68 



The Florists' Review 



JCNB 8. 1922 



THE RETAIL STORE 



A PAGE OF HINTS AND HELPS 

 FOR THE RETAIL FLORIST 



FLOWEBS FOB OBADXJATES. 



Common Sense Says So. 



A good quarterback on a football 

 team watches for the weak points in the 

 opposing line and, when he has found 

 % point of vantage, his team smashes 

 through. It does not require a great 

 stretch of imagination to view the 

 many activities of the florists' trade 

 as BO many different football games, 

 with lines to be broken through, yards 

 to be gained and goals to be made. And 

 in these games it is always good gen- 

 eralship and clear thinking that counts. 



One of these "games" is the flowers- 

 for-commencement combat. And mis- 

 guided public opinion has made the op- 

 posing line here a difficult one to break 

 down. Time was when a graduation 

 exercise, whether in grammar school, 

 high school or college, without flowers 

 "was not." But in some way or an- 

 other some people developed the idea 

 that flowers at a commencement — espe- 

 cially at high school or grammar school 

 — showed favoritism for some and 

 rather slighted others. These same 

 people even went so far as to think that 

 all the girls on the programs should 

 wear uniform dress. But these ideas, 

 cutting out the spirit of individuality 

 and competition so characteristic of 

 the American school girl, can not last 

 long. 



Whose Business Is It? 



It is the florists' business to see that 

 his produce is not black-balled at any 

 commencement exercise. The public 

 can be taught how to congratulate the 

 girl graduate with flowers. How can it 

 be donet 



When a girl graduates, there are sev- 

 eral parties most keenly interested: 

 Her father, her mother, her sister, her 

 brother, her aunts, her cousins, her un- 

 cles, her circle of friends and her sweet- 

 heart, or "goof," as the up-to-date 

 flapper calls him. All these are pro- 

 spective customers and good ones. By 

 obtaining the list of prospective gradu- 

 ates, the florist can mail out specially 

 written postcards suggesting the appro- 

 priateness of sending flowers to the ex- 

 ercises for the girl to be graduated. 

 These cards would, of course, be ad- 

 dressed to the parents or, if any of the 

 relatives are known, a card in their mail 

 boxes in good time might mean an 

 order. And if the girl 's sweetheart — 

 every high school girl thinks she has 

 a sweetheart — can be placed, he will 

 respond to the idea of flowers with a 

 vim. Then, too, the whole mailing list 

 can be profitably circularized, with the 

 idea in mind that each regular cus- 

 tomer may have a friend about to grad- 

 uate. 



It is a wise idea to keep in mind 

 that the telephone is not only a receiv- 

 ing instrument. A number quickly 

 found in the telephone book can be 

 phoned and an order may be landed 

 right there. Other business men are 



using the telephone to make many of 

 their sales. And a tradesman who takes 

 enough interest to let his customers 

 know when there is something "spe- 

 cial" on hand, is going a long way in 

 building up his trade. For commence- 

 ment business the telephone should 

 prove invaluable. 



Aiming for Besnlts. 

 Every successful florist knows the 

 pulling power of the local paper. How 

 much value the space taken in the pa- 

 per will bear depends to a great ex- 

 tent on the way the copy for the ad- 

 vertisement is written. A well worded 

 advertisement, topped, perhaps, by a 



jiuiiiiiiMiinrirMiiriMtiiiiiMiiiiiiiHriiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiililMHiniiiMMniliitiiiiiii^ 



k 



GRADUATION 



This is her day of 

 Commencement. 



Add to her happiness. 

 Remember her mark of 

 accomphshmcnt and con- 

 gratulate her with flowers. 



MEMORIES WILL LIVE 

 When Vou 



J(Dhose Birmday orJJnniversmy in JmS f 



JUNE— The month 

 of flowers, when 

 they are plentiful 

 and molt reaaona- 

 bly prioed. 



IIIIIIMIItltlllllMMMtllllMIMIMIIMIItllllllllHIIIIMIIIMIIIIIIIninMMIIIMIMIIIIIIIMit. 



Chicago Advertises for Commencement. 



picture of a girl graduate bearing a 

 bouquet, will have its appeal to readers, 

 while a poorly made up space will tend 

 to drive customers away. 



Cooperative advertising, becoming so 

 popular at all the big flower days of the 

 year, has tremendous power in develop- 

 ing this commencement business, and 

 in many cities not a June passes but 

 what some advertisements, similar to 

 the one shown on this page, are run. 

 By cooperating, the cost to the individ- 

 ual is comparatively small and the re- 

 sults to all generally prove large. The 



advertisement here shown was run by 

 the Allied Florists' Association of Chi- 

 cago. It is quite neat, and, as can be 

 seen, includes a suggestion advocating 

 flowers for birthdays. It is often easy 

 to kill a couple of birds with one stone, 

 but the particular occasion, successful 

 advertisers flnd, should always be prom- 

 inently featured. Most people can think 

 actively of only one thing at one time. 



The attraction of the display window, 

 rightly directed, is found invaluable 

 in selling flowers for the graduates. 

 For the outfitting of the windows there 

 are many known ideas and many that 

 can be originated by the individual, 

 such as miniature girls in caps and 

 gowns bearing corsages; life-sized fig- 

 ures with life-sized corsages amid a 

 profusion of pennants and class col- 

 ors; well-worded placards explaining 

 the appropriateness of flowers for the 

 occasion. These and many others 

 search out the desires of the passer-by. 



Why not make this a commencement 

 for the flowers f 



AN AD ON WHEELS. 



Commonplaceness quickly develops 

 in the streets of the busy metropolis, 

 where every person, actively bent on a 

 particular duty, finds but little time to 

 let his mind wander to the many side 

 issues that are presented daily. Inno- 

 vations seem to age rapidly and a new 

 building, a new store, a new pavement, 

 a new style of wearing apparel — all 

 these and many others are briefly noted 

 and just as quickly forgotten. To the 

 keen advertising mind of the humming 

 city comes inevitably the problem of 

 getting an idea that will make the 

 public "sit up and take notice." 



The Louise Flower Shop, of Wash- 

 ington, D. C, has an advertising idea 

 that goes right out into the public and 

 gets its applause. A negro midget, uni- 

 formed, with brass buttons and high 

 silk hat, drives a tiny automobile, 

 brightly colored, about the streets. On 

 cither side of the car is the name of 

 the shop. This spectacular novelty, 

 scurrying up the streets and down, pre- 

 sents such a curiosity that it has be- 

 come the talk of many adults and the 

 delight of the children, who, as it is 

 well known, are most influential in mak- 

 ing their parents "look." 



By such means the name of the Lou- 

 ise Flower Shop is constantly presented 

 to the public in many places and makes 

 many acquaintances and new customers, 

 the conclusion being that a shop so 

 wide-awake must be a good place to get 

 the "latest in flowers." 



INTEODUCINQ THE SEASON. 



For every season of the year there is 

 a characteristic atmosphere. In this 

 sense advertising should be "sea- 

 sonal." A cozy fireplace on a spring 

 advertisement, a field of flowers on a 

 Christmas advertisement and other such 



