December 9, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Revkw^ 



21 



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THE POLICY 



,^ OF PRICES p 



FOX FEARS 'TIS FOLLY. 



[The address of Charles Henry Fox before thft 

 Florists' Club of Philadelphia, December 7, 

 1909.] 



My subject to-night will be : " The 

 Follies of 1908, Will They Be Eepeated 

 in 1909-10?" 



It is highly probable that this title 

 has an air of familiarity about it, for I 

 believe it is a billboard term, but never- 

 theless this negative subject that I have 

 chosen may help us as florists; I would 

 rather say, brother florists. 



After all, gentlemen, we are one and 

 the same, and the names we are known 

 by, growers, wholesalers and retailers, 

 are terms designating the little corner we 

 fill in the great game. You and I are 

 neither independent nor dependent, but 

 we are inter-dependent. The one who 

 says he is independent commits the worst 

 folly of 1909, and I hope you will not 

 find him in 1910. 



The Oft Committed FoUy. 



Primarily a folly is the act of a fool. 

 In order to succeed and advance our 

 bujsiness we must not be fools. No one 

 would commit the folly of selling old 

 stuff for fresh these days. No grower 

 would purposely leave his carnation 

 range closed up at night, when he should 

 carry an abundance of air and a pipe; 

 yet there is the folly of cutting the crop, 

 shipping it the next day to the whole- 

 saler, who in turn sells it to the retailer 

 the next day, or the next, as if they just 

 came in; and the retailer in turn sells to 

 his customer as they just came in; and 

 the customer comes back the next day 

 to complain that they were not fresh! 

 Were they? Do we depend on each other? 

 No one will question that. Are the fol- 

 lies of one the follies of all? This sub- 

 ject truly concerns all of us; we are a 

 cosmic whole; what affects one affects 

 the other, directly and indirectly. We 

 do not know where it stops. 



Life is but a change and we as florists 

 must change with it. What was O. K. 

 five years ago will not go today. Our 

 customers are changing; they demand 

 more, better goods, better service, intel- 

 ligent service. I think I have a fine 

 •side light on this subject. 



What are gifts, anyway? What can 

 flowers be used for? Why are not more 

 ot them used at Christmas and on every 

 occasion? 



What We SeU. 



Someone has said flowers are "frozen 

 music." Now, there is hurdy-gurdy 

 music and grand opera music. Each has 

 us use, but be careful you do not supply 

 custom^ ^"^'"'^^ kind to a grand opera 



We sell impressions, sentiment and 

 sympathy. 



Flowers properly used can form any 

 expression you desire and will reach the 

 sternest business man as well as the most 

 cultured and refined woman. 



Every birthday should be garlanded 

 ^nn flowers. 



Every anniversary should be honored 

 with flowers. 



Married folks, as well as single, 

 should remember St. Valentine's day and 

 send flowers. 



A Thanksgiving table looks a hundred 

 per cent better if flowers are used on it. 



But these sales cannot be encouraged 

 as long as the public considers flowers 

 extravagant and almost as a prohibitive 

 luxury. We must get rid of these impres- 

 sions, and the time to do it is when they 

 want flowers. Have you ever stopped to 



and unload to your customer at the high- 

 est possible price. Catch the dubs that 

 want flowers for Christmas and soak 

 them good and hard. You think they 

 have to have them, but they don't. 



They are ready at this lioliday time to 

 spend their money for gifts. All fall 

 you have led them along from cosmos 

 and dahlias to chrysanthemums, violets 

 and orchids. You sold these at a profit 

 and pleased your customers, the whole- 

 saler and yourself. You have spent 

 money, lots of money, in advertising to 

 bring the buyers to your store, but now 

 with your 300 per cent advance you un- 

 dermine the good you have done all fall; 

 undermine all y*fur advertising, all your 

 catering. 



The Result. 



All your good ideas are wasteu energy. 

 Instead of leading up to Christmas and 

 seizing the psychological moment to per- 

 suade your customers to buy flowers for 

 Christmas gifts, and use flowers in con- 

 nection with all other gifts, you turn on 

 the cold water spigot and give them a 



o 



Charles Henry Fox. 



think of the wonderful possibilities of 

 the business we represent? Into what 

 the business can be developed? What 

 we must do to correct errors in order to 

 develop t 



The Greatest Error. 



One of the greatest of the errors is 

 the extortionate prices at Christmas. No 

 matter how good or how poor a season 

 we have had, or what the outlook for the 

 midwinter and early spring social season 

 may be, it is "Wait xor Christmas." 

 Lay back, store the stuff, salt it down. 



chill that they do not get over for three 

 or four weeks, with your extortionate 

 prices. 



And for what, gentlemen? One day. 

 This one day ruins a whole month's busi- 

 ness. You can not wipe it out of peo- 

 ple 's minds. They will not go near a 

 flower shop unless absolutely compelled 

 to. When you turn on this cold water 

 spigot they do not get over it in three 

 or four weeks, or a year. They ma^ get 

 over the chill, but the effects of the high 

 prices at Christmas show themselves 



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