1-800-FLOWERS.COM CEO/Founder Jim McCann Becomes the Latest Business Leader to
Proclaim, 'I Watch CNBC.'
Integrated Campaign Breaking Today Features Retail/Technology Pioneer Relating
How the Business Network has Accompanied Him on the Road to Success
CARLE PLACE, N.Y., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 1-800-FLOWERS.COM,
Inc. (Nasdaq: FLWS) CEO and Founder Jim McCann debuts today as the latest
business powerhouse to appear in CNBC's "I am American Business. I watch
CNBC." campaign, joining a virtual all-star corporate team in professing the
link between their success and their regular viewing of the global business
media network.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070507/NYM092LOGO )
Launched in early 2007, the CNBC campaign features some of the most
dynamic and successful individuals in American business today, sharing their
stories of success and failure, their management styles and their hopes for
tomorrow. Other business icons already profiled in the campaign include Sirius
CEO Mel Karmazin, former GE CEO Jack Welch, Viacom/CBS head Sumner Redstone,
Southwest Airlines Co-founder and Chairman Herb Kelleher, BP Capital's Boone
Pickens, Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group/Sean John CEO Sean 'Diddy'
Combs, Baby Einstein Co. Founder Julie Aigner-Clark and nearly a dozen others
who have left indelible marks on the business world.
Anchored by a 30-second spot presented as a one-on-one interview with its
subject, the campaign is running on CNBC and other NBC networks, in major
print media including The Wall Street Journal, and online. The complete
campaign can be viewed online at http://iam.cnbc.com, and includes all the
spots produced to date plus bonus material such as brief biographies, producer
notes from the filming and a transcript of the interview from which the spot
was created.
McCann's is a story of entrepreneurial drive, out of which he has grown
one of the world's leading gift retail businesses. Despite coming from a
family that for several generations had owned and operated a successful
contract painting business, he was determined to pursue his own career path.
He left an early job as a bartender to become a social worker, helping
underprivileged young men overcome poverty, drugs and despair. But his
appetite for business eventually became too strong to ignore, and it led him
to purchase a single Manhattan flower shop. Out of that one location, he built
an international business with nearly $1 billion in sales, expanded the
definition of retailing, pioneered modern-day retail standards such as toll-
free ordering service and online sales, and ultimately positioned 1-800-
FLOWERS.COM as a leader not only in its product categories but among all
businesses worldwide.
"Technology challenges us to get more personal," McCann reveals in the
spot. "All we are trying to do is replicate the relationship I had with my
first 25 customers with our 25 million customers." The spot concludes with the
tagline that has marked all the entries in the campaign, "I am American
Business. I watch CNBC."
"Jim McCann loves having his company right at the forefront of new
technology. [He] jumps into new ideas first and looks for the sales angle
second. Flowers are about as low-tech a product as you can imagine, and Jim
McCann seems like an old-fashioned, family-oriented guy, but somehow this
combination has created a very forward-thinking brand," said Ellen Lewis, the
CNBC Producer who manages the campaign.
The author of three books - A Year Full of Flowers; Stop and Sell the
Roses; and Celebrations: A Joyous Guide to Holidays from Past to Present -
McCann is a frequently requested business commentator. Recently, he not only
has sat in front of the TV screen watching CNBC's broadcasts but also has
visited the CNBC studios as a guest on such programs as "The Big Idea with
Donny Deutsch," "Squawk Box" and "Fast Money," among a regular stream of
business and consumer media appearances.
"We view our participation in this campaign as testimony to the fact that
our organization, through its flagship and affiliated brands, is regarded as a
major player in the global business world, not merely the floral and gift
segment," said McCann. "It's a great honor and privilege."
About 1-800-FLOWERS.COM
For more than 30 years, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM has been providing customers
around the world with the freshest flowers and finest selection of plants,
gift baskets, gourmet foods, confections and plush stuffed animals perfect for
every occasion. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM(R) offers the best of both worlds:
exquisite, florist-designed arrangements individually created by some of the
nation's top floral artists and hand-delivered the same day, and spectacular
flowers shipped overnight from our "Fresh From Our Growers(sm). collection."
Customers can "call, click or come in" to shop 1-800-FLOWERS.COM twenty four
hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-356-9377 or www.1800flowers.com. Sales and
Service Specialists are available 24/7, and fast and reliable delivery is
offered same day, any day. As always, 100 percent satisfaction and freshness
are guaranteed. The 1-800-FLOWERS.COM collection of brands also includes home
decor and children's gifts from Plow & Hearth(R) (1-800-627-1712 or
www.plowandhearth.com), Problem Solvers(R) (www.problemsolvers.com), Wind &
Weather(R) (www.windandweather.com), HearthSong(R) (www.hearthsong.com) and
Magic Cabin(R) (www.magiccabin.com); gourmet gifts including popcorn and
specialty treats from The Popcorn Factory(R) (1-800-541-2676 or
www.thepopcornfactory.com); exceptional cookies and baked gifts from
Cheryl&Co.(R) (1-800-443-8124 or www.cherylandco.com); premium chocolates and
confections from Fannie May(R) Confections Brands (www.fanniemay.com and
www.harrylondon.com); gourmet foods from Greatfood.com(R) (www.greatfood.com);
wine gifts from Ambrosia(R) (www.ambrosia.com); gift baskets from 1-800-
BASKETS.COM(R) (www.1800baskets.com) and the BloomNet(R) international floral
wire service, which provides quality products and diverse services to a select
network of florists. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. stock is traded on the NASDAQ
market under ticker symbol FLWS.
SOURCE 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.
Yanique Woodall, +1-516-237-6028, or Greg Pitkoff, +1-718-614-6677, both for
1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.
