68 



The Florists^ Review 



JUM 15. 1922 



THE RETAIL STORE 



A PAGE OF HINTS AND HELPS 

 FOR THE RETAIL FLORIST 



IDEA FOR THE WINDOW. 



Many illustrjttions in the iiaf;os of 

 Tlie Eeview have an especial value in 

 their appropriateness. This is partieii- 

 laiiy true in the special numbers, such 

 as the Mothers' day number, the Me- 

 morial day number, etc. Jensen liros., 

 ;5.^.'?,') Lincoln avenue, Chicafjo, rejilizlnj; 

 that many of these illustrations api)eal 

 to the public, have formed the jilau of 

 ))()stin{j the illustrations at one side of 

 the display window. For instance, this 

 firm posted the brides' and bridesmaids' 

 I)ictures shown in the June bride num- 

 ber, June 1, and it attracted many to 

 the windows. 



JOGGING THE PUBLIC'S MIND. 



"Needles and pins; needles and pins; 

 when a man's married, his trouble l)e- 

 gins. " Let us liope not. But it is as 

 certain as night and day that when a 

 jnan's married, the anniversaries of 

 that event will take place at regular 

 .TGG-day intervals. This is interesting 

 to us as florists, because almost .'ill 

 wives like to be remembered on these 

 .annix'ersaries — with flowers. l-Towers 

 are always more than welcome from 

 "hubby." And "hubby" is often sin- 

 cerely glad to present flowers — if he 

 remembers the date. It is to the 

 trade's interest to hel]) him do the re- 

 membering or at least to incite the 

 faculties of memory. 



The Allied Florists' Association of 

 Chicago has been jogging the minds of 

 the public with advertisements that 

 are, in their seasonal ai)propriatcness, 

 pulling strongly for business. For in- 

 stance, in the Chicago Tribune for June 

 .") and the Chicago Evening I'ost for 



June G a 9-inch, double-column adver- 

 tisement appeared bearing the picture 

 of a bride and groom standing directly 

 above the following caption: "Whose 

 wedding anniversary comes this 

 month?" TTnder this in smaller type 

 was printed: 



T(i vdiir giioil friends, wliotlicr it !»■ tlie first 

 (ir (iltictli iiiiiiivcrs:ir.v, ailil .vonr upppeciation 

 111 tlii'ir liuppiiicss iliroiiKli ii rcinoiiiliruiice of 



Fliiwcrs will cull tip iniiiil th.it grentpst of 

 (lays their weildiiii; iliiy. Memories will live 

 when yitit 



■S.W ri' WITH FLOWKKS. 



At the bottom of the advertisement 

 was the interrogation, "Whose birtli- 

 djty comes in June?" surmounting a 

 calendiir for the month of June. 



This kind of advertisement keeps the 

 public thinking. When the public 

 thinks, it acts. 



NEWELL 'S MEMORIAL DAY. 



Memorial day wreaths are the stand- 

 by of the New England florist in the 

 business for May .30. But the popular- 

 ity of the wreath is not confined to the 

 states east of the Hudson rivCr. In fact, 

 it extends clear across the continent. 

 ]n Kansas <'ity. Mo., it is quite keen. 

 This year Arthur Newell, whose posi- 

 tion among the leaders in the trade in 

 that city is well known, found that 

 wreatlis made of oak and magnolia fo- 

 liage, decorated with gray statice and 

 the cape flowers of different colors, 

 were most popular. Such wreaths sold 

 re.-idily at frbm .$.") to $25. 



Those who iire going to Kansas City 

 next August to attend the S. A. V. con- 

 vention will be interested in the view 

 on this l>age of Arthur Newell 's store, 

 which is on the southwest corner of 

 Fleventh and McGee streets. In the 



Three Men and Many Wreaths Made a Banner Memorial Day. 



illustration will be seen the three men 

 who handled the extensive business in 

 wreaths at Memorial day and made up 

 all of them. The gentlemen are Fred L. 

 Horst, Warren T. Spain and Joseph 

 Haley. 



COMPUTING RENTS. 



Some florists pay so much a month to 

 the landlord as rent for the store they 

 occupy, while others own both ground 

 and building. The latter are apt to de- 

 ceive themselves in the matter of rent, 

 unless they include in their calculations 

 the same items for which the landlord 

 is responsible in case the property is 

 leased. In order to secure a propef 

 comparison between the rent paid by a 

 florist who leases his store and the rent 

 calculated by a florist who owns his 

 own property, it is necessary to include 

 taxes, rei)airs, insurance and deprecia- 

 tion on the building, rather than to en- 

 ter these items under expense headings. 

 Interest on a mortgage on the property 

 should also be entered as a part of the 

 rental and not as interest on capital 

 borrowed. One method of estimating 

 the proper amount to charge as rent 

 when both the land and buildings are 

 owned is to compute a fair allowance 

 for interest on investment in land and 

 buildings used in the operation of the 

 business and to add to this sum the in- 

 surance, taxes, repairs and deprecia- 

 tion on this real estate. 



In case the florist owns the building 

 he occupies, but ground rent is paid, 

 the amount of the latter shouM be 

 .added to the taxes, repairs, insurance 

 and dejireciation on the building and 

 interest on capital invested in the build- 

 ing, to obtain a comparable rent figure. 

 If a florist leases his store on an ar- 

 rangement whereby he, and not the 

 landlord, pays taxes, repairs and in- 

 surance, the items so paid should be 

 added to the computed rent, since they 

 are juiyments nuide in lieu of rent. 



GLAD HAND OR COLD SHOULDER? 



When a customer enters your store, 

 does he feel welcome or does he expe- 

 rience the sensations of an intruder in 

 .'I jirivate icebox? Is he made to feel 

 like an individual, a human being, or 

 does he become in your place of busi- 

 ness a buying, uninteresting unit, one 

 (if the many nonentities that come for 

 the purpose of consuming the supply? 

 Are you interested in him, as well as in 

 the jirofits resulting from a possible 

 Bale? In other words, liow do you meet 

 the stranger within your doors? 



It is absolutely accurate to say that 

 each retailer has his own jiersonality. 

 It is cither a natur;il gift or a natural 

 hindrance that must be "tuned up" to 

 be a possession of value. If he is a 

 natural-born mixer he is especially for- 

 tunate, but there are many persons who 

 from youth to manliond liave found it 

 difficult to meet others. But this class 

 of people is quickly recognized and, by 



