22 



The Weekly plorists^ Review^ 



Decbmbeb 9, 1900. 



throughout the year, and you lower their 

 vitality as buyers of flowers. And when 

 you turn it on again at the next flower 

 season, be it Christmas, Easter or 

 Thanksgiving, you gradually give them 

 consumption and they leave you alto- 

 gether. 



Why, it is a yearly occurrence that for 

 a week before, and three or four weeks 

 after, Christmas the first remark a cus- 

 tomer will make will be: "Flowers are 

 awfully high now, are they not?" It 

 comes before you have had a chance to 

 say anything, showing what is uppermost 

 in their thoughts. Now, if the ones that 

 come into your store think that way, what 

 must the thousands that pass by think? 

 You know it is the thinkery that does 

 the work, and on this account they re- 

 solve to buy gloves, confectionery, jewel- 

 ry, etc., and so we florists lose thousands 

 of dollars' worth of sales. 



Do these other merchants advance their 

 prices because their customers want their 

 goods? Not on your life! They are too 

 clever. They have spent good money all 

 season advertising and building up trade 

 and they are not going to detract from 

 that valuable asset, the customers, that 

 they have psychologized into buying their 

 wares, just because there is an increased 

 demand. 



I have heard florists actually say, di- 

 rectly to the customer who is complaining 

 of the awful, advance of 300 per cent: 

 "Well, flowers are very expensive at 

 Christmas, and we have a great demand 

 for them, and they are very scarce." 

 Then your customer immediately thinks 

 to himself: "Well, it does not have to 

 be flowers; I am not going to be buf- 

 faloed that way; Why not send candy 

 at 80 cents a pound for the best, or why 

 not jewelry at the same price as at any 

 other time of the year, and it will keep, 

 too, while flowers would be gone in a 

 few days anyway." 



So they go and spend their money 

 elsewhere. 



Aside from this we not only lose the 

 sale, but the confidence and respect of 

 the customer as well, because you will 

 see flowers for sale the next day on the 

 street at every corner at one-third or less 

 than you ask. Violets for which you 

 yesterday asked $1.50 or $2 per bunch 

 (and, by thfr way, violets never arc 

 worth $1.50 and $2; I mean a bunch of 

 , fifty) the next day after Christmas will 

 be poked under, your nose for 50 cents 

 a bunch. Now, if they are so scarce as 



you told your customer, how is it that 

 there are so many on the street the next 

 day? 



Gentlemen, put yourselves in the posi- 

 tion of the retail customer and note the 

 impression you get. Could you have con- 

 fidence and respect for a business man 

 who tried to charge you three times the 

 fair price just because he thinks you 

 must have the goods? 



The Retailer's Responsibility. 



Now, though the retailer has much ex- 

 pense at this rush season, although he 

 must employ extra help at high prices 

 and he has extra delivery expense, and 



BVERY now and then a well- 

 pleased reader speaks the word 

 which is the means of btiagiag a 

 new advertiser to 



Sach friendly assistance is thoroughly 

 appreciated. 



Give us the name of anyone itotn 

 whom you are buying, not an adver- 

 tiser. We especially wish to interest 

 those selling articles of florists' use 

 not at present advertised. 



FLORISTS' PUBLISHING CO. 

 530-60 Cazton BJdg. Chicago 



he has extra wrapping expense to protect 

 from frost (he must make good any- 

 thing that is frozen), yet all this does 

 not account for the exceedingly high 

 prices asked by him. 



What is the reason? 



It is the worn-out system of trying to 

 crowd out of one day's business the 

 profit which should be spread over a 

 month. We would make this profit and 

 more, too, if prices were at a slight ad- 

 vance, say 50 per cent. Then all these 

 flowers would be sold at a fair price. 

 There would not be any to sell to the 



street man the next day. The grower 

 Would be sure of his profit, without the 

 risk of anything being left over. The 

 commission man would be happier, for if 

 anyone has his trouble it is he; he is 

 between the devil and the deep sea, try- 

 ing to please his storemen and his grow- 

 ers. You can go to any commission man 

 a week before Christmas and he is afraid 

 to tell you the price for fear he is too 

 low. How are we going to sell under 

 these conditions? 



Drop the follies of 1908. 



Let us be sane and make a play for 

 the biggest end of this Christmas shop- 

 ping, turn the tide our way, and explode 

 this idea the public has that flowers are 

 awfully extravagant at Christmas. Ee- 

 member we are component parts. What 

 affects the retailer affects the whole-' 

 saler, and in turn the grower. We will 

 all benefit by this business building and, 

 with confidence restored, we will get a 

 great deal that the fellow in other lines 

 is now getting. 



Now, after all that is said and done, 

 about the follies of 1908 and exorbitant 

 prices at Christmas, I must not be 

 construed as an advocate of cheap prices 

 or cheap work. If anything, we have 

 the reputation as one of the highest 

 priced in town, but there is a vkst dif- 

 ference between a square deal and get- 

 what-you-can plan. 



THE DOBBS NEV RANGE. 



Dobbs & Son have started a new range 

 on the opposite side of the street from 

 their old plant at Auburn, N. Y., where 

 they have purchased several acres of fine 

 land. A late start only allowed of the 

 erection of one house 42x150, and a large 

 concrete block boiler house and office last 

 season. They have also erected a large 

 dwelling on the new tract. The present 

 house is exclusively for carnations. The 

 new greenhouse is King construction. 

 Trade is unusually good; even with the 

 added space they have not been able to 

 meet the demand, so a further early ad- 

 dition to the new place is to be expected. 



BuRNSiDE, Conn. — W. H. Atkins, on 

 Larrabee street, uses the greater part of 

 his greenhouse space for the growing of 

 carnations and sweet peas, for which he 

 finds an excellent market in Hartford. 

 His carnations this year are in fine con- 

 dition. 



Exterior and Interior of the New Greenhouse of Dobbs & Son, Auburn, N, Y. 



