10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



l'i:i'.i!i Aia ::•- 



i;il-. 



coutimif (III till' iircsciil <-(iurs(\ one ur 

 the dtlifi- n\' 1 \\(i !i|>iiii()iis is liclil li\- 



'IlKlst of tlh' \\ll()l('-.;(lcrs ni'lt rt t'(i. SoillC 



bc'licM' iliiii rhc rclihiioii df ictjiil 

 priiM',-. iiiii>i 111 till' rihl \\ni!x a ipcriiia- 

 ui.'iil ii'iliici idii 111 \\ liiili'~.al(' |irir('s atht 

 ijciici' ill I'ciLiniN III till' i;i'(i\vfrs. ()tlH'rs 

 aswi'it. with st'ciiiiiiy- lonliik'iicc ami tlu' 

 W('i<;lit III' l(i:;ic. that th(> result will be 

 ail iiicrcasr in the i-oiisuiniition nl' tlow- 

 ■ers tliat will iiiiniin i/.c yliits and in th(> 

 '9n(i woi'k iiut ail iiii-rcast' in tin.' a\(M- 

 uyc \aliic' (if a season's cut. 



The Retailer's Views. 



Ainoii;,' the fct a i k-is st-arcclN any two 

 hold similar xicws as to the ultimate 

 eflfect of the jin^seiit J^'leisidiman ]ioli(\-. 

 The lirst impression is that a hiyli i lass 

 store that iinotes snrh prices must liaxc 

 sonic special adNanta^e aside from 

 larj^o liuyin:: ]iower. Imt fur a Jarj^e 

 class who never liaxc lieen able to yet 

 fancy jiricos. the rapidly reeiirrin<i- ^vide 

 ly adxcrtised bargain sales lia\"e few 

 terrors; all that tliey fear is the auto 

 mobile delixcry and other iletails ol' 

 hi<^li (dass sei\ ice thus brouiiht within 

 the rt'ai h nl' customers who lia\ e nut 

 been accustomed to t'lirlndows. The 

 question of boxinc^ and deli\"ery is im- 

 jjortant. It is not profitable, in a biy. 

 spread-out city, to wrap and deliver one 

 3.j-cent sale; it would not bo profitable 

 even if the stock cost nothing:. Whether 

 it is jiossible to ]iut u]> and deliver 10(> 

 such sales for .*."..") is another and un- 

 settled question. 



Many who ha\e been j^nini.;' a fairly 

 high grade of service and charjiiny 

 goo<l prices see in the sjieoial sale a<l- 

 vertisiug: method of retailing a menace 

 to the old-fashioned plan of steadih* 



I maintained prices. re<;ardless of market 

 ' cinnlit idiis. I'sually these stores feel 

 j I he iiecc-,>ii \- ot' meeting the ad\ertised 

 I |irii'c^. piulit or nil prolit. I'or some 

 >iai-- till' trend ot e\eiils has iiecn in 

 ill.' dircclidh of 1 he I'ctail |irices for 

 Ibiwc'is swiiiL;ing with supply, as they 

 do with flesh Ni'getables, eggs, butter 

 and many other artiides. There has 

 been sharp resistance, and doubtless at 

 least some alwa,\s will resist with suc- 

 c-ess. Inn as the stores that follow the 

 other course gather buying power with 

 increasing Noluine of busiiK'ss. the prob- 

 lem becomes one that will ha\t' to be 

 seriously t'aced. 



Lange was the (irst Chicago retailer 

 to .-ohcrtise widely and sell at popular 

 pi ices. .\s everyone knows, his busi- 

 ness grew ra|iidly. All who have 

 watidied re<-ogni/.e that the i'leischniau 

 puridiases iiiid sales are sexeral times 

 what they x'.cre when the juesent cam- 

 paign was begun. It is high pressure 

 iiierchandisiiig. It calls for the use of 

 iiioiiey and brains. It necessitates a 

 (lose stuily of constantly changing con- 

 ditions, an alertness to take advantage 

 of opiMirtunities as they are presented. 



