34 



The Rorists^ Review 



Sbptkmbeu 29, 1921 



Estebllshed 1897, 

 by G. L. Orant. 



PablUhed every Thursday by 

 The Flokists' Publishing Co.. 



600-560 Oaxton BulIdInK, 



908 Soath Dearborn St., Ohicago. 



Tel., Wabash 819B. 



BefHstered cable address, 



FlorTlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3, 1897, at the post-oflBce at Ohl- 

 cafiTo, lU.. under the Act of March 

 3. 1879. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

 To Canada, $3.00; to Europe, $4.00. 



Advertising rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising accepted. 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings re.sults. 



Waic liiis come to the front this season 

 as one of the best liked red gladioli. 



No man is justified in shipping stock 

 he would not bt; willing to receive if he 

 were buying. 



What has become of all the beer kegs 

 that are not busy now? Why, bless you, 

 sawed in two and painted, they make 

 everlasting plant tubs. 



Flower shows are coming back. An- 

 other 'result of realization that we must 

 go to the public with our wares, not wait 

 for buyers, to come to us. 



American Beai'ty will be little seen 

 in the wholesale markets this season.. In- 

 troduced in tliis country thirty-five years 

 ago, it has lasted far longer than any 

 other rose. 



A WINDOW or store crowded with mer- 

 chandise lias a cheap appearance- -wit- 

 ness the 5 and 10-cent stores. Fewer 

 flowers well arranged will give an atnios- 

 jthere more in kcejiiiig witli our trade. 



Cki'SADKK gains friends every day. It 

 is i)ractically the only red rose now .<?ci'n 

 in some of the wliolesale cut flower mar- 

 kets and its onlv important competitor 

 liny where is Milady, a rose that does well 

 only for a tew. 



From all accounts, tlie cyclamen crop 

 is between hay and grass. Those who 

 needed stock to grow on have pretty well 

 satisfied their demands and those who 

 want stock in condition for retailing have 

 not yet begun to place orders in volume. 



There is a lot of heartburn over the 

 (luality of the carnation ])lants which have 

 been shipped this season. A good many 

 buyers do not understand that quality 

 stock is scarce and too many .sellers have 

 taken advantage of the shortage of good 

 stock to work off plants they would not 

 have thought of shiitping in preceding 

 seasons. 



The condition of some plant shipments 

 on arrival at destination is due either to 

 the sender's carelessness or to something 

 else. Some of the senders of such ship- 

 ments are not new and unpracticed hands 

 in the trade. Though one would rather 

 believe the reason is carelessness, there 

 is occasional suspicion of something else. 

 Too general mispicion of this character 

 ■will ultimately have its reactioiL 



Florists' merchandise will sell itself 

 if given a chance. Arrange the stock 

 in your store so that it looks attractive 

 to you and it will be inviting to custom- 

 ers. 



Leading merchants in New York are 

 promoting a fortnight of activity, to be 

 called "Buyers' Weeks," early in No- 

 vember. Their example, if successful, 

 might well be followed in retail lines 

 in other cities. 



Travelers will have a breathing space 

 between the Toronto meeting and the 

 convention of the Tennessee State Flo- 

 rists' Association at Chattanooga. It has 

 been postponed a week. The new dates 

 are November 1 and 2. 



Florists sometimes regret that their 

 merchandise lasts no longer than it does, 

 but there are times when it is an advan- 

 tage. They now have no hold-over stock 

 from a preceding season, on which to 

 take a loss by reason of fallen prices. The 

 seedsmen are less fortunate. 



"Did you ever watch a fly trap?" 

 The question was by George Wienhoeber, 

 recognized as one of the shrewdest of 

 Chicago flower merchants. "Bait it well 

 enough and flies will find their way in, 

 even though they can not find their way 

 out again. Apply that reasoning to flower 

 store fronts and you will decide the show 

 window is more important than the en- 

 trance." 



GOING TO TORONTO? 



There are more than the usual reasons 

 for attending the convention of the 

 Florists ' Telegraph Delivery Association 

 at Toronto October 11 to 13. 



It is the first time the association has 

 ,met in Canada, and the florists across 

 tlie border are planning to spread them- 

 selves as hosts. A $5,000 fund has been 

 the goal of those raising the finances. 

 An afternoon and an evening for pleas- 

 ure have been wheedled away from Sec- 

 retary Pochelon, who is all for business, 

 and generous entertainment will be pro- 

 vided. Thirty years ago, in 1891, 

 Toronto acted as host for the S. A. F. 

