January 23, 1913. 



The Florists^ Review 



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11 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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Mckinley day. 



McKinley day has not developed in 

 the way hoped for by the trade, but in 

 certain localities it has taken hold in 

 fair shape and there will be a consider- 

 able demand for colored carnations Jan- 

 uary 29. In localities where the day 

 is observed ilorists will do well to do a 

 little extra advertising for the occa- 

 sion, and even in the towns where no 

 increased business was apparent Jan- 

 uary 29 last year it will be well for 

 retailers to devote at least a part of 

 their regular newspaper space to re- 

 minding the people of the anniversary. 

 One hardly can expect the public to 

 recall these special flower days if the 

 trade does not remember them to the 

 extent of advertising them for a few 

 days in advance. 



BEHIND THE SCENES. 



Where the Eeal Work is Done. 



"While it is necessary for a retail 

 flower store to present an attractive 

 appearance, appearances are not the 

 only essential if a large business is to 

 be handled. The time has passed when 

 a florist could do a satisfactory busi- 

 ness with nothing but selling space. 

 Such facilities as will serve for ^ 

 candy shop, or a shoe store, are not 

 adequate for an up-to-date retail flower 

 business of any size. If a volume is to 

 be done to warrant the high rents 

 downtown it is not possible to make 

 up the work behind a screen in the 

 back of the store. With the expansion 

 of the business- adequate workroom fa- 

 cilities have become of prime impor- 

 tance and are as much to be considered 

 as is the store itself. 



During the last summer the Fleisch- 

 man Floral Co., Chicago, completely re- 

 fitted the store, putting in new fixtures 

 throughout, all in Carrara marble and 

 nickelplated brass. The store is quite 

 the most elaborate in Chicago. One 

 large display refrigerator, at the right 

 of the entrance, is used for roses, while 

 another of almost equal size on the 

 opposite side of the store is used for 

 cattleyas, valley and violets. Across 

 the back of the room are the book- 

 keeper's quarters, which are much more 

 complete than in the stores where tran- 

 sient trade is catered to; practically 

 all the Fleischman business goes on 

 the books. The oflSce equipment is all 

 in mahogany, but it is the only wood 

 in the store, the fixtures being marble, 

 plate glass and mirrors. There are, of 

 course, no counters, this feature of 

 retail equipment having long since been 

 discarded in good stores. 



Fleischman 's Workroom Facilities. 



While refitting the store, which occu- 

 pies the space between the street and 

 the rotunda of one of Chicago's finest 

 office buildings, equal attention to de- 



tail was devoted to the expansion of 

 the facilities behind the scenes. All 

 making up was done in the basement. 

 The store always had afforded ample 

 selling facilities, but the pressure had 

 come upon the working space. Conse- 

 quently, the front half of the basement 

 under two adjoining stores was secured 

 and fitted up to afford facilities equal 

 to any demand. As a first essential, a 

 large storage box was put in for cut 

 flowers. The box is forty feet long, 

 twelve feet deep and eight feet high. 

 There are not many wholesale cut 

 flower establishments which have 

 larger storage space. The box, which 

 is shown in one of the accompanying 

 illustrations, is one room, but access to 

 the stock is had by means of four 

 doors, two of which swing to the right 



store employees can operate it. The 

 machine cools the big storage box in 

 the workroom and the two (display 

 cases in the store. It operates on what 

 is known as the brine system; that is, 

 in the top of each box there are tanks 

 of brine through which the ammonia 

 pipes pass. Running the machine for 

 a few hours will reduce the tempera- 

 ture in these brine tanks to a point 

 where they act the same as cakes of 

 ice. When the temperature in the 

 boxes has thus been reduced to the 

 degree wanted, the motor is stopped 

 and the brine holds the temperature 

 down for the greater part of the day. 

 Of course the rapidity of rise in the 

 temperature when the machine is not 

 running depends on the weather and 

 the frequency with which the boxes 

 are opened, but ordinarily the appa- 

 mtus need be operated only a few hours 

 a day. 



Cost of Mechanical Befrigeration. 



The refrigerating outfit represents fin 

 investment , of about $2,500. This in- 

 cludes the cost of the big storage box, 

 the ice machine, the motor, the piping 

 and installation. It was put in by 

 the United Eefrigerator and Ice Ma- 

 chine Co., which built the box as well 

 as the machine. While it is figured 



Where the Money G>mes In. 



(This Is not a bank— Just the cashier's window In the refitted store of the Fleischman Floral Co., 

 Otalcago. The entire store is in marble and nickel.) 



and two to the left, making for the 

 greatest ease of entrance. 



At the end of the box a small room 

 is partitioned off with glass. Here 

 stands an electric motor and the com- 

 pressor for a refrigerating plant. The 

 space occupied is negligible and, within 

 the glass enclosure, the apparatus oper- 

 ates noiselessly. It is simplicity itself. 

 A chart on the wall gives directions 

 for starting and stopping. Any of the 



that the mechanical refrigeration will 

 prove cheaper than ice, and enough 

 so to more than pay the interest on the 

 investment, the principal gain in this 

 instance will be the freedom from the 

 muss and interruptions caused by the 

 men with the ice cakes, who would 

 otherwise be almost daily visitors. 



Along the front of the basement, 

 partly underneath the sidewalk, illu- 

 minated by the skylights, is a space 



