68 



The Florists'' Review 



November 24, 1921 



-Thg florists whose cards appear on the pages carrying this head, are prepared to fill orders 

 ""' from other florists for local delivery on the usual basis. "" " 



A Message to Memphis; an F. T. D. 

 Order for West Tennessee, Arkansas, or 

 Mississippi and parts of Alabama - -Wire 



IDLEWILD 



GREENHOUSES 



TWO 

 STORES 



Main Store 

 89 S. Main St. 



Branch Store 

 234 East St. 



Then Idlewild Flowers—First Quality— plus all the 

 Artistry of Idlewild Floral Designers, and Prompt 

 Service completes your customer's message to 



^^Say It with Flowers" 

 Idlewild Flowers 



W. H. ENGLEHART, 

 President and Manager 



Memphis, Tennessee 



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PRICES AND PROFITS 



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WHAT INFLUENCES THE PRICE. 



Facts Backed by Figures. 



The subject I have taken as the basis 

 of this article is so coiiiiiionly abused 

 and so little understood that the lack 

 of information regarding it is almost 

 inconii)rehensible. 



Whenever two men meet, you will 

 always hear the (]uestion or remark: 

 "How are tlic ])ricesf" I have heard 

 so many discussions about prices that I 

 liave come to the conclusion that we 

 sliould know a little more about them. 

 Those discussions were always about 

 prices that a certain class of our trade 

 should jj;et, l)eing the growers, wliolc- 

 salcrs or retailers, without taking into 

 consideration the ease with which price 

 is influenced by circumstances over 

 which we have, as yet, no control. 



Factors in the Subject. 



There are, in my opinion, two factors 

 which control the i)rices of our product. 

 To sliow how lightly the subject of 



I'iipor prcsontt'tl tiy Jon(>I)Ii Knliont on "Tho 

 Prici' 1111(1 Whnt Infliicnct's It," at the irn'oting 

 of tlio ("onT>icr(iiil Flower Growers of C'likaKo 

 NoTembcr 17. 



l)rices is taken generally, let mc relate 

 a conversation with three different men 

 of tliree brandies of our trade. Speak- 

 ing about jirices to a grower, I asked 

 him if he could name me two main 

 factors that control the price of his 

 ])ro(luct. ''Surely," he said, "the 

 wholesaler and the retailer." Asking 

 the s.-ime question of a wholesaler, lie 

 named the retailer and the supply. 

 The retailer answered, "The wholesaler 

 and the cost of doing business." 



By the foregoing you can form some 

 idea of liow widely different arc the 

 views which we entertain regarding tho 

 most imi)ortaiit end of our profession 

 anil, in my o))inion, how ignorant. I mean 

 to discuss this subject entirely from the 

 growers' standiioint. As I have said 

 before, I consider that there are two 

 lu.'iin factors controlling our prices; 

 n.amely, the sui)j)ly and the demand. 

 The ambition and hope of us all, is to 

 get a fair price at all times as the 

 fruits of our labor. By fair price I 

 mean the price of production together 

 with interest on our investment. I can 

 vividly recollect a conversation I liad 

 with a member of our organization 

 about two years ago, when I was pre- 

 siding officer. Mums liad taken a slump 



in price and that menibor upbraided nie 

 for not doing something to get better 

 j)rices. I asked him these questions: 

 ''Are there manv mums in the mar- 

 ket f" His reply was, "Yes." "Are 

 they selling or moving?" He replied, 

 ''Neither." How in the world do you 

 expect to get jirices up when you, 

 yourself, know there is an oversujiply 

 and no deinaml? I rej)lied, "What have 

 you done to boost the demand and cut 

 down on the supjily?" "That is not 

 my part of the work to <lo; let the whole- 

 saler and the retailer do it," he came 

 back ;it me. Now, this point of view 

 was general (I say was because there 

 is some improvement to be noticed 

 among our members) with the growers. 

 Fellow members, we cannot hope to 

 bring the i)rice of flowers to any sub- 

 stanti.'il and fair basis without master- 

 ing the aforementioned two factors. 

 Tliere is a division of opinion on this 

 jioint among the leaders of our trade. 

 It is almost universally admitted that 

 we must work up a better demand for 

 flowers in order to get better prices. 

 But I ask you, is that enough? I have 

 not yet been convinced that the su])ply 

 has not as much to do with prices ;us 

 the demand. These two are insepar- 

 able dictators of price and nothing 

 more. 



Cross Section of Other Trades. 



I^et us look into another business 

 dealing in perishable commodities closely 

 related to our standard and see what 

 means they arc employing to bring a 

 fair jirofit for their product. We will 



V. 



