34 



The Florists' Review 



Afbil 10, 1913. 



i THE RETAIL 



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FLORIST 



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THE TREND OF THE TBADE. 



Future of Setail Flower Selling. 



I have read with much interest the 

 article in The Eeview of March 20, 

 "The Trend of the Trade." In ref- 

 erence to general conditions existing 

 with grower and retailer, I regard the 

 field too great to permit the large grow- 

 er to retail his own product. Those of 

 us who daily come in contact with the 

 grower and with the retail customer are 

 in position to observe quite a differ- 

 ence between the two lines. Each one 

 adapts himself to his own, and I must 

 confess that the successful retailer 

 never was cut out for a producer, and 

 the grower was not cut out to be a 

 retailer. One of the principal assets 

 in retailing is personality, the kind that 

 makes the handling of customers an 

 art. The successful retailer must be a 

 good student of human nature. He 

 must be able to discern whether the 

 customer should purchase an article for 

 $2 or $20 and, incidentally, must be 

 able to do so in a manner that will 

 give the customer complete confidence. 

 Conditions and situations constantly 

 arise that tend to show the difference 

 between the two lines. 



Eetail conditions, from my point of 

 view, are bound to improve many fold. 

 We are alive to general business meth- 

 ods in all other lines and are adapting 

 ourselves to them, such as constantly 

 improving the character of our mer- 

 chandise, seeing that our employees are 

 capable of giving our customers the 

 best attention, reaching distances by 

 utilizing the motor delivery system, 

 and extending our scope by the use 

 of the telegraph delivery system, which 

 has worked wonders for us in develop- 

 ing new business. 



Value of Special Sales. 



To my mind, our florist business has 

 only just started. With little effort, 

 we can increase our volume of business 

 by introducing specialties at popular 

 prices tnat wSl appeal to the masses, 

 using the newspapers as our direct 

 mouthpiece to the public. We have 

 proved to our own satisfaction that, 

 as long as we maintain our reputation 

 for honest and fair dealing methods, 

 we have no difliculty in disposing of 

 our product, whether flowers or plants. 

 For instance, when the market is strong 

 on roses we will introduce a special 

 sale of roses in baskets, and if it is 

 strong on flowering plants we will take 

 advantage of a like condition. Our 

 object in having these sales is not so 

 much the long dollar as it is the ac- 

 quisition of new business. To enjoy 

 good, healthy condition, every business, 

 whether flower or merchandise or man- 

 ufacturing, needs to reach out for new 

 clientele. 



We should be careful to take advan- 

 tage of new stock, and market it in 

 such manner that it will reflect good 



business returns by way of giving our 

 customers the benefit of every pur- 

 chase. Incidentally we should main- 

 tain our character and tone at high- 

 water mark, instead of appearing to 

 conduct our business along the lines of 

 department store methods. One of our 

 most valuable assets is our practice of 

 never permitting a patron to leave our 

 establishment dissatisfied. Should there 

 be the least sign of discontent on the 

 part of a customer, we immediately dis- 

 patch a new plant or new flowers, as 

 the case may be, or even refund the 

 purchase price when advisable. This 

 plan, constantly and conscientiously 

 carried out, has materially helped us 

 to hold new customers. Our motto is, 

 in this respect, "The customer is al- 

 ways right, and we are always wrong. ' ' 



Advertising Is Profitable. 



