The Florists^ Review 



JCNE 4, 1914. 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



THE LAW ON STORE FIXTURES. 



Tenant's Rigbt to Remove Them. 



The holding of the Minnesota Su- 

 preme Court in the case of White En- 

 amel Refrigerator Co. vs. Kruse, 121 

 Minnesota Reports 479, that a florist's 

 refrigerator, caused to be erected in a 

 storeroom by a tenant, was a "trade 

 fixture" removable by the tenant, and 

 not such an improvement or permanent 

 fixture of the building as to entitle the 

 installing seller to enforce a mechanic's 

 lien against the premises, raises inter- 

 esting legal points concerning florists' 

 fixtures. 



This decision was based by the court 

 largely upon the ground that it ap- 

 peared that, although the refrigerator 

 was a large one, weighing from 4,000 

 to 6,000 pounds, it was readily remov- 

 able without injury to the building, and 

 that it was impliedly understood be- 

 tween the owner of the building and 

 the florist that it would be removable 

 as a "trade fixture" on termination of 

 the lease. On these points the court 

 said: 



An Implied Agreement. 



"In the terms 'of the lease, » • « 

 we find no indication that it was the 

 intent of the parties that the property 

 should be the property of the lessor. 

 It was not specifically mentioned in the 

 lease; but it was a proper installation 

 for a flower store, bearing, we might 

 say, the same relation thereto that the 

 soda fountain bears to the soft-drink 

 refreshment parlor. It must, therefore, 

 be classed with the necessary fixtures, 

 * * * all of which, under the terms 

 of the lease, were clearly regarded by 

 the parties as trade fixtures, as dis- 

 tinguished from the wall decorations, 

 floor covering, balcony, etc., which the 

 lessor undertook to furnish; it being, 

 furthermore, expressly stipulated in the 

 contract that 'said balcony at all times 

 is to be considered as the property of 

 the lessor,' thus indicating that the 

 installations to be made by the lessee 

 were not to be so considered. More- 

 over, is it reasonable to assume that the 

 lessee intended to make the lessor a 

 present of so expensive a structure at 

 the end of the term, even though the 

 same was for a long period, when the 

 parties so carefully stipulated to whom 

 the balcony was to belong?" 



Summary of Legal Principles. 



By numerous decisions of other ap- 

 pellate courts of the country, the fol- 

 lowing principles have become a part 

 of the law of trade fixtures: 



In determining whether articles in- 

 stalled in a building by a tenant are 

 removable by him as trade fixtures, 

 the intention of the parties and the 

 question whether they have been phy- 

 sically annexed to the real estate are 

 the principal factors, intention being 

 controlling. The right of removal 

 may, of course, be controlled by ex- 

 press agreement between the parties, 



without regard to whether the fixtures 

 are physically attached to the building. 

 But when the intent of the parties is 

 not manifest, the tenant's right of re- 

 moval must rest upon the question 

 whether the fixtures are removable with- 

 out substantial injury to the building. 

 But it is generally held by the courts 

 that when the right of removal exists, 

 the tenant must exercise it during the 

 term of the lease; that is, he cannot, 

 after surrendering possession at the end 

 of the term, reenter the premises to take 



inference drawn will not be to the 

 credit of the florist even though it may 

 be merely that the orthography of his 

 clerks has escaped attention. 



Bouquet for the Maid of Honor. 



away fixtures, though they might have 

 been removed during the lease term. 



S. 



HINTS FOR RETAILERS. 



Most retailers arrange cut flowers in 

 baskets with nothing but water in the 

 tin liners, but if the tin is first packed 

 full of some such material as dry wild 

 smilax stems roughly broken up in the 

 hand, it will be found a great aid in 

 arranging the flowers and will insure 

 their staying where they are put. 



To sell baskets of flowers, it is nec- 

 essary to show them made up. A retail- 

 er who was getting no business when 

 he merely showed the materials, found 

 that as soon as he showed the baskets 

 filled with flowers they began to selL 

 His problem then became one of get- 

 ting people into the store. 



Those of the public who patronize 

 florists usually are of the better class — 

 they are likely to be people of more 

 than average education. Such people 

 are sure to note it if they are billed 

 for a "boquet" of "lillies, " and the 



FOR THE MAID OF HONOR. 



For the maid of honor who wears 

 yellow on the occasion of the happy — 

 for the other girl — ceremony, the bou- 

 quet shown in the illustration on this 

 page is an excellent one. Sunburst roses 

 are the flowers used, with some adian- 

 tum mixed in. The tie is of white satin 

 ribbon and is veiled with yellow crepon. 

 The effect is certainly a good one, and 

 the bouquet makes a handsome armful 

 for the maid of honor. This is the w»rk 

 of H. B. Dorner 's class in floral arrange- 

 ment at the University of Illinois and 

 was shown at their exhibit at Urbana 

 recently. 



MEMORIAL DAT. 



This is a big country, and many dif- 

 ferent things take place in it, but the 

 same story of Memorial day is told all 

 over that section of America where 

 May 30 is an important flower day. 

 And it is a story of disappointment! 

 Never before has Memorial day so 

 failed to come up to anticipations. 

 Seldom does a holiday produce reports 

 so unanimous. The trouble lay in the 

 sudden arrival of midsummer. It was 

 hot everywhere. 



That Memorial day has become the 

 largest flower consuming day of the 

 year is apparent even amid the tales 

 of disaster concerning last week's busi-' 

 ness. That Memorial day would have 

 been a record breaker had weather con- 

 ditions been normal is almost as uni- 

 versally reported as any other feature 

 of the week's business. The high heat 

 everywhere had two bad effects: In 

 the first place it made the supply of 

 stock far greater than had been antici- 

 pated; and in the second jdace it de- 

 stroyed the quality. The large supply 

 of florists' flowers destroyed values, 

 while the abundance of garden flowers 

 cut down the normal retail demand. 

 Even at that there was tremendous 

 business. If flowers had possessed 

 keeping qualities there would have 

 been no complaint because of the quan- 

 tity of stock on sale; one way or an- 

 other, it would have been marketed. 

 The heat was responsible for the losses. 



The New England retailers, whose 

 policy of pushing magnolia wreaths 

 trimmed with artificial flowers has been 

 under discussion, make more cheerful 

 reports than come from any other sec- 

 tion. They did a big business with 

 the artificial affairs and encountered no 

 complaints, which, in their eyes, justi- 

 fies the policy. But it is interesting to 

 note that here and there one hears of 

 department stores entering the field. 

 Those florists who locally popularized 

 the artificial Memorial day wreath may 

 now find the business being taken away 

 from them by those who can afford 



