NOVEMBBB 14, 1912. 



The Florists^ Review 



ai 



THE RETAILING 



OF CUT FLOWERS 



rIE merchandising of cut flowers is 

 in itself closely allied in general 

 principles with the selling in small 

 quantities of any other article. The 

 man who is capable of selling real 

 estate or greenhouses is equally capable 

 of selling roses. It is not the man who 

 sells flowers sluggishly at a profit of 

 fifteen per cent, but the one who can 

 brilliantly present to the public quan- 

 tities of flowers at a gross profit of 150 

 per cent by closely watching the mar- 

 kets, who is a live factor in the up- 

 building of the retail business at the 

 present time. 



The intensive form of conducting the 

 retail business is much like intensive 

 farming. A greater quantity of busi- 

 ness may be transacted in a given 

 space and time, but it takes much more 

 energy and expense to do it. Unpopu- 

 lar as the practices may be with the 

 greater number of retailers, the meth- 

 ods of some of the pushers as exploited 

 by the trade papers at different times, 

 showing the terrific manner of induc- 

 ing trade, is certainly a good object 

 lesson in showing how large quantities 

 of flowers may be distributed among 

 the transient trade, with much accru- 

 ing good to the producer. 



Methods of Publicity. 



Indirectly, the Florists' Telegraph 

 Delivery, still in its infancy, is making 

 great strides in educating the flower- 

 buying public. When we think that a 

 first-class florist in a town of, say 

 500,000, approximately, does an out- 

 bound and inbound business of $7,000 

 annually, it is wonderful to think of 

 1,000 florists doing a business of $7,- 

 000,000 annually. A conservative esti- 

 mate of the orders received by New 

 York florists in the season is from 

 $750,000 to $1,000,000 per year. This 

 important phase of the retail business 

 should certainly be given impetus by 

 grower and retailer alike. 



The inspiration of the retail busi- 

 ness, new varieties of flowers, should 

 receive its just attention in all quar- 

 ters. A new flower invariably brings a 

 slightly higher price, and more than 

 repays the slightly increased cost in 

 the friends it makes and the popular- 

 ity it secures. Mrs. Aaron Ward, Lady 

 Hilhngdon and Melody have had 

 tremendous influence upon the flower- 

 ''"jing public. Such roses as Milady 

 and Mme. Chas. Russell, the new French 

 hydrangeas and the Mrs. F. Sander 

 daisy, as well as several other novel- 

 ties, may be counted upon in making 

 thousands of friends for those inter- 

 ested in buying nature's wares in the 

 near future. 



Co-operative Advertising. 

 Publicity, with its versatile and 

 great accomplishments, seems to be 

 the slogan, "first, last and all the 

 time, with florists who are disposing 

 or the greatest quantities of flowers. 

 Ihose unwilling to take up this great 

 selling cudgel are liable at any time to 



A paper prepared by Irwin Bertermann, of 

 Indianapolis, Ind., and read Isefore tlie dilcaeo 

 Florists' Club, NoTember 7, 1912. 



be surpassed by those who are willing 

 to dispose of good goods at moderate 

 prices and inform the public in an 

 attractive manner of just what they 

 have to sell. The good work now be- 

 ing done by the New York Florists' 

 Club in the distribution of posters, dis- 

 played simultaneously, clearly shows 

 what collective effort may do in pub- 

 licity work. They plan for a great 

 Thanksgiving campaign, and the out- 

 come in awaited with interest. 



Advertising is a separate department 

 in all the big stores of the country, but 

 it is a sadly neglected art with many 

 of the retailers, who are wont to treat 

 it as a side issue and place it in the 

 hands of the inexperienced. There is a 



vast difference between the maintainer 

 of price and shrewd merchandiser, and 

 the trade spoiler who is harmful to 

 himself and his fellowmen, both in sell- 

 ing and advertising. 



Two Kinds of Communities. 



"As ye sow, so shall ye reap," is 

 nowhere better exemplified than in the 

 comparison between a community of 

 cheap florists and one worthy of pros- 

 perity and in which each is himself 

 successful. It is just as possible to 

 have each family in a town possess ten 

 plants and an educated love for them, 

 as to have each fifth family possess 

 only one plant and a shy acquaintance 

 with nature's wares, due to lack of in- 

 terest on the part of the seller himself. 



The sale of potted plants, particu- 

 larly in the larger flower centers, is a 

 new channel, which offers a great field 

 for those willing to take a forward 

 step and rise above the rose and car- 

 nation farms so popular and so indica- 

 tive of the day. The wonderful 

 features of the National Boston Flower 

 I Show in the potted plant line will no 



doubt be duplicated and surpassed in 

 the coming New York exhibition, and 

 may be a proper incentive for the 

 westerners in the art of plant produc- 

 tion. It is highly essential that the 

 prosperous retailer interest the public 

 in the growing plant as well as in the 

 short-lived cut flower. It is almost 

 impossible to present the wondrous and 

 changing beauty of the flower possi- 

 bilities to the public without the ele- 

 gant displays of rose plants, rhododen- 

 drons, azaleas, bougainvilleas, acacias, 

 and particularly hydrangeas, cyclamens 

 and the like. 



Qood and Bad Salesmanship. 



A higher 'standard of salesmanship is 

 an essential that must be reckoned 

 with in all the retail stores. The great 

 strides made by dealers in accessories, 

 such as baskets, ribbons and supplies, 

 which outshine in many instances in 

 a wholesale way those of the retailers 

 themselves, are an instance of what 

 first-class salesmanship — and to that it 

 must be largely attributed — may do. 

 A clerk who is not able to sell quanti- 

 ties of goods at a fair price, is no 

 more destructive than one who is 

 shrewd enough to obtain more from a 

 purchaser than he is really willing to 

 spend. A first-class clerk, who has 

 good judgment, gaining the confidence 

 of the patron and his employer, and 

 who is able to arrange blossoms in a 

 fine, individual style, is a scarce ar- 

 ticle. There is and always will be 

 room at the top for those climbing 

 that way. 



Artistic taste is a leading factor in 

 the disposition of flowers. To offer 

 them for sale in unsightly masses at a 

 low price is not sufficient. It is far bet- 

 ter to sell a few flowers, well arranged, 

 than to sell many of them in such a 

 way as to decrease, rather than in- 

 crease, the general love of flowers. 

 Elegant window displays, taste in store 

 and house decorations, promptness, fair- 

 ness in dealing, progressiveness, con- 

 stant energy and alertness, are the 

 older virtues with which the striving 

 store man is ever face to face in his 

 race to outclass his competitor and to 

 dispose of his wares, and these virtues 

 are striven after equally hard by his 

 brother grower. 



The Path of Progress. 



The increase in the general use of 

 flowers is far greater than the increase 

 in population. This may be attributed 

 to two factors — one of them the fact 

 that the masses live farther removed 

 from nature's beauty than formerly 

 and hence have a greater general crav- 

 ing for it. The other factor, and the 

 stronger one, is the educational cam- 

 paign of the retailers in securing pub- 

 licity and constantly exploiting the 

 flower business. Will it not be well, 

 then, to follow the trail which has been 

 leading forward for many years? 



Our age has not been blessed with 



