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The Florists' Review 



Mabch 4. WiZ. 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



FEAST'S FLORAL BUST. 



For Washington 's birthday, 8amuel 

 Feast & Sons, of Baltimore, displayed 

 in the window of their store, at 331 

 North Charles street, a bust of George 

 Washington composed en,tirely of nat- 

 ural flowers, the work of Charles F. 

 Feast, which kept a crowd before the 

 store all the time it was on exhibition. 

 How lifelike it was, can be seen from 

 the accompanying illustration. The 

 lifelike color of the face, however, can- 

 not be shown. This was produced by 

 the use of tulip petals, from shell-pink 

 to orange-brown in color. The wig was 

 of southern moss and Koman hyacinths, 

 the coat of violets, the ruff of lilies antl 

 the background of galax leaves. Eight- 

 een tulips, six lilies and 500 violets were 

 used. The picture was four by five feet 

 and stood on a rustic easel, framed in 

 smilax and draped with an American 

 flag. 



DONE IN DULUTH. 



Four years ago the Duluth Floral 

 Co., Duluth, Minn., took over the busi- 

 ness of Eischen Bros., and remodeled 

 the store at 121 West Superior street. 

 Oliver J. Eischen was one of the mem- 

 bers of the new firm; the other was 

 Edw. P. Kreimer, whose energy, in- 

 stilled into the business, contributed 

 largely to its subsequent success. By 

 constant and careful attention to all 

 the details of the business and with 

 the stimulus to trade given by the at- 

 tractive appearance of the remodeled 

 store, a large and high-class trade was 

 built up. 



As may be seen from the illustra- 

 tions, the store, both in its exterior 

 and interior arrangements, ranks with 

 those in the largest cities. There is 

 ample room for display in the two large 

 windows, and the fringes, so to speak, 

 of evergreens across the front, under 

 the sign and along the top, lend a dis- 

 tinctive touch. 



The panoramic view of the interior 

 shows the general arrangement of the 

 store looking toward the large conser- 

 vatory. The display refrigerator is 

 6K'x20 feet. There is also an auxiliary 

 storage refrigerator 7x7 on the main 

 floor and a storage cooler 10x17 in the 

 large basement. The semi-indirect light- 



ing system adds to the appearance of 

 the room, giving a soft tone that is 

 particularly advantageous in a flower 

 store. 



The large assortment of baskets and 

 supplies indicates the extent of the 

 business and makes a showing that com- 

 mands the attention of customers. The 

 sales and delivery force of the store is, 

 in normal times, twelve j)ersons. 



THE PREVENTION OF WASTE. 



Economy in Displajring Stock. 



Kconomy in the display window is of 

 vast importance. In no other depart- 



Feut's Floral Mosaic Bust. 



ment of the store can stock be so en- 

 tirely wasted as in the display window. 

 If we were to follow the example of 

 the European florists, we would have 

 display refrigerators for our show win- 

 dows, from which stock could be soM 

 and in which various designs, etc., 

 could be perfectly preserved until sold. 

 This feature is advantageous, for when 

 a patron can see a design completely 



finished he is at once induced to pur- 

 chase, whereas from a clerk 's descrip- 

 tion or from a photograph it is much 

 harder to make a sale, because at the 

 best there is only a vague idea in the 

 mind of the patron as to how the de- 

 sign in question will actually look 

 when finished. Since American florists 

 have not yet adopted this splendid 

 custom of the florists across the water, 

 we must do the next best thing, and 

 our tlecorators should bear in mind that 

 cut flowers must be arranged in water 

 as far as possible and that the stems 

 should be kept of sufficient length to 

 be salable at any time through the 

 day; in this way stock can be used 

 directly from the window. 



Charged to Advertising. 



The display windoNv is one of our 

 best advertising mediums, for hundreds 

 of people pass it every day. It is also 

 an indicator as to the kind of store 

 and stock that one may expect to find 

 within. Therefore a record should be 

 kept of the materials and stock which 

 are put into the window, and if there 

 be any loss, it may rightfully be 

 charged up to advertising, for a good 

 display always increases sales. 



Often we run across decorators who 

 refuse to sell directly from the win- 

 dow, but this should not be, for it is 

 much more profitable to be compelled 

 to rearrange one's display twice a day 

 and actually dispose of the stock than 

 to have it remain intact and unsold 

 for days at a time, a A^eritable picture 

 of stagnation. 



A File for Accessories. 



Putting accessories away carefully 

 after one has. used them in the window 

 is always important, and this applies 

 just as much to vases, baskets, silks 

 and placards as it thses to cut flowers 

 and plants. All kinds of signs can be 

 used again and again if carefully 

 wrapped and filed in an alphabetically 

 arranged sign repository, which should 

 be made large enough to accommodate 

 the cardboard ones as well as the pli- 

 able window stickers, for the extensive 

 use of the fancy printed and colored 

 signs is expensive. 



When plants are used thej^ should be 

 so arranged as to permit a thorough 



Panoramic View of the Interior of the Store of the Duluth Floral Co., Dulutht Minn. 



