22 



The Florists^ Review 



NOVKMBBB 24, 1021 



giving day survey of the season pleas- 

 ing, and celebrate the day in sincerity. 

 If you are not among them, the refer- 

 ences to their activities in this article 

 may be enlightening and helpful. 



Looking in the Window^ of New Columbus Store. 



rists the time to make plans to meet tlie 

 turned tide when the occasion came in 

 their own business. A number of in- 

 stances miglit be cited of florists, alive 

 to the situation, who took steps to in- 

 crease their sales eifort, to make new 

 customers to replace those ■who they 

 knew would cease to be flower buyers. 

 Not in one case, but in a number, did 

 florists double their advertising appro- 

 priation of 1920, though some of them 

 were liberal in that year. And by spe- 

 cial offers and constant reminders in 

 their local newspapers were they able 

 to maintain their sales total, in dollars, 

 at the figures of the preceding year. 

 This meant, in every case, a consider- 

 ably larger amount of stock handled. 



Fortunate. 



Some fortunate florists even report a 

 larger sales total than in 1920. The gain 

 is not great — a matter of a few |)er cent. 

 But tlie mere fact of being ahead, in- 

 stead of with the bemoaning backsliil- 

 ers, is of tremendous encouragement. 

 Their explanation of such good fortune 

 is various: A few give credit to )in- 

 usual local conditions; some to the nat- 

 ural push of a young firm not yet at- 

 tained its growth and consequently 

 much more active in going after new 

 business than an established one; most, 

 however, tell of more extensive a<lv('i- 

 tising and greater sales effort. Witli 

 the increased activity in this direction 

 go, of course, closer attention to collec- 

 tions. Customers whose credit is not so 

 good as formerly must be brought to nn 

 understanding sooner tlmn formerly. 

 Accounts on which the ordinary collec- 

 tion procedure of tlie florist have failed 

 to ])roduce results must be turned over 

 to an agency or lawyer earlier tliiin used 

 to be usual. Purcliases and exjienses are 

 watched with more care, and empldvees 

 arc expected to give more attention to 

 those things which will make more sales 

 and to those which will diminish the 

 outgo. Tlie florist who would meet tiie 

 new conditions takes his workers into 

 his confidence sometimes and an exjiian- 

 ation of affairs is invariably prod ac- 

 tive of results. 



Most important of all, however, is 

 the investment in sales effort. By this 

 is meant, not only the expenditure of 

 money for various forms of advertising, 

 but also the attractive aiipearance ot 

 the shop, the attitude of the florist and 

 his helpers toward persons who come in 

 to buy, the matter of merchandising and 

 the improvement of service that bring 

 the customer back. All these are impor- 

 tant and may be made to yield more 

 business, each of them a little. Of 

 course, greater use of printers' ink is 

 necessary, mostly in the use of the local 

 newspa])ers. Definite offers of plentiful 

 stock at ))rices jittractive to the ])ublic 

 and still yielding tlie florist a profit can 

 be employed to marked a<lvantage this 

 season. 



Florists who have taken action to 

 maintain their sales and profits with 

 such methods as these find their Thanks- 



NEW COLUMBUS STORE. 



New flower stores are becoming the 

 rule in Columbus, O., and the latest firm 

 to establish new quarters is McKellar's. 

 The new shop is in the James theater 

 building, at 35 West Broad street. A 

 view of the exterior and one of the in- 

 terior are here shown and some idea of 

 the arrangement is gained by a good 

 look at these. These pictures were 

 taken by the Columbus Dispatch and 

 were run in two Sunday papers in con- 

 junction with a half-page advertisement 

 for the opening of this store. 



The refrigerators used in this store 

 are two standard refrigerators of the 

 A. L. Randall Co., which add much to 

 the beauty of the store. This store's 

 success is due to the efforts of James 

 McKellar and J. W. Thompson, who re- 

 cently became a partner in the business, 

 which Mr. McKellar carried on in the 

 smaller quarters at 22 North High street 

 for many years after leaving the Fifth 

 Avenue Floral Co. The old High street 

 store is now being run in conjunction 

 with the West Broad street store and 

 the firm will continue to operate two 

 stores for some time. 



Newton, Mass. — The city of nearly 

 50,000 population known as Newton 

 comprises a number of districts to which 

 individual names are sometimes ap- 

 plied, among them Newtonville, West 

 Newton, Newton Center, Newton 

 Highlands, Newton Upper Falls, New- 

 ton Lower Falls, Chestnut Hill, Auburn- 

 dale, Riverside, Oak Hill, Waban, El- 

 liot and Nonantum. All of these are 

 supplied by the Newton Rose Conserva- 

 tories, of which R. C. Bridgham is the 

 jiroprietor. The twelve greenhouses of 

 the concern are in the center of the 

 city, in what is known as Newtonville. 

 Newton is not far from Boston and de- 

 liveries are made in it as well as its 

 suburlis near Newton. 



Interior of the New Store of McKellar's, at Columbus, O. 



