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Abstract
Excerpts from the report: The florist industry consists of many small businesses that, together, are big business. In 1959, more than 20,000 establishments produced flower crops. Their production was marketed through approximately 1,200 wholesale and 20,000 retail florists. Retail value of goods and services provided by these firms totaled nearly $1.2 billion, of which about $750 million came from sales of specialized retail florists and retail growers. Since most of the inventory of a florist shop is perishable or for specialized uses, florists have little collateral to offer in obtaining loans. If florists are unable to expand their businesses because of lack of funds, an analysis of their credit and financing problems and practices should indicate means by which their financial positions could be improved. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that florists suffer from large bad-debt losses, and that this record hampers their ability to obtain operating capital from lending institutions.