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AT THE HEAD OF at 

 Mr THE PROCESSION 



In the matter of stores — architecture, arrangement and appearance — no 

 line can claim precedence of the florists' trade. So fast are improved stores 

 being erected by members of this profession that no one can be said to 

 lead the rest, but that recently opened by Samuel Murray, at Kansas City, 

 is certainly close to the front. 



i 



VEEY retailer's pride is 

 his store. Although one 

 man may have advertising 

 as his hobby and the next 

 man a particular service 

 of one kind or another, 

 advertising and service, 

 no matter what kind, are 

 subsidiary to the store. 

 The successful sellers of 

 flowers are not satisfied with increased 

 sales, larger profits, or the outdistanc- 

 ing of competitors. They are not mere- 

 ly after more money. Their minds are 

 on building up the business, and they 

 have learned that the way to get more 

 out of a business is to put more into 

 it. And the best form of investment 

 for them is an up-to-date store. 



Hence the large number of first-class 

 stores that are going up all the time. 

 One does not have to 

 consult building statis- 

 tics, one has only to 

 read The Review, to 

 know how generally 

 and how constantly the 

 replacing of old stores 

 by improved ones is 

 proceeding. 



The New Type. 



Although flowers and 

 plants are everyday 

 bread - and - butter to 

 them, florists appreci- 

 ate their beauty and 

 the fact that it is 

 through their beauty 

 that they appeal to the 

 public at large. They 

 realize, furthermore, 

 that flowers make the 

 strongest impression in 

 the most fitting sur- 

 roundings. Therefore, 

 the old idea that a 

 counter, an icebox, a 

 supply of wax paper 

 and some folding paper 

 boxes constituted a 

 flower store, no matter 

 where, why or how lo- 

 cated and housed, is as 

 dead as the Lawson 

 carnation — and may it 

 rest in peace! 



Business for archi- 

 tects has resulted. Flo- 

 rists have turned to 

 them for advice, and 

 found in them a means 

 of carrying out ideas 

 that had- occurred in 

 the course of years of 



business. They have in turn received 

 suggestions, and between florist and 

 architect there have been erected stores 

 that far excel those of any other line 

 of business. The conveniences fur- 

 nished patrons by the million-dollar de- 

 partment stores do not greatly surpass 

 those of some of the latest florists' 

 establishments. So far as decorations 

 and furnishings are concerned, some of 

 the flower stores are ahead. 



A store of particularly excellent ap- 

 pearance is that of Samuel Murray, at 

 1017 Grand avenue, Kansas City, Mo. 

 Mr. Murray has spent over a quarter of 

 a century in the retail business in 

 Kansas City. His store was located 

 at 1017 Broadway for about twenty 

 years. Then for five years he was at 

 913 Grand avenue. Now he has a 10- 

 year lease on the property at 1017 



View in the New Store of Samuel Murray, at Kansas City. 



Grand avenue, which Mr. Murray says 

 is the best location in town for a flo- 

 rists' shop. In addition to the splendid 

 store, he has the basement under the 

 entire building. 



In speaking of the store, Mr. Murray 

 says: "Eealizing fully that the greater 

 part of our lives is spent in the shop 

 at work, I am doing all I can to make 

 it beautiful and convenient for those 

 who have been faithful and loyal to 

 me these many years." In this, Mr. 

 Murray has quite succeeded. 



The architects began with the idea 

 of an Italian garden, which they con- 

 sidered to be popularly conceded the 

 most charming place in which to see 

 flowers. Their task was, therefore, to 

 put such a garden indoors. An idea 

 of the general result is best gained 

 from the various views of the interior 

 given herewith, as a 

 description of words 

 can only present one 

 detail at a time. 



The Walls. 



The walls are cov- 

 ered with a 7-foot 

 wainscoting of bufl: 

 brick. This brick has 

 a rough, rain-washed 

 surface, which, laid 

 with big, gray, rough 

 joints, gives quite the 

 effect of a weather- 

 stained garden wall. 

 Several of the illustra- 

 tions serve to show 

 liow admirably this 

 background sets on: the 

 flowers. All around the 

 store, just at the top 

 of the brick wainscot- 

 ing, was placed a 

 heavy shelf, painted 

 white. How to finish 

 the wall above the 

 wainscoting presented a 

 problem to the archi- 

 tects. After experi- 

 menting, they arrived 

 at the present finish, 

 which fits in exceeding- 

 ly well with the gen- 

 eral scheme. The wall 

 was blocked off with 

 wood strips, painted in 

 =!of t yellows and 

 browns, and sanded 

 with coarse sand while 

 the paint was fresh. 



The large show win- 

 dow, which presents a 

 •harming view both in- 



