TT^3H| TV.-^.'^i V ■■ .v -^V 



Jui-v 10, 1913. 



The Florists^ Review 



DOLLAR BOXES and sg 

 Mf SUMMER SALES 



UEING the slack summer 

 months the enterprising re- 

 tailers are on the lookout 

 for special sales ideas to 

 keep moving as large a vol- 



ume of business as possible. 



One of the best that has been devised 

 is that of dollar boxes. Many florists 

 use these boxes to draw business the 

 year around; some make them a regular 

 line, but others only advertise them as 

 bargain attractions for certain days. 

 When there is a superabundance of 

 stock on the market, par- 

 ticularly of roses, carna- 

 tions, and the like, the 

 boxes may be made up and 

 sold at a fair profit. On 

 the other hand, if the line 

 is made a permanent one, 

 the florist may be forced to 

 make up his dollar boxes 

 with little profit when 

 prices are high. But in the 

 summer, when business is 

 slack and flowers plentiful 

 and cheap, this objection 



i will not arise. 



The retailer who wishes 



I to use this means of keep- 

 ing up his trade in the hot 

 months may handle it in 



[ either of two ways. He 

 may make it a special sum- 

 mer feature and run it 



Istraight through the months 



I of July and August, adver- 

 tising it broadcast as a 



[summer bargain, or he may 

 use it only on occasional 

 •lays, either those of his 

 own choice, as they go by, 

 or for a fixed day of each 

 week. 



I Necessity of Advertising. >v 



j In any case the necessity ^ 

 of advertising will be the <. . 

 same. Strong advertising V 

 in the best local paper is 



111 u°^^ means of making 



I the boxes a paying proposi- 

 tion. Florists located on 



I'^usy streets in the large 



jcities can draw many cus- 



Itomers from those passing, 



|by means of attractive win- 

 dow display. Perhaps they 

 can catch enough business 

 tbat way to be able to make 

 *°® "dollar boxes a success 

 Without using the newspapers, but those 

 ^n ^".{''^^"nately situated must depend 

 i^pon the newspapers to advertise tha 

 aoxes. Anyway, the quickest method is 

 r ."s®. ,^ strongly designed or at least a 

 T^eu Illustrated advertisement in the 

 Best paper of the town. It not only will 

 Fpread the news of the oflPer among all 

 Pid customers but bring it to the at- 



Innvi*'" • ™*°y ™o''e besides. The ac- 

 rompanying illustration shows a particu- 



KnL u'^'^S advertisement used Te- 



KL%5' ^«^« ^^?^% «f Los 

 "geies, Cal., to advertise his dollar 



boxes. The original was four columns 

 wide and ten inches deep. A designed 

 advertisement like this, made from a 

 pen-and-ink drawing, catches the eye 

 and clings in the memory better than 

 almost any arrangement of type alone 

 would do. 



Usually one of the most important 

 items to put in a conspicuous place in 

 an advertisement of this kind is the 

 telephone number. A good many re- 

 tailers depend only a little on the ac- 

 tual callers at the store. The number 



Satur 4 A>f 

 Special 



electe 



perlti 

 resented 



ai6 W- 6»>» St 



of customers who make their purchases 

 in person, with many stores, is only a 

 small per cent of the whole. Th^ florist 

 makes a name for himself through his 

 goods or his advertising — presumably 

 both — and the customers give their or- 

 ders over the telephone, leaving the 

 details to the good taste of the florist. 

 It is of the utmost importance, there- 

 fore, that an advertisement bringing no- 

 tice of a new feature and biddiag for 

 a ik«« oH^tele should have the tele- 

 p)M>Ae ttttiuVer is a most noticeable posi- 

 tion. A line or two, in addition, call- 



ing attention to the telephone and de- 

 livery service of the establishment will 

 not be misplaced. 



Window Displays Bring Business. 



Although the larger part of the ad- 

 ^vertising of such a feature as dollar 

 boxes probably must be through the 

 newspapers, a good deal can be accom- 

 plished by means of attractive window 

 displays, A few boxes made up in the 

 most pleasing style and placed in~"the 

 foreground of the window display wilK 

 draw attention to the spe- 

 cial feature. Cards bearing 

 appropriate inscriptions will 

 add to the effectiveness of 

 the display. 



The flowers used will, of 

 course, be those which are 

 most plentiful at the mo- 

 ment. Almost anything can 

 be used, except that garden 

 flowers, like asters, must 

 not predominate. Boses 

 and carnations are the sta- 

 ples, of course. One of the 

 special advantages of the 

 dollar box is that it offers 

 a means of disposing of 

 short-stemmed flowers. The 

 number to the box depends 

 entirely upon the kind, 

 quality and cost of stock 

 available and varies from a • 

 half-dozen to two or three 

 dozen. If good Beauties 

 with short to medium stems 

 are used, the number, need- 

 less to say, will approach 

 the former; if short Killar- 

 neys cut from young stock, 

 such as are plentiful just 

 now, make up the box, the 

 number may be the latter. 

 In summer the Killarneys 

 probably form the bulk of 

 the boxes. Sweet peas, snap- 

 dragons, carnations, pan- 

 sies, violets, mignonette, 

 daffodils, jonquils, stevia, 

 etc., are used for variety 

 during their seasons. The 

 enterprising florist will 

 make endless combinations. 



Keeps Business Moving. 



The primary advantage 

 of the use of dollar boxes 

 is that it keeps stock mov- 

 ing and gives employment 

 to members of the store force who 

 would otherwise be idle. Aside from a 

 certain amount of funeral work there is 

 not much doing in the hot months. The 

 store must be kept going, however, and 

 employees are still getting wages. It is 

 only good business that the investment 

 should be made to yield as much as pos- 

 sible, and, moreover, it is highly de- 

 sirable to keep the people in the habit 

 of buying flowers as regularly as pos- 

 sible, even though the margin of profit 

 upon the business is not large. The 

 profit upon dollar boxes it not great, 



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