12 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Mabch 7, 1912. 



the wholesale florist. In this entire 

 first special shipment there was not a 

 rose that was not worth $1 per dozen 

 and a good many of them were worth 

 and actually sold for $1.50 and $2 per 

 dozen. I had placed a large ad of my 

 Saturday special rose sale, at 50 cents 

 per dozen, in the paper, and also put 

 a large sized card in the window, dis- 

 playing the roses which we were of- 

 fering. That day everyone in the store, 

 including the boss, was busy all day. 

 "When we closed that night we did not 

 have a Richmond rose unsold in the 

 house. That shipment was a sort of 

 coax; I am still trying to get another 

 like it. 



To Partictclar 

 Flower Buyers 



Today — Saturday — *c open what we believe will 

 appeal to you as the ideal flower shop ol Chicago. 



Here's why— 



Our Own Greenhouses at Evanslon. 



Fresh Slock— Shipped Dtrect— Twice Daily. 



The Most CompleteShcnviHg oj Cut Flowers in Chicago. 



A Staff of Expert'Oesigners and Polite \ialesmen. 



Most Convenient Location— Opposite UarshaU Field's. 



Reasonable Prices — Immediate Deliveries. 



OPENING DAY OFFER 



VERY SPECIAL 



3 Dozen Choice Killarney Roses $2.00 



4 Dozen Select Carnations '. . . $1.50 



SOVVEHIK BLOSSOMS !•> <Mr> tIMn on Orttlni Dm,. 



Drop In mnd ••« jfOUr id»mt of m flawmr ahop and »ft« mOMt tM^ui- 



»ft' dUptmjr pi cut flMMrf in tkm Ippp. 



VENETIAN BUILDING 



15 CWASHINSTON ST. 

 TELEPHONE RANDOLTH WU 



ROSE SALE 



Special Todays 

 Killarney Roses 



(SELECT noWXSS— SIXKS S IXZT LONG) 



Richmond Roses 



(SEUECT noWESS— 6TXIU 9 VSKT LONG) 



Maryland Roses 



(SELECT noWERS— «IKXS S IKET LONG) 



Per 

 Dozen 



Railway ExcJiange Building 



Jackson and Michigan BoulcTards 



We Invite Charge. Accounts 



RAKRISON Ua AVTOMATIC tI.«M 



New«paper Ads of Chicago Retailers. 



Well, with this as a starter, I have 

 continued my Saturday specials. Boses 

 and carnations are the best for this 

 purpose, but we use all and any kind 

 of flowers that we can buy in quantity 

 and at a price which will be an in- 

 ducement. We have customers who 

 phone and come from all over town 

 for this sale and we always have it. 

 I have paid 60 cents per dozen for 

 carnations and sold them for 50 cents, 

 giving greens and delivering in a box 

 at this price, in order to preserve this 

 custom and not disappoint our patrons, 

 and it paid to do it. 



At our Saturday sales we not only 

 move thousands of flowers,' thereby re- 

 lieving the congestion of the market, 

 but also send flowers and good cheer 

 into poor and obscure homes all over 

 the city. In fact, I have always had 

 this as part of my motive in offering 

 these special inducements. 



Our patrons of the Saturday special 

 come on other days for funeral pieces 

 and flowers for other special occa- 

 sions, and the point sometimes raised, 

 that customers will postpone buying 

 till the bargain day, does not hold good. 

 On the contrary, it increases the popu- 

 larity of the business and the patrons 

 for the other days of the week as well. 



Do not think, however, that the spe- 

 cial sale only requires securing of prop- 

 er stock and inserting an ad in the 

 paper. Oh, no! In order to make a 

 success of it, one must give it close at- 

 tention and study. Many times I have 

 spent good money in stock and print- 

 ers' ink and have never seen it re- 

 turned. Usually I can trace the cause, 

 and more often than not I find it in 

 myself — in something that I have done 

 or have failed to do. 



