1-800-Flowers

1-800-Flowers.com, Inc.[3] is a floral and foods gift retailer and distribution company in the United States. The company's focus, except for Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, is on gift baskets, using the name 1-800-Baskets.com.[3] Their use of "coyly self-descriptive telephone numbers" is part of their business model:[4] 800-GOODIES, 800-CANDIES and "a bunch more in reserve."[5]

1-800-Flowers.com, Inc.
TypePublic
NASDAQ: FLWS (Class A)
Russell 2000 Component
IndustryRetail
Founded1982
FounderJames McCann[1]
HeadquartersCarle Place, New York, United States[2]
Key people
James McCann (Chairman)
Chris McCann (CEO)
ProductsFlowers, gift baskets, plants, food, collectibles
SubsidiariesHarry & David
Websitewww.1800flowers.com

1-800-Flowers provides Same Day Delivery using "a network of local florists who provide and deliver the bouquets." For the company's gift basket offering, a hybrid solution is how they've worked around the limitation of "local retailers can’t be expected to have in stock at all time."[3] Major competitors include ProFlowers and its parent FTD.[6][7]

History

Founding and early years

The concept of using the word "flowers" within a phoneword was originated by William Alexander in the early 1980s. The phone number, 1-800-356-9377, had been randomly assigned to a trucking brokerage in Wisconsin owned by Curtis Jahn and was used for that company until 1981. In an agreement with Jahn that would later be sharply contested, Granville Semmes and David Snow formed a Louisiana corporation that began to use that number to sell flowers in Louisiana, starting in 1982.[8] The use of the number would trigger a series of lawsuits.[8] Their business struggled and that company was dissolved, with its assets going to investors James Poage and John Davis of Texas. The new corporation struggled financially as well.[8] Its assets were acquired in 1986 by Jim McCann, an owner of several flower shops in the New York City area since 1976, under whom the business saw success and growth.[1]

1990s

In the early 1990s, two events helped bring 1-800-Flowers to national prominence. First, AT&T created an advertising campaign featuring the company that aired repeatedly during the 1992 Summer Olympics.[1] Then, at the time of the first Persian Gulf War, many advertisers were pulling out of CNN, unaware that CNN's war coverage would draw additional viewers. 1-800-Flowers agreed to remain as an advertiser at founder Ted Turner's request.[1]

The company was among the first retailers to partner with CompuServe and AOL, in 1992 and 1994 respectively. On September 1, 1995, the company registered the 1800flowers.com domain name.[9] In 1999, the company went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol FLWS and changed its name to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, to match its website address.

In 1994 the company acquired "the nation's biggest floral shop chain with more than 100 franchises in California and the Southwest."[10]

2000s

The company has merged with or acquired a number of other gift and retailing companies. In September 2007, the company announced a partnership with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to produce a line of floral products inspired by Martha Stewart.[11]

According to the Consumerist in 2008, customers have reported unknowingly being subscribed to LiveWell after receiving rebate checks from 1-800-Flowers.[12]

It had 4,000 employees as of 2008, with a market cap of US$119 million.[13]

In 2009, revenue was US$714 million.[14] Operating income was US$72.2 million,[14] net income was US$98.4 million,[14] assets were valued at US$286 million,[15] and equity was at 134 million.[15]

In March 2017, Ferrero SpA bought Fannie May and Harry London from 1-800-Flowers.com for $115 million.[16]

Acquisitions
  • May 2006, 1-800-Flowers acquired several Alpine Confections Inc. brands including Fannie May Confections, Fannie Farmer and Harry London Candies ($85 million).[17]
  • April 1, 2008, 1-800-Flowers purchased DesignPac Gifts LLC (US$33.4 million).[18]
  • July 21, 2008, 1-800-Flowers purchased Napco Marketing Corporation (US$9.4 million).[19]
  • August 1, 2011, the company acquired Flowerama (US$4.3 million).[20]
  • August 5, 2019, 1-800-Flowers was the successful bidder of the Shari's Berries brand (US$20.5 million).[21]

Subsidiaries
  • 1-800-Baskets.com, an online retailer of gift baskets[22]
  • BloomNet, a floral wire service[22]
  • Cheryl's Cookies, a cookie company based in Westerville, Ohio[22]
  • DesignPac Gifts, a basket company in Melrose Park, Illinois[22]
  • Florists.com, a floral wire service[23]
  • FruitBouquets.com, an online retailer of fruit bouquets and baskets[22]
  • Harry & David, a retailer for fruit gifts based in Medford, Oregon[24][22]
  • Napco, a floral distributor[22]
  • Personalization Universe, an online retailer of keepsake gifts[22]
  • The Popcorn Factory, a catalog retailer of popcorn tins and snacks based in Lake Forest, Illinois[22]
  • Stock Yards, an online retailer of meats and seafood[22]
  • Shari's Berries, an online retailer of chocolate covered fruit[25]

See also

References
  1. McCann, Jim; Olsen, Particia R. (March 16, 2008). "Flowers, via Social Work". The New York Times. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  2. Daysi Calavia-Robertson (August 22, 2018). "1-800-Flowers.com launches Goodsey.com, an e-commerce site". Newsday. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  3. Douglas Quenqua (December 22, 2009). "Bringing Bouquets and Gift Baskets Together". The New York Times.
  4. Stuart Elliott (September 24, 1993). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING -- ADDENDA; Teleway Shifts Accounts to McCann". The New York Times.
  5. Diane Ketcham (September 13, 1992). "ABOUT LONG ISLAND; At the Other End of the 800 Toll-Free Line". The New York Times.
  6. Stacy Cowley (February 10, 2016). "Florist-Friendly Marketplaces Help Local Flower Shops Hang On". The New York Times.
  7. Alex Arpaia (May 7, 2020). "The Best Online Flower Delivery Service". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  8. CURTIS P. JAHN and CAPITOL WAREHOUSING CORPORATION, Plaintiffs, v. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, INC., FRESH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES, INC. and 800-FLOWERS, INC. (District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin July 23, 2001).Text
  9. "WHOIS page". Network Solutions. November 6, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  10. Richard D. Smith (January 8, 1995). "From One Little Shop, an 800-Flowers Garden Grows". The New York Times.
  11. "1-800-Flowers.com, Martha Stewart Living in tie-up". Reuters. September 20, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  12. "1800flowers Dupes You Into Signing Up For "LiveWell" For $11.99 Per Month". The Consumerist. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  13. "Company Profile for 1-800-FLOWERS.COM Inc (FLWS)". Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  14. 1-800 Flowers.com (FLWS) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest
  15. 1-800 Flowers.com (FLWS) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest
  16. Channick, Robert (March 17, 2017). "Italian maker of Nutella buys Fannie May". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  17. "Sweet success: Fannie May back after bankruptcy". Associated Press. November 28, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via Daily Herald.
  18. "DesignPac Gifts acquired by 1-800-FLOWERS". Crunchbase. 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  19. "Napco Marketing acquired by 1-800-FLOWERS". Crunchbase. 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  20. "Flowerama Of America acquired by 1-800-FLOWERS". Crunchbase. 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  21. "1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. To Acquire Shari's Berries® Brand". www.businesswire.com. August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  22. "Our Brands". investor.1800flowers.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  23. "FAQS | Florists.com". www.florists.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  24. "About Us | Harry & David". www.harryanddavid.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  25. "Chocolate Dipped Strawberries & Chocolate Covered Fruit | Shari's Berries". www.berries.com. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
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