Whet her or not the systcMu of retail- 

 ing now under discussion will prove the 

 permanently successful one it is much 

 too early to tell. A few years ago the 

 retailers" prolilems were not what they 

 are today, with production at the grow- 

 ing centers increasing' faster than the 

 ]topulation and the buying power of the 

 people. 



WELL, HE INVITED CRITICISM. 



I have read with much interest Ger- 

 trude Blair's holjiful suggestions on 



Table Centerpiece in an Onyx Receptacle. 



design work, as published in The i\, 

 \ iew from time to time. As I h. y^ 

 been making designs for many ye.is, 

 it would hardly be boastful to say i ,;it 

 I ha\e necessarily ac(|uired some s || 

 not to speak of natural taste. I th nij 

 that .1. K. Jay's cross, offered by i m, 

 for criticism in The Review of A,:iv 

 11, 1!)11, and referred to by Miss 1;; li'r 

 on jiage 11 of the issue of Februar' ;;, 

 lini', is simply beyond redemption, .ho 

 perpetrator of it eviilently had s me 

 llowers and an order to make a ci ss, 

 and just stuck the flowers in witl .ut 

 any other idea except to cover h,. 

 space. 



In the lirst place, the cross is loo 

 small to permit the use of those c\ as 

 leaves, and they are rather stiff for :uiv 

 such work. 1 prefer Whitmani f( ms 

 for a background, with plumosus or 

 maidenhair ferns to dress them oflf I 

 always plan a design pretty thorou;_!ilv 

 in advance, and know exactly wh:!i J 

 am going to use and where I am going 

 to put it. 1 grow my own ferns and 

 use them in profusion as long as tliey 

 last, but in winter I soon exhaust ray 

 ferns and then have to resort to 

 galax, etc. 



By Avay of contrast with the cross, 

 ]\Iiss Blair draws attention to a picturi 

 of a shield made by T. A. Ivey. I 

 think the shield is beautiful in every 

 respect, except that I do not like the 

 effect of the Easter lilies. Somehow 

 the design is too conventional for Ihr 

 entirely unconventional way in which 

 the lilies are added. They do not look 

 as if they belonged there. 



Miss Blair is evidently an artist, not 

 only in the use of flowers, but also in 

 the use of words. I can not express my 

 thoughts as well as I can feel them, or 

 I might tell how much I have been ben 

 efited by her articles, as well as by the 

 numerous otlier good things in The 

 Review. S. M. C. 



WHO GETS TRADE PRICES? 



Could The Review give a short 

 write-up to assist the many advertisers 

 who issue catalogues? The infornia 

 tion we want is to know who are en 

 titled to wholesale lists. Applications 

 come often on plain postals like this: 

 "Please send wholesale list," or 

 "Please send catalogue and price-list." 

 And again others simply sign tl; ir 

 names with the word "florist" af:er 

 the name. I have found that a lot oi 

 such applicants are really dealers, g' n 

 erally small dealers, but careless in . ot 

 having printed stationery. But ma it, 

 no doubt, are persons who try to et 

 dealers' prices, which they are ; ot 

 entitled to. The florists' directory : iJ 

 other publications give many of 

 dealers, but not all of them by ;■ 

 means, and in the rush of spring tr: k' 

 it is not practical to wait for the " 

 formation which can be gained >y 

 writing for it. Perhaps a brief wr (' 

 up on this subject would help the tr; It' 

 generally. Can you not help us o t? 



W. W. Wilmore 



:iv 



The beginners in the business usun I.^ 

 are desirable customers — they r ■•}' 

 make considerable extra correspo ' 

 ence until they get the swing of thii -?• 

 and their orders may be small at '"' 

 start, but they are pretty sure to gri ^t: 

 furthermore, the man, or woman, v- ho 

 gets consideration at the start, wl '-"" 

 help is most needed, is pretty sure f^ 

 be one's friend for life. The unt'^r- 