Special Ads as Educators. 



There is another phase of this sub- 

 ject which I must touch on before leav- 

 ing. It is the idea sometimes set forth 

 by some competitors that special sales 

 are degrading and detrimental to the 

 business in general. In my opinion 

 nothing could be more erroneous. On 

 the contrary, the result is beneficial to 

 all. A large proportion of the flowers 

 sold at a special sale are bought by per- 

 sons who have no particular need for 

 them. They simply buy because they 

 are getting a bf^rgain or because their 

 50 cents in flowers is more satisfying 

 than if spent in anything else. If not 

 spent for flowers, it would go for candy, 

 cheap amusement, or something else — 

 perhaps even for something harmful to 

 the health, and certainly not more gen- 

 erous in the spread of sweetness and 

 good cheer. 



There are times when the business 

 seems to come to a standstill, when it 

 seems to need a stimulus or tonic; not 

 with one establishment in particular, 

 but with all. And then it is that the 

 good, rousing special starts things go- 

 ing and helps everybody. Especially, 

 and beyond argument, is this true mx 

 the fall, just as all flowers are begin- 

 ning to come into full crop and the 

 public have gotten out of the habit of 

 buying greenhouae flowers, and again 

 after the Christmas holidays, when all 

 flowers are. so high that people in ordi- 

 nary circumstances are afraid to come 

 in and even ask .the price. 



Fifteen years ago the special flower 

 sale was scarcely heard of. The rea- 

 son, which you all know, is simple. 

 Then the output of flowers was per- 

 haps not more than ten per cent of 



that of the present day and all stock 

 was easily disposed of. Then the flo- 

 rist was simply the florist. Today he 

 must also be the artist. Tomorrow, in 

 order to succeed, he must be the flo- 

 rist, the artist and the merchant com- 

 bined. 



A Part of the Florist's Mission. 



"Necessity is the mother of inven- 

 tion," and the special sales are brought 

 about by the unalterable laws of na- 

 ture. Who shall say that the great 

 glut of berries, which enables the poor- 

 est to enjoy -them when they are the 

 most luscious, and even to preserve 

 them for the winter season, is an evilf 

 Who shall say that the production and 

 the maturing of any of our vegetables, 

 the vegetables we serve on the table, 

 the fruits and grains of the earth, the 

 trees, the grass, and tlfB'tfowers, is a 

 mistake f Some may tell us that this 

 periodical overproduction is a necessary 

 evil, but I do not see it as such. 



A Revel of Flowers 



p. 



Beginning with the American . Beauty 

 rose in all lengths of stem we are offering a 

 great variety of flowers, including many old- 

 fashioned varieties, pansies, forget-me-nots, 

 ten week stocks, poet narcisstis, bouvardia, 

 tuhps, jonquils, hyacinths, sweet peas, csir- 

 nations, roses, colors red, white and pink, of 

 which a mixed bouquet is the ideal gift (or, 

 the sick room, each flower being a diversion 

 in itself: also orchids and lilies of the valley. 

 Violets in baskets and bouquets. 



Beautiful vases from 4 to 8 feet in height 

 loaned gratis, with long stemmed American 

 Beauty roses. 



Every variety of seasonable blooming 

 plants. We continue to offer six distinct tl 

 boxes of cut flowers ready fof inspection 

 representing extraordinary flower values. 



Telegraph, telephone and mail ordeii 

 given prompt attention. 



Every kind of floral arrangement by 

 thoroughly experienced florists.' Made-up 

 work a specialty 







A. LANGE, Florist 



Combinations of U 



Spring Flowers 



ARRANGED IN BASKETS WITH 

 LININGS TO HOLD WATER 



2134 Michigan Avenue 



Phena 1600-1601 Cahnmt 

 nOWERS DEUVlltSD TO ALL PARTS OF THE CITY 



Newspaper Ads of Chicago Retailers. 



