JUNB 26, 1914. 



The Florists' Review 



9 



THE MODERN 3g 

 ig FLOWER STORE 



The appearance of his store is the mark by which the enter^r 

 prising: and progressive spirit of the Retail Florist is measured 



ROGEESS is the watchword 

 of the florists' trade, and 

 in nothing is this more evi- 

 dent than in the furnish- 

 ings and equipment of its 



retail stores. In no respect 



does the florist take second place in 

 the matter of store appointments and 

 decoration. Improvements find their 

 way into his store as quickly as into 

 the swellest specialty shop in any other 

 line, and frequently you find the flo- 

 rist setting the pace for all the mer- 

 chants of his town. 



This is most obvious in our large 

 cities, where new ideas are soonest 

 heard of and the extent of the busi- 

 ness affords the greatest expenditure 

 for innovations. But the retailers in 

 the smaller cities and in country ' towns 

 cannot be called behind the times, for 

 they usually lead the storekeepers 

 of their locality. The modern flower 

 store is a feature in Oskaloosa, la., 

 with its population of 10,000, as well 

 as in New York or Chicago. 



The Store Front. 



The first evidence of the progressive 

 and up-to-date storekeeper that pre- 

 sents itself to the casual passer-by is 

 the store front. If it is at night, a 

 big, but well proportioned and artistic 

 electric sign is prob- 

 ably the first thing to 

 catch his eye. In the 

 daytime the attrac- 

 tion of big display 

 windows, effectively 

 decorated, draws his 

 eyes and, not improb- 

 ably, his feet toward 

 the florist 's store. 

 Quiet colors, in keep- 

 ing with the general 

 tone of the place, add 

 to the store's appear- 

 ance from the street. 



Should he enter the 

 modern flower store, 

 this passer-by will find 

 no step, either up or 

 down, to slow his 

 footsteps. A door 

 that yields readily, "to 

 his touch admits -^m 

 to the retailer's shop 

 before he is given any 

 opportunity to hesitate 

 from his first impulse. 



Tiala Interior. 



The grocer, the 

 butcher and the hard- 

 ware man may plan 

 their store interiors 

 for personal conven- 

 ience, but the florist 

 arranges his for effect 

 — on the customers. 

 To this end a general 



tone predominates, quiet in color and 

 simple in effect. For this, floor, walls, 

 ceiling and fixtures are all given 

 thought and consideration beforehand. 

 Wooden floors are practically obso- 

 lete in the flower shop; linoleum is 

 still used for necessity, but up-to-date 

 floors are wanted for the modern store. 

 Tile, mosaic and terrazzo are becoming 

 common, and compositioa floors, laid 

 either in tile or monolithic form, are 

 coming into use. By means of these 

 last, colors can be used in the floor and 

 made to set off the flowers, as well as 

 the furnishings of the place. Then, 

 too, their good qualities — durability, 

 cleanliness, comfort underfoot, etc., 

 recommend them to enterprising store 

 owners. 



Walls and Ceiling. 



More and more are mirrors of plate- 

 glass being used to line the lower walls 

 of flower stores. The appearance of 

 spaciousness thus given seems a de- 

 sirable feature to their owners. But 

 there are many stores without them, 

 and in these, the use of quiet, prevail- 

 ing colors gives an equally good re- 

 sult. The furniture and fixtures are 

 of one color and match the ornamental 

 beams of the ceiling, where they are a 

 part of the architecture. The portions 



New Store of the Kemble Floral G>., Oskaloosa, Iowa 



of the walls and ceiling not covered by 

 these are all of one color, invariably 

 lighter than that used for the lowet 

 parts. 



The use of indirect lighting has made 

 it necessary to have the ceiling almost 

 a pure white, at least a cream. It is 

 rarely, however, that the sunlight is 

 so bright in a florist's store that so 

 light a tint will be found objection- 

 able. The uniform and subdued illumi- 

 nation given by this method of light- 

 ing is, on the other hand, such an ad- 

 vantage in the display of stock and 

 adds so much to the appearance of 

 the room that its use must become 

 more and more general. Other im- 

 provements in lighting and light fix- 

 tures also find a ready appeal to the 

 progressive retailer. 



Fixtures. 



Every storeman has his own ideas 

 on the arrangement and selection of 

 the fixtures in the modern flower store, 

 and each has his own good reasons to 

 back those ideas. There are, how- 

 ever, certain general tendencies that 

 are growing year by year. One that 

 began some time ago is the elimination 

 of the counter. Yet the counter still 

 clings in some stores and there are 

 salesmen who would feel lost without 

 something between 

 them and their custom- 

 ers. The counter may 

 serve well as a pro- 

 tection from an angry 

 customer, but it is a 

 barrier just as well 

 when the customer is 

 not angry, perhaps be- 

 fore he is a customer. 

 In these latter stages 

 it would be better to 

 do away with any- 

 thing that serves to 

 hold the patron and 

 salesman aloof, and, 

 so far as angry cus- 

 tomers are concerned, 

 these are presumably 

 so few in the modern 

 flower store as to be 

 negligible. 



In the place of 

 counters, tables, few 

 and far between, will 

 serve. Wall cases and 

 refrigerators are bet- 

 ter than display coun- 

 ters to exhibit wares 

 and stock. Chairs for 

 customers to sit on 

 are better than coun- 

 ters for them to lean 

 upon, and take up less 

 room, and the roomier 

 the flower store the 

 better. All the fix- 

 tures should match^- 



