The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



July 23, 1908. 



Store of S. Hoffmaiit Boston. 



staying in the evening after 6 o'clock, 

 until such is released by the person in 

 charge. 



(15) Each shall take his turn at extra 

 Sunday work and remain on duty until 

 released by the person in charge; 50 

 cents will be allowed for overtime on 

 Sunday. 



(16) In every ease sign your name 

 to delivery sheet before turning it over 

 to the person sending you out. 



(17) Place order sheet No. 2 in spe- 

 cial aluminum book, which book must 

 be returned, as you are required to leave 

 on deposit $1.50 to pay for same in case 

 you should lose it. 



(18) Should you not be able to find 

 the street or address by order sheet, never 

 return at once, but call us up by Home 

 Phone, 1806 Main, or Bell Phone, 2991 

 Grand, and we will advise concerning 

 same. 



A BOSTON STORE. 



This is the season at which the retail 

 florist begins to agitate his thinking ap- 

 paratus with the subject of changes to 

 be made in his store during the summer, 

 in preparation for the busy autumn. 

 House-cleaning in many lines of business 

 is in May, but with the retail florists 

 July and August are the months chosen 

 for brightening things up in anticipation 

 of renewed activity in selling. For this 

 reason retail florists in the early summer 

 pay many visits to those similarly en- 

 gaged in other cities, for the purpose of 

 gathering fresh ideas on the subject of 

 retail flower store arrangement and deco- 

 ration. 



Boston is well worth visiting by any- 

 one who is interested in modern retail 

 flower stores, for it has a number which 

 are excellent examples of their kind. One 

 of the newest is that of S. Hoffman, on 

 Massachusetts avenue at the corner of 

 Commonwealth. This is one of the best 

 sections of the city and the store is a 

 credit to the neighborhood. Mr. Hoff- 

 man is one of the young men who have 

 carved their own way in the flower busi- 

 ness. Starting with practically nothing, 

 he has built up for himself a trade which 

 justified the maintenance of a first-class 

 establishment. He was one of the first 

 in the matter of automobile delivery, and 



his showy car has been an excellent ad- 

 vertisement during the season which has 

 passed. 



It was less than five years ago that 

 Hoffman opened a small store at 925 

 Boylston street. A little later he se- 

 cured the store which had been occupied 

 for six years by Norton Bros., but after 

 two years there he found that he needed 

 additional space and last season removed 

 to his present location. 



Several years ago Mr. Hoffman ac- 

 quired greenhouses at Cambridge, where 

 he turns out much good stock, having had 

 exceptional results this season. 



Keferring to the tendency of some re- 

 tailers to go slow in the matter of in- 

 creasing their facilities, and of course 

 their expenses, Mr. Hoffman says that 

 immediately upon opening this new store 

 his trade began to increase at what was 

 a really surprising rate and that his 

 venture has been fully justified. It has 

 been a somewhat quiet season in Boston 

 this year, but he is fully satisfied. 



A TIMELY REMINDER. 



The Confidence of Customers. 



The majority of the retail growers of 

 the country are men who depend on a 

 local business. Their transient trade, in 

 most instances, does not amount to 

 much, and in order to be successful, 

 whether you have competition in your 

 town or locality or not, it is necessary to 

 know the business, to act upon the square 

 and to show a constant desire to satisfy 

 the customers — to give them their full 

 money's worth every time and be as 

 much concerned in regard to the success 

 with whatever plants they may buy as 

 they are themselves. There are but few 

 people who do not appreciate these atten- 

 tions, and those who do not are not 

 wanted as customers. 



It is, or should be, a real pleasure to 

 fill an order for a customer whose con- 

 fidence you have, and to continuously 

 strive to keep it assures success; and he 

 who can make the greatest number of 

 his customers believe that their orders 

 receive the best attention, will be most 

 successful. The days when it was just 

 a matter of finding ways and means by 

 which one could obtain a big price for 

 something not worth it, are over. 



Misrepresentation means the ruination 

 of any business, and there is at least as 

 much room for this in the florists' busi- 

 ness as in any other. And much of this 

 misrepresentation is unintentional, as, 

 for instance, in the retail seed stores, 

 where during the rush months a lot of 

 inexperienced help has to be employed 

 to wait on customers. When a lady is 

 informed that a cobsea is a hardy climber, 

 that hollyhocks will bloom in June from 

 seed sown in May, or that a Paul Ney- 

 ron rose will bloom all summer, all this 

 is doing a great deal of harm to the busi- 

 ness. I have often wondered whether 

 it would not pay the big seed houses to 

 maintain in their stores during the very 

 busy season an information bureau. It 

 would only take one good man, who in a 

 few words could answer all the many 

 questions which come up daily, and 

 thereby avoid a lot of misunderstanding 

 and bad feelings. 



One 'Way of Winning Confidence. 



The object of this article is to call 



Store of S. Hoffman, Boston. 