My way to handle the glut in market 

 conditions would be to induce more 

 retailers to take up the plan of selling 

 on a liberal scale, giving the public at 

 all times the benefit of their buying, 

 and to hold sales that would do credit 

 to the craft in general, giving them at- 

 tractive and dignified publicity through 

 the medium of newspaper advertising, 

 never too spectacular. Besult-produc- 

 ing advertising cannot be handled in a 

 haphazard manner. Carefully outline 

 your advertisements, change them often 

 and be a consistent and persistent ad- 

 vertiser. Do not advertise two or three 

 times and then stop. Hammer away 

 steadily and success will surely crown 

 your efforts. If necessary, get in touch 

 with a good advertising man. Don't 

 think about doing it, but do it and do 

 it right. We are profitably carrying 

 on an extensive publicity campaign in 

 Boston. We use cards in the cars, at- 

 tractively designed and lithographed in 

 colors, changing our subjects from six 

 to twelve times a vear. We also use 

 billboards and bulletins, displaying ar- 

 tistically executed announcements 

 painted four times a year on galvan- 

 ized iron boards. We make generous 

 use of printers' ink in the several 

 newspapers of Boston. From a small 

 beginning, we are now spending from 

 $12,000 to $15,000 during the season 

 on advertising alone. The prospect for 

 1914 is that we will almost double our 

 appropriation for publicity, as we feel 

 justified by the results obtained. 



Make (jk)od Your Promises. 



Another point that occurs to me as 

 being wise is to plan special sales, 

 taking advantage of certain days of the 

 year, such as May day, St. Valentine's 

 day, St. Patrick's day, Mothers' day 

 and the like, as they come along. Make 

 special effort to do things on these 

 days and do them well. A series of 

 advertisements in advance relative to 

 such days as Easter will produce tan- 

 gible results. Our recent Easter ad- 

 vertisements, pointing out that there 

 would be absolutely no increase of 



prices on Easter fiowers and plants, 

 brought considerable good, healthy 

 business. In making such announce- 

 ments, however, you must adhere to 

 your promises to be successful. 



For the man who wants volume, the 

 conditions in our city are the same as 

 in all large cities, but if he permits 

 volume to affect the character of his 

 shop it can easily lead to the downfall 

 of his business. We aim for the high- 

 est standard and try to maintain it at 

 any cost by handling only the best ob- 

 tainable and giving the public the 

 benefit. 



Cooperation Among Employees. 



Special attention must be given at 

 all times to window display. Not a 

 little depends upon the daily showing 

 that we make in our windows. We 

 feel tha;t our window is our silent sales- 

 man and we are particular to a degree 

 to keep it up to the high water mark 

 of attractiveness and originality in dis- 

 play, stock and cleanliness. We also 

 make it a point to hold flower shows 

 of our own and advertise them in a 

 way that has the effect of special sales. 

 They tend to keep up our standard as 

 leading florists and are invariably ap- 

 preciated by the flower-loving public. 

 Another feature is our special efforts 

 in advertising our violets. For some 

 time we have used this one item, be- 

 cause we felt that it was an article in 

 most demand and generally used. Our 

 specializing in violets has kept us be- 

 fore the public for some years. 



An important factor in the success 

 of our business has been the admirable 

 cooperation of our employees. We ar- 

 range a series of dinners for them, we 

 get the best work and attention out 

 of each and every one of them, we 

 keep in general touch with all, from 

 ottice boy to chief, and the results are 

 apparent in every department. 



I am confident that if these ideas 

 and rules are adopted and adhered to 

 the retail florist's business can be con- 

 ducted with as great success as any 

 other individual business. 



Henry Penn. 



THE TEARFUL SWINDLER. 



This is written for the purpose of 

 giving our brother florists some in- 

 formation which may frustrate any 

 attempt to play the same game as 

 was worked in Omaha, Council Bluffs 

 and Sioux City. 



On Saturday, March 22, a well 

 dressed man, about 45 years old, about 

 five feet ten inches in height, rather 

 stout, weighing about 185 pounds and 

 having a dark but ruddy complexion, 

 came into our store and, with tears 

 in his eyes, ordered a wreath, to cost 

 $12. His "only daughter had died.'' 

 His check for $21.60, signed by James 

 Morgan, Morgan Court Co., was cashed 

 and Geo. B. Carter, payee and endorser, 

 has passed on, probably working the 

 same scheme in other towns. 



We trust that space may be spared 

 in The Review to mention this. 



Bocklin & Lehman. 



Columbus, Miss. — The greenhouses of 

 T. G. Owen were recently visited by 

 about fifty students from the A. and 

 M. College at Starkville. The party 

 was under the guidance of Professor 

 McKay. The greenhouses, it is said, 

 now contain more than 200,000 square 

 feet of glass and the stock comprises 

 an unusually wide range of varieties. 



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