14 



The Florists* Review 



January 9, 1913. 



Local clubs could, no doubt, be in- 

 duced to contribute toward such a 

 campaign, and I am sure our Lancaster 

 County Florists ' Club would be right 

 in line with its contribution. 



Albert M. Herr. 



TEXAS PBOGBESSIVE. 



Those florists and florists' supply 

 concerns that cater to the wholesale 

 demand may have some appreciation of 

 the rapidity with which the trade is 

 progressing in the southwest, but the 

 great body of florists do not realize the 

 strides the business is making in the 

 agricultural west. For instance, take 

 a look at the illustration showing the 

 store of the Lone Star Floral Co., Chas. 

 Chollar, manager, shown in this issue. 

 It is a Dallas establishment. Texas 

 is full of progressive florists, of whom 

 Mr. Chollar is one. In addition to the 

 decorations of the store, note hisj line 

 of accessories and novelties. Also, it 

 will be worth noting that he makes a 



profitable side line of canarybirds and 

 goldfish. Some florists handle candies 

 as a side line, but goldfish and birds 

 seem to be the most adaptable things 

 a florist can push in addition to 

 flowers. 



ONE OF MANY STOBIES. 



Not so long ago flower stores were 

 all on one floor. Then came the fash- 

 ion, where street floor space commands 

 high rents, of putting the workroom 

 either in the basement or above the 

 store, in the second story. This has 

 been followed, gradually, by the flower 

 store that has selling space on several 

 floors. There are not many, however, 

 that can beat Ratcliffe & Tanner, Inc., 

 Richmond, Va., whose establishment at 

 25 West Broad street is a five-story 

 aflfair, occupied exclusively for retail 

 purposes. The illustration on page 15 

 shows the first floor as it appeared 

 during the holidays. Mr. Tanner stands 

 in the foreground. 



1»%.'<^. <<^.<4^.<»^.<^^.<<^.<#^.<»%.<#%.'W^.<*^.W^-'*^^^=^'*^'*^'*^^^^^ 



MR. FOX SAYS 

 GET TOGETHER 



•^^•^^•^ 



I 



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THE SPIEIT OF THE TIMES. 



[A summary of a talk by Charles Henry Fox. 

 before the Florists' Club of Philadelphia Janu- 

 ary 7, 1913.] 



We are a fraternity, and a fraternity 

 is strong only as they pull together. 

 This is something the florists have 

 never done. We want cooperation, 

 sympathy with one another. We want 

 to plan our business interests together. 

 We want to study the needs of the 

 grower, the needs of the commission 

 man, the needs of the retailer, and alto- 

 gether we want to study what interests 

 the public. 



The pathway I to success lies in serv- 

 ing the public, not in affronting it, and 

 this can only he done when the grower, 

 the commission man and the retailer 

 work hand in hand. 



Would it not be beneficial for the 

 grower to visit the retailer, to come in 

 direct contact with him, get better ac- 

 quainted, not look upon him as an out- 

 sider — just because he does not deal 

 directly with himf We could tell him 

 and demonstrate why carnations were 

 taboo. At the same time we could show 

 him how carnations would be in de- 

 mand if they were grown and packed 

 as they should be. We could give him 

 a line on many little things that we 

 could use, at a profit to him, if he would 

 grow them for us in the style that the 

 public demands. 



To my mind such an exquisite, deli- 

 cate and perishable product as flowers 

 should be handled with the utmost care 

 j)nd dispatch. 



If we could adopt a plan whereby we 

 could give an order for a certain quan- 

 tity of stock, have it packed by the 

 grower and shipped direct to the re- 

 tailer, without any delay or handling, 

 it would eliminate an immense amount 

 of loss and waste. 



Through this close association be- 

 tween the grower and retailer a more 

 perfect understanding would naturally 



be the outcome and a great many 

 irregularities might be corrected, for 

 the grower would then realize how 



much better and how much more advan- 

 tageous it would be for him to make 

 his regular shipments daily right up to 

 Christmas, selling at a good price, in- 

 stead of holding them up and in the 

 end not getting as much as he would 

 before. 



Christmas Uncertainties. 



Every year I hear the commission 

 man say, ' ' I told them to ship the goods 

 at such and such a date, but will they 

 do it? No!" As a consequence, the 

 commission man is up in the air. He 

 does not know what to promise the re- 

 tailer. He has not the vaguest idea as 

 to how much he will have or what 

 prices to quote. The retailer is like- 

 wise up in the air. He does not know 

 what he will have to pay for the stock, 

 nor how much he can expect to get. 



Who suffers by this? To safeguard 

 himself at Christmas the store man 

 sidetracks cut flowers and stocks up 

 his place with desirable and salable 

 blooming plants, something he knows 

 the price of. This is something he is 

 really forced to do against his will, 

 for cut flowers are much easier to han- 

 dle than plants. 



The Commission Man. 



Now for the commission man: he 

 has come to stay, a necessary factor for 

 the economic development and distribu- 

 tion of our product. It is he who has 

 enabled us to have the choice of stock 

 grown in the surrounding country, and 

 I believe I am safe in saying that there 

 is no other city where the service is as 

 good as that given by the Philadelphia 

 commission houses. Through them w© 



Charles Henry Fox. 



