the letter and who adds his 

 opinion that the trade will benefit by 

 perusal of it. The display mentioned is 

 one that has been made by retail florists 

 in many other cities, without, perhaps, 

 this unfortunate result. The letter 

 reads: 



"As an old-time florist in the east 

 and a resident of your lovely city for 

 the holiday and winter season, may I 

 be permitted to express my interest in 

 the publicity problem which you so un- 

 selfishly feature in your letter in The 

 Eeview of May 19? 



"I note also with pleasure the enter- 

 prise of your associates in tl\e city of 

 Los Angeles, where whole pages of the 

 leading dailies were used in behalf of 

 their business on Memorial day. 



"Much, as you say, of the advance- 

 ment in our profession depends upon 

 the character and influence of our ad- 

 vertising; the telegraph delivery de- 

 partment has wrought wonderful results 

 in the volume and harmony of the 

 trade's accomplishments. And the rec- 

 ord of Mothers' day, not only in the 



east, but also west of the Eockies, is 

 a perpetual inspiration. 'All one,' 

 you remember, is the motto of the New 

 York Florists' Club and ere long will 

 be applicable to every branch of this 

 wonderful enterprise, especially if one 

 may judge by the great progress made 

 in the telegraph delivery service. 



A Telegram Display. 



"Just after Easter this year, how- 

 ever, my attention was called to a some- 

 what novel style of advertising used by 

 one of the Pasadena florists which I 

 hardly think could meet with general 

 approval. I refer to the display of 

 some thirty telegrams, pasted on a dis- 

 play background, making public what 

 should be regarded as strictly confiden- 

 tial; this breach of etiquette and the 

 sacredness of trust should surely be 

 avoided. I shall illustrate by giving 

 you the facts in detail of this — shall I 

 say? — mistake, to put it mildly. 



"A gentleman walked by this flower 

 shop, saw the telegrams and read among 

 them one placing an order for a corsage 



to be delivered to Miss 



at one of 



the local hotels, giving price and send- 

 er's name. This gentleman called on 

 the lady and remarked, 'You received 

 a nice corsage from So-and-so,' at 

 which she was much surprised and natu- 

 rally at sea to know how this friend 

 knew all this. After a while he let the 

 cat out of the bag. Of course, this lady 

 was indignant and, you may be assured, 

 much surprised at the business being 

 carried out in such a manner. 



"This was not all. This lady called 

 at the shop and inquired about a cor- 

 sage the same as the telegram called 

 for, and the price given was just $4 

 less than the price on the telegram. 

 This certainly was a 'black eye.' 



Knock, Not Boost. 



"This matter should be brought be- 

 fore the members qf the trade, so that 

 they may be made awafJB that such ad- 

 vertising is not a booster but a knocker. 

 You know a great deal of trouble might 

 arise from such advertising. 



"All this is additional proof that 



Julius Baer and Hb Largest Horseshoe. 