 The Canadians endeavor to make the 

 trigesimal visits of florists from the 

 Tiiited States memorable ones. 



There will be ample discussion of re- 

 tailers' business problems. This meet- 

 ing, the first of three days' length held 

 by the association, is laid out with the 

 intention of covering a good number of 

 outstanding questions of first impor- 

 tance. What ones are to be dealt with 

 may be learned from a perusal of the 

 |ireliminary program, printed on another 

 ]iage of this issue. 



I'lans are being nia<le to provide for 

 from 1,000 to 1,2.50 visitors. If the 

 res])onse is as expected, the meeting will 

 he a notable one in the annals of this 

 rajiidly growing organization. 



ENGELMANN'S COMPARISONS. 



Carl Engelmann, the carnation sjie- 

 cialist of Saffron Waldeii, Fssex, Eng- 

 land, whose visit to this country a year 

 ago will be recalled, makes "The British 

 and American Florist" the tlieme of a 

 liighly interesting article in the July 

 issue of the Florists' Bulletin, the organ 

 of the British Florists' Federation. 

 While crediting the United States with 

 being the El Dorado of the specialist, 

 the land of standardization and mass 

 jiroduction, he does not hesitate to assert 

 that Great Britain appears "to have 

 some better individual growers than 



there are in the United States." Wlui,. 

 Americans are a long way ahead of his 

 countrymen, according to Mr. Engcl 

 mann, is in the important matter nt 

 flower culture. The American grower, to 

 start with, has greenhouses better 

 adapted to his needs than the British 

 grower's are, and he keeps the lead be 

 cause "the wholesaler or commission 

 man of the United States handles th^ 

 flowers more carefully and does noi 

 waste so much as his brother in Grea' 

 Britain." Finally, the greatest diffei 

 enee lies with the retail florist. In h'. 

 country, says Mr. Engelmann, there ai 

 too many flower sellers and not enougi 

 florists in this branch of the industr^ 



SELLING SERVICE. 



That 49 cents of every dollar tli' 

 American consumer pays for goods re]i 

 resents the cost of service, was brought 

 out in a statement issued by Represent 

 ative Sydney Anderson, chairman oi 

 the joint congressional commission oi 

 agricultural inquiry. The moral whicli 

 his remarks carry for florists is that om 

 public is one willing to pay for nioic 

 than just the value of the commodity it 

 buys. If it be flowers, the actual cost 

 of the blooms is not so important as the 

 way they are sold and delivered to tliu 

 buyer. 



"Merchandising," said Mr. Anderson, 

 "consists largely of selling the consumer 

 what he wants when he wants it and 

 making him pay for it. A witness be- 

 fore the commission recently put the 

 elements of merchandising in the fol- 

 lowing order: First, the exact article 

 or the exact type of goods desired or 

 that will ultimately satisfy; second, a 

 pleasing environment and a pleasing, 

 dependable quality of service; third, 

 quality of merchandise, and last, price. 



"This viewpoint is fairly typical of 

 merchandising today. Goods are sold 

 not so much by offering a price as by 

 offering service, convenience, dependa- 

 bility, reputation, credit. The consumer 

 pays for all of this, as well as for what 

 everybody does not know about running 

 his own business. It is like the invisible 

 tax — easy to pay because it is not n\> 

 parent, camouflaged in the price. In 

 general, 37 cents of the consumer's do! 

 lar represents the cost of producing the 

 article and the cost of the material that 

 went into it; 14 cents rejn-esents all 

 jirofits and 49 cents the cost of service. 



Give your customer service that is 

 worth what you ask, and then charge 

 for it. 



EASTERN FLORISTS, NOTE. 



Readers prefer to buy of advertisers 



near home. As The Review has more 



subscribers in New York and Pennsyl- 



\ania than in any other two states 



(Ohio is third), it is natural that fln- 



rists and nurserymen in the east who 



make their offers known in this paper 



get sjiecially good results. Like this: 



Our recent art brought results, so now we will 

 try another. — Edward J. Moail & Sons, West 

 Webster. .\. Y., September 18, 1921. 



If you hear a man complain of the 

 cost of .'idvertisiiig, you c;ui be jiretty 

 certain he spends a good bit of money 

 elsewhere than in The Review. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



C. M. W., Neb.— Coleus was faded be 

 yond recognition upon receipt. Seiiil 

 another specimen, packed well, under 

 sjiecial delivery postage. 



