American chief predicts bumper Valentine’s
Like our Editor, Chris McCaan, CEO of 1-800 is predicting a bumper Valentine’s. In fact so confident is he, he upped his companies sale predictions last month.
Speaking to Pamela Danziger for Forbes Magazine, the man who heads up the USA’s biggest flower company told her “If there’s anything we’ve learned throughout the pandemic, it’s the need for human connection to express ourselves and life’s everyday moments. For a company whose vision is to inspire expression, connection and celebration, we are well positioned in front of these trends,”
“We see a pent up need to express our feelings this Valentine’s Day, which gave us confidence in our latest earnings release to guide top-line growth in the 45% to 50% range,” McCann says. And this despite the typical drag the company has seen when Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday.
Despite the disruption to normal operations, the pandemic proved a windfall for the 1-800-Flowers.com business. Through the first six months of fiscal 2021, ending December 27, 2020, total revenues were up 46.4%, reaching $1.2 billion in sales, over $792.9 million previous year.
According to Forbes what is even more impressive is the company’s dramatic growth from July 1 through September 27, 2020, a period without any major national gifting holiday.
Above: The McCaan brothers who have created the largest flower brand in the USA ... partly by acquistion, partly by always looking to capture the next generation of flower buyers with eye catching marketing material.
The company started as a local Manhattan flower shop in 1976 by Chris’ brother Jim McCann, who grew it to a 14-store chain. In 1986, Jim acquired the 1-800-Flowers phone number and changed the company’s name. The company’s original mission was to “disrupt the floral industry,” but Jim never forgot his roots.
Today it relies on a network of about 5,000 local independent florists to fill orders under its BloomNet reporting segment. “The independent florists are not just important to us, but to their local communities,” Chris McCann says in the interview . “So when the pandemic hit, we mobilized immediately to help our florists survive. We gave them financial assistance ourselves, beyond keeping them informed about all government programs and local, state and federal guidelines. We provided masks, sanitizers and other equipment. We also waived fees during the pandemic and ramped up our marketing and social media capabilities to help these florists reach out into their local communities.”
Sales in the BloomNet reporting segment rose 30.5% year-over-year from July through December 2020.
“Yes, there have been lots of local flower shops closing across the country, but we’ve actually had less florists impacted than originally expected. Our florist network has moved from the survival phase into the thriving phase,” he reveals and adds, “Our florists don’t just handle deliveries, but we harness the creativity of these local artisans for design inspiration.”
To read the whole article click here
