22 



The Florists^ Review 



NOVEMBBB 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 lo make plans Id iiu'ct tlio 

 turned tide wlien tlie occasion came in 

 their own business. A number of in- 

 stances might be cited of florists, alive 

 to the situation, who took steps to in- 

 crease their sales effort, 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 tlu-v 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 re]iort u 

 larger sales tcdal than in 192(1. The gain 

 is not great — a matter of a few per cent. 

 But the mere fact of being ahead, in- 

 stead of with the bemoaning backslid 

 ers, is of tremendous encouragement. 

 Their explanation of such good fortune 

 is various: A few give credit to un- 

 usual local conditions; some to the nat- 

 ural push of a young firm not yet at- 

 tained its growth and consetpiently 

 nmcli more active in going after new 

 business than an established one; most, 

 however, tell of more extensive adver- 

 tising and greater sales effort. With 

 the increasecl activity in this direction 

 go, of course, closer attention to collec- 

 tions. Customers whose cre(lit is not so 

 good as formerly must be brought to an 

 underst;iii<liiig sdoner tli;in formerly. 

 Accounts on whi(di the ordin.arv collec- 

 tion i)rocedure of the florist have failed 

 to jiroduce results must be turned over 

 to an agency or lawyer earlier than >ised 

 to be usual. I'urcdiases and expenses Mie 

 watched with more cire, and employees 

 arc c.xpecled to give more attention to 

 those things wliicli will iiiake more sales 

 and to those whicdi will diminish the 

 outgo. The florist who would meet the 

 new coiulitions takes his workers into 

 his confidence sometimes and an exjilan- 

 ation of affairs is invariably ]>i-oduc- 

 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 a])pearance ot 

 the shop, the attitude of the florist and 

 his helpers toward ])ersons who come in 

 to buy, the matter of merchandising and 

 the ini|n'ovement of service that bring 

 the customer back. All these are im])or- 

 taiit and may be made to yield more 

 business, each of them a littl(>. Of 

 course, greater use of judnters' ink is 

 necessary, mostly in the use of the local 

 newspa])ers. Definite offers of plentiful 

 stock at ])rices attractive to the i>ublic 

 and still yielding the fbirist a ])rofit can 

 be emi)loye(l to marked advantage this 

 season. 



Florists who lia\e taken .action to 

 maintain their sales anil piofits with 

 suidi methods as these find their Thanks- 



NEW COLUMBUS STOEE. 



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 

 AIcKellar 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 

 .■iO,000 population known as Newton 

 comprises a number of districts to which 

 individual names are sometimes ap- 

 ]ilied, among them Newtonville, West 

 Xewton, Newton Center, Newton 

 Highlands, Newton Upper Falls, New- 

 ton Lower Falls, Chestnut Hill, Auburn- 

 dale, Kiverside, Oak Hill, Waban, El- 

 liot and Nonantum. All of these are 

 suiiplied by the Newton Rose Conserva- 

 tories, of which R. C. Bridgham is the 

 ])roprietor. The twelve greenhouses of 

 the concern are in the center of the 

 city, in wh.at is known as Newtonville. 

 Newton is not far from Boston and de- 

 liveries are made in it as well as its 

 suburbs near Newton. 



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



