APRIL 7. 1921 



The FIcMrists* Review 



15 



THE RETAIL STORE 



A PAGE OF HINTS AND HELPS 

 FOR THE RETAIL FLORIST 



HANDLING COMPLAINTS BY MAIL. 



Handling a dissatisfied customer is 

 not easy. It is harder by mail than in 

 person. If a customer is face to face 

 with him, the florist can state his side 

 of the case easily and meet the facts 

 presented as adroitly as is possible. Not 

 so by letter. But complaints by mail in 

 this trade might be much more easily 

 handled than they are if florists had the 

 skill that has come to others as the re- 

 sult of long practice. Here are the most 

 important points, according to a man 

 so skilled, in handling dissatisfied cus- 

 tomers by correspondence. It will pay 

 all florists to give them consideration. 

 They are: 



Avoid hostility. 



Avoid delays; if you cannot reply 

 fully immediately, write anyway and 

 promise information later. 



Give your decision in the first words 

 of the letter; don't hold it to the last. 

 Be hearty in everything, not grudging. 



Be just to yourself as well as to your 

 customer. 



Don't be merely liberal. Stand up 

 for your goods. Don 't let customers get 

 a low idea of your estimate of your 

 goods by being too liberal in replacing. 



And finally, be human. 



TAKING STIB OUT OF EASTER. 



That the holiday hurry is not a neces- 

 sary part of Easter business was demon- 

 strated this year at the retail store of 

 the Miller Floral Co., Salt Lake City. 

 On the day before Easter the store was 

 filled to overflowing with customers, 

 but there was not the least confusion 

 in any department. 



Mr. Miller decided last Easter, when 

 he found it necessary for his store crew 

 to work all night to fill orders, that 

 something should be done. It was not 

 only the working all night that both- 

 ered him, but the fact that when the 

 time came to fill the orders, many items 

 had been sold a half dozen times. This 

 was especially true of cut flowers. The 

 salesmen had been selling flowers from 

 the same vase all day, with the conse- 

 quence that when it came to filling the 

 orders a great many substitutions were 

 necessary. 



The store March 26 showed that his 

 efforts had surely been rewarded. Two 

 packing and wrapping tables had been 

 installed, large enough to accommodate 

 four wrappers. As soon as a customer 

 had made a purchase, the salesman took 

 the flowers or plant, together with in- 

 voice and card, to one of the wrappers. 

 The goods were immediately packed in 

 the presence of the purchaser. If the 

 order was to be delivered that day, the 

 packer took the package to the route 

 man as soon as it was packed. The man 

 in charge of the delivery divided the 

 city into four sections and used one 

 truck for each section. As soon as he 

 received the package from the wrapper 

 he routed it and placed it in one of the 

 four stalls provided. As soon as a 



driver came in from a trip he fouiior a 

 load waiting. Without the least/eon- 

 fusion he was_>bki to reload his wagon 

 and start;f<ylf againylf the ^ ordj 4- was 

 not ^ tJe delivered uirtit''fKe following 

 day the packer iced it and placed it in a 

 large storage icebox built for the pur- 

 pose. It was left in this icebox until 

 early the next morning, when it was 

 delivered. 



Prices of everything in the store were 

 in plain sight of the buyer. Special tags 

 were made for the cut flower vases. On 

 these tags were the name, the grade and 

 the price of each item. Pot plant labels 

 were printed and each pot contained a 

 tag giving the price. 



The whole system worked like a well 

 oiled machine. When 10 p. m. came the 

 doors were locked and everybody was 

 ready to go home. 



Mr. Miller has been highly compli- 

 mented on his new system. He feels 

 well repaid for the effort he put forth 

 to perfect it. G. J. B. 



DENVER'S NEW STORE. 



The Rockmont Opens. 



Two of Denver's progressive young 

 men, long well known to the florists of 

 the country, Herbert A. Clausen and 

 Carl L. Gross, recently formed a part- 

 nership, incorporating under the dis- 

 tinctive title, "The Eockmont for 

 Flowers. ' ' 



Mr. Clausen was for many years a 

 member of the firm conducting the 

 America Flower Shop, of Denver, while 



Mr. Gross was witli the Alplia Floral 

 Co., of Denver, for some fifteen years. 



The location selected for the new 

 store is in the Ideal building, at 821 

 Seventeenth street. It is the only flo- 

 rists' store on tliis street. 



The store has been entirely rear- 

 ranged and decorated, at considerable 

 expense, and presents a most attractive 

 sight. The street frontage is seventeen 

 feet, with one large display window, 

 thirteen feet wide, and on the alley side 

 another window, fifteen feet wide. The 

 height is about twenty feet, affording 

 splendid space for display. 



Interior Features. 



As one steps inside the store, he is 

 pleased by the soft, restful color. The 

 walls are finished in a beautiful French 

 gray, tiffany, with a small border of 

 green, purple and blue in water colors. 

 The ceiling has a white background, 

 with panels of Moorish design done in 

 water colors. 



On the right of the store, about half- 

 way down, is a beautiful display icebox, 

 with an electric drop light, whi«h can 

 be turned on and off from both the store 

 and the workroom at the rear of the 

 store proper. 



In the rear of the store is a large cir- 

 cular balcony, with large posts, which 

 can be used for the display of large 

 ferns and palms. This balcony is 

 reached by an iron stairway, done in old 

 copper, and in the rear of it is the office 

 and rest rooms. 



In the store on the left, across from 

 the icebox, is a beautiful corsage table, 



Part of Crowd of 7,000 Which Visited This Denver Store on Opening Day. 



