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Allied Florists of Houston

The Association of Professional Florists

...When only the best will do.

Archive - AFH July 1979 - June 1980

The newly elected board of the Allied Florists lay a lei on Mike Sandel, who was re-elected as President during the Hawaiian Luau election meeting at Braebum Country Club. In the picture are:

Top Row (left to right): Lynn Schweke of Ft. Bend Florist, Retail Director; Mike Broyles of Houston Greenhouses, Grower Director; Mike Danna of Queen Anne's Flowers, Retail Director and Cheryl Simpson of Memorial Florist, Retail Director.

Seated (left to right): Charles Booth of Boyd's Flower Shop, First Vice President; Susan Patterson of Darlene's, Immediate Past President, Sandel of Golden Mushroom and Alean Gault of Flowers by Alean, Second Vice President.

Filling out the Board but not in the picture are Don Cunningham of Kay-Tee Florist, Retail Director, and Buck Taylor of Floral Services, Wholesale Director.

July 1979 to June 1980
Board of Directors

LaVon Bankhead, Mike Sandel and the 1980 Houston Cup winner Kathi Thomas, Thomas Florist in The Woodlands.

Membership Drive

Mounted an intensive campaign to bring in new members. During the year 22 were approved with 22 membership applications pending board approval. Note that Houston Allied is made up almost entirely of member shops, not individual members. Total membership is 69 retail shops, growers, wholesalers and tradesmen, and also includes 6 members who have joined under the new category of employee members.

Design Show

Staged a Saturday - Sunday, Spring Design School with 725 attendance, not counting personnel of the 82 commercial booths. The show, called "Nowhere But Texas", was a stunning success, with all-time record attendance and $3800 in door prizes.

Statement Stuffers

Provided free of charge to all participating retail shops statement suffers, 30,000 per flower holiday, for three events:
     Valentine's Day
     Mother-in-Law's Day
     Friday Flowers

Friday Flower Advertising

With the aid of co-op money from the Society of American Florists spent $7200 in large-space newspaper ads advertising Friday Flowers. Individual retailers bought small-space signature ads around the big ads, much in the style of wire service advertisements.

New Publication

Instituted in September, 1979 an expanded newsletter of 8 to 12 pages, "The Allied Florist", circulated free to 650 florist shops, growers
and wholesalers in Houston and surrounding areas. The publication, supported by advertising, goes free to members and non-members alike. In September, 1980 circulation will be extended to another 115 shops in a wider area of South and East Texas. Note that circulation, like Houston Allied membership, is by shop or store, not by individual. Readership is considerably higher than actual circulation. The publication, plus an aggressive membership campaign, is responsible for the gratifying increase in member shops.

Wall Directories

Published an increased size, 17 x 22 inches, directory listing Houston Funeral homes, hospitals and members along with their Key Map code for ease of routing deliveries and transfer orders. The directory was distributed free of charge to members with a price of $5.00 for non-members.

By-Law Revision

Revised By-laws were mainly aimed at tightening requirements for membership.

Presented Programs

Educational and information programs were presented for the membership throughout the year. Topics covered included advertising, merchandising, hot-check collections, selling, flower care and individual comfort topics from a podiatrist on shoes and foot care, and from a chiropractor on how to stand, lift and rest.

Insurance Program

Developed a concept whereby members could have the benefit of group-type business insurance in areas not covered by the Texas State Florist Association.

Window Signs

Made available to the membership store-window signs promoting Friday Flowers. These signs featured a space so the item featured and price could be changed quickly.

Temperature Control Mediation

Provided timely researched information to members on how to qualify for Houston's unique thermostat law.

Flower Glut

Provided membership with information on how to benefit from the traditional summer abundance of flowers. These efforts have attracted favorable attention from growers nationally and wholesalers locally.

Special Wholesaler Meetings

The president, wholesale director and secretary attended a meaningful session with wholesaler-growers to expand knowledge of the necessary function of all divisions in a true Allied Florist group.

Media Efforts

Members of the Houston Allied Florists appear 52 weeks a year on a call-in radio program, to provide seasonal information regularly on television and are featured in timely big-space newspaper articles.

Allied Florists of Houston
c/o Taylor Wholesale Florist
1601 West 21st Street
Houston, TX 77008
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