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January 20, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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THE BRIDE'S BOUQUET. 



There is nothing in the line of flower 

 ■jrrangements which is so severe a tax on 

 ;he average florist's abilities as the mak- 

 jng of the bride's bouquet. In the big 

 city stores there is enough of this work 

 po that the maker-up, who is an expert 

 io begin with, gets enough practice to 

 "keep his hand in" all the time, but 

 with the florist in the provincial city 

 vedding bunches are not made every day, 

 and when an order comes along it calls 

 for the exercise of the florist's best ef- 

 forts, and is the cause of much perturba- 



lion. 



f<r«*n*. 



Too often the uiip*ractice(f desiglier 

 makes the wedding bouquet of valley too 

 f'losely set, so that it has a bunchy effect. 

 It should be wired so that it can be made 

 up loosely, as in the accompanying illus- 

 tration, which shows a bride's bouquet 

 of valley and adiantum made by Mrs, N. 

 Updyke, manager of the Galveston Floral 

 Co., Galveston, Tex. 



RETAIL DESIGN CATALOGUES. 



A retail florist writes the Review: 



' ' After using for a number of years 

 the regular stock catalogue which most 

 florists use, our business has grown to the 

 point where we believe it will be more 

 expedient and profitable to publish a 

 book of designs and floral arrangements 

 which are more adapted to our particular 

 territory as regards prices listed and 

 also nearer our own ideals of style and 

 quality. We intend to make up a book 

 from photographs of our own work and 

 put in just such printed matter as is 

 adapted to our trade, and in the manner 

 we would like. 



' ' The book will be quite expensive, but 

 we believe in time it will pay out. What 

 we want is the advice of some of our 

 brother florists who have been there be- 

 fore, in regard to some of the small 

 points in making up a catalogue of this 

 character. It would be better to know in 

 advance than to find out too late. 



"Any information or points, no mat- 

 ter how small, will be appreciated." 



The Reviewt will be glad to publish, 

 for the benefit of all who may be simi- 

 larly situated, any suggestions its readers 

 may care to offer. 



SHARING THE PROFITS. 



A retail florist in a prosperous Ohio 

 <'ity sends the Review the following: 



' ' I note with interest the suggestion in 

 the Review of January 13 that February 

 i2 be made Rose day in honor of Abra- 

 ham Lincoln, and write to ask: What is 

 the use? The retailer spends his time 

 and money trying to create a demand 

 for certain flowers and, just as soon as 

 he calls upon his wholesaler or grower 

 for a slightly larger order than usual, he 

 finds the price advanced from flfty to 100 

 per cent. High-grade Lawson carnations 

 are offered me at $3 per hundred this 

 week, but in ten days the price on this 

 same grade of stock will be $5 per hun- 



dred, just because of the slightly larger 

 demand created by the half-hearted ob- 

 servation of McKinley's birthday. If 

 carnations could be retailed at 5 cents 

 each January 29 the custom would have 

 become extremely popular, of wearing a 

 carnation in honor of McKinley, but I 

 have seen literally hundreds of men re- 

 fuse to pay more for a flower for their 

 buttonhole. 



"I for one shall spend no money try- 

 ing to popularize a custom which only 

 advances the price I have to pay for 

 stock. ' ' 



Tl^ Review agrees with the corre- 

 spondent in so far as it deprecates any 

 attempt to advance prices because of an 

 as yet undeveloped demand. But the 

 Review does not agree with the policy of 



Tfie Bride's Bouquet. 



any retailer who would quit pushing for 

 trade simply because somebody else 

 shares in the profit. The law of supply 

 and demand still is supreme in the whole- 

 sale cut flower markets. Stock brings, 

 not what the grower or wholesaler thinks 

 it is worth, but what the buyers will pay 

 for it. . Naturally, the wholesaler tries to 

 get all he consistently can — and so does 

 the retailer, for that matter — but in the 

 flower business the retailer must have an 

 outlet for stock before the wholesaler has 

 an outlet; in other words, the prosperity 

 of the wholesale branch of the business 

 follows the prosperity in the retail 

 branch. The retailer gets his first, every 

 time, or thinks he is going to, which 

 amounts to the same thing. 



THEY LIKED IT. 



In common with a good many others, 

 a certain florist of the old school was 

 reluctant to "dun" his customers; he 

 was afraid he would give offense and so 

 lose trade. As a result, his efforts at 

 collection went no farther than sending 

 an annual statement. 



At length ihe estimable gentleman 

 fell ill and a younger man had to as- 

 sume the cares of the financial end of 

 the business. He found plenty of money 

 on the books, but little in the bank. 

 Arguing that they would be little worse 

 off without patronage than they would 

 be. with patronage that didn't pay, he 

 set about getting the money in. 



The statement bringing in only a few, 

 a polite note was sent, followed by per- 

 sonal calls, several of them where neces- 

 sary, always pleasant, but unmistakably 

 for the purpose of getting the check or 

 information as to when it would be 

 ready. Progress was steady, but got 

 slower after a while. Finally a notorious 

 delinquent was selected and suit was 

 brought. It got into the local paper. 

 Then for a. time collections were easier. 

 But in the eiM some score or lA'dre ac- 

 counts were turned over to a justice of 

 the peace, among them claims against 

 some of the best known people in the 

 town. 



"And do you think they stopped buy- 

 ing? Not a bit of it," says the florist. 

 "They actually seemed to like it. Busi- 

 ness is better than ever and there is 

 cash enough on hand to swing it." 



TROUBLESOME PROBLEMS. 



Covering an Unsightly Wall. 



From time to time little annoyances 

 and problems occur and recur, to puzzle 

 and often to annoy and embarrass, and 

 they are not settled by reason of lack of 

 time or means. These unfinished and 

 avoided things make us uncomfortable 

 and dissatisfied, while, if attacked one 

 by one in a determined manner, they could 

 be dispatched for good and all. 



In an otherwise tasteful store some one 

 unsightly corner is enough to spoil it all. 

 One thing often seen in stores is a blank 

 wall. Quite often it is a wooden parti- 

 tion, a thing which has been made of 

 matched boards and painted white in 

 some remote age, and to call it gray 

 would now be a scandal to the color. This 

 is never an inviting background for dec- 

 orations, yet the sensible impulse is to 

 cover it if possible. To secure a reason- 

 ably good background, cover the wall with 

 burlap in some neutral color to blend 

 with the other coloring of the room, and 

 have it planned by a good interior dec- 

 orator. 



A Series of Decorations. 



Having thus got fairly well started, 

 plan a series of decorations according to 

 the season of the year and the material 

 at hand for local occasions. Show cus- 

 tomers how you propose to do it for them 

 in your best style, without damaging the 

 wall with tacks and nail holes. Have an 

 object lesson in decorating always in 

 sight. After Thanksgiving begin a 

 Christmas series of garlanding, wreathing 

 and various combinations and designs, 

 Christmas tree decorations, etc. Soon 

 afterward will come ideas for Valentine 's 

 day and Washington's birthday, with 

 their several opportunities of educating 

 the public to your highest standard. 



You can often see such a place beau- 

 tified by a set of mirrors placed per- 



