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The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Mabch 4, 1900. 



what some, florists absurdly call them- 

 selves — artists. I know some of the best 

 artists in the country who could not put 

 a bunch of flowers in a vase, and I know 

 men who could not tell the artistic dif- 

 ference between a steel cut and a wood 

 cut, that could arrange a bunch of flow- 

 ers in such a manner as would compel 

 your admiration. That is the natural 

 taste in the man, and is the foundation 

 upon which he can, if he be so inclined, 

 build all the others. His ideas in general 

 must be good. No customer wants the 

 same thing all the time or even wants 

 what he has seen elsewhere. This makes 

 it imperative on the part of the florist, if 

 he wants to hold his business, to be able 

 to originate new schemes for the ar- 

 rangement of flowers and new methods 

 of placing them before his customer. 



Making Stock Attractive. 



There are innumerable ways in which 

 you can add to the attractiveness of your 

 flowers and in that way make a ready 

 sale for flowers that ordinarily would be 

 waste product. All flowers are not per- 

 fect and for that reason all of them do 

 not sell readily. Take a rose, for in- 

 stance; many of them are short-stemmed 

 and not suitable for vases. These same 

 roses, put in a basket that is prettily ar- 

 ranged, form an attractive offering. 

 Glass dishes that can be bought in quan- 

 tity at a low price are another method 

 for the disposal of short-stemmed flow- 

 ers. The addition of a ribbon to a bunch 

 of flowers does not materially increase 

 the cost, but does give it a finish it 

 would not have if simply laid in a box. 

 A cheap box is a mistake. It spoils the 

 effect of a good flower. 



Do not sell old flowers; you make 

 money by throwing them away. Nothing 

 so discourages a man as to buy a few 

 flowers and find them curled up on him 

 the next day. He may stand it once or 

 twice, but in a short time he feels he is 

 throwing away money in buying flowers; 

 so, instead of buying once or twice a 

 week, he only buys when it is absolutely 

 necessary, and then with the feeling that 

 he is not getting what he pays for. 



In handling your customers, do not 

 sell them something they ask for simply 

 because they are willing to pay for it, 

 when you know the result will be unsatis- 

 factory to them. Do the right thing by 

 telling them what you know. It will give 

 them confidence in your ability and in- 

 tegrity, and will help to increase your 

 business. If you are in doubt at any 

 time, or you do not understand just what 

 course to pursue, do not pretend you 

 know ; fin^ the man that knows and ask 

 him. TEere is always one to be found. 

 Be big enough to find him and he will be 

 big enough to tell you. 



Planning for Permanent Success. 



It is to be presumed that if you stari; 

 in business you are not there for today 

 or tomorrow, but are going to make a 

 life work of it. Your whole object, then, 

 should be to carry on your business in 

 such a manner that your customers feel 

 that nowhere else could they obtain as 

 good results as they could with you. It 

 is a well-known fact that every satisfied 

 customer will make another for you. A 

 short time ago I was asked what I con- 

 sidered the best recommendation that a 

 florist could have, and I answered that 

 in my case I felt more proud of the fact 

 that I was still doing business with the 

 same people I had in the beginning than 

 any other success I had attained. 



You are starting under more auspi- 



cious circumstances than men of the last 

 decade. Men of the next decade will 

 have an advantage over you, unless you 

 keep up with them. If you attain suc- 

 cess, do not fall into a beaten track and 

 think you know it all. Go out among 

 your competitors in other places and see 

 what they are doing. It is not given to 

 one man to know it all. I know of a 

 number of men at the present time who 

 are going back because they will not un- 

 derstand that new methods and new ap- 

 pliances reduce expenses both in labor and 

 material, thus enabling their competitors 

 not only to undersell them, but to give 

 better results more quickly and for a less 

 expenditure of money. 



Penny "Wise and Pound Foolish. 



In the ordinary course of business 

 every man is entitled to a legitimate 

 profit ; see that you get it, but do not ask 

 the good fellow to pay for your mis- 

 takes. It is not the man who "soaks" 

 a customer when he gets a chance that 

 makes the most money. There is an old 

 saying that if a man fools you once it 

 is his fault, but if he fools you the sec- 

 ond time it is your fault, and every man 

 that has been "fooled" or "soaked" 

 knows it. Do not have the impression 

 that a man does not know when he is be- 

 ing taken advantage of. He may not be 

 able to prove it, but he has the idea and 

 to him that is just as good. You can 

 never get him again, and for an insig- 



nificant .sum you not only cheat yourself 

 and him, but lose a customer. 



The florist is called upon, now to do a 

 business never thought of a few years 

 ago. Formerly his principal business was 

 the making of a few bouquets, packing 

 up a few flowers for presentation pur- 

 poses, arranging so-called designs for' 

 funerals and occasionally something more 

 pretentious than a bouquet for a large 

 banquet. Now the florist must be pre- 

 pared to present to the customer ideas 

 for the decoration of the dinner table, 

 house decorations for weddings, recep- 

 tions, teas, etc.; church decorations for 

 all occasions; the arrangement of flowers 

 in appropriate form for birthdays, anni- 

 versaries, funerals, etc., and he must 

 know what is appropriate for the occa- 

 sion and be able to properly execute the 

 commission. To the average man the 

 selection of flowers for any special occa- 

 sion is a new experience, and it is the 

 duty of the florist to suggest to his cus- 

 tomer what he knows is the best thing 

 for him to have; not only that, but to 

 make the expense so reasonable that he 

 will not be afraid to look in~a florist's 

 'window ever after. There is more money 

 in selling a man $5 worth a hundred 

 times than in selling him $100 worth one 

 time. 



Tact and Discrimination. 



The average good florist is more or 

 less an idealist and often flnds it hard to 



The Cascade Wreath. 



