Ten Years Later and ProFlowers Still Growing Fresh From the Fields

ProFlowers Celebrates its 10th Year this Valentine's Day

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Valentine's Day marks ten years of
"growth" for ProFlowers(R), the online fresh flower marketplace.
ProFlowers.com delivered flowers for the first time on Feb. 14, 1998 and is
one of the highest-rated and fastest-growing flower companies in business.
Ten years ago, ProFlowers delivered its first 500 bouquets of roses
shipped direct from a single farm in California. This Valentine's Day, the
company expects to serve more than a million customers with 185 different
varieties of fresh cut flowers shipped from eight different countries around
the world.
ProFlowers was founded to solve a specific problem: Americans wanted to
buy flowers more often but did not because of their high price and short vase
life. To address those issues, ProFlowers made a strategic decision to use
then-emerging Internet technology not only to sell direct but to ship direct
to consumers. The company's proprietary e-commerce platform eliminated
middlemen and provided customers with direct access to the world's best
growers. While other dot-coms have come and gone, ProFlowers has experienced
consistent growth over the past ten years from zero to almost $300 million in
annual revenue.
The company's innovative business model allows customers to receive a
higher quality, fresher product at a lower price point, while growers receive
significant benefits through improved profitability. The company and its
people continue to be recognized for their pioneering approach.
ProFlowers was named Internet Start-Up of the Year by the San Diego
Software Industry Council (SDSIC) in 1999. CEO Bill Strauss, the company's
first employee, along with company founder Jared Polis, won the 2000 Ernst &
Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in San Diego. As the customer base grew,
so did the company, expanding from a small start up staff to more than
300 employees today.
"From day one, our business has been about changing the way America sends
flowers. We took a new look at a very established category and discovered the
best way to make customers happy was to deliver beautiful flowers that stay
fresher, longer at an affordable price point. We were the first to offer one
dozen roses online for $29.99 and then two dozen roses for $29.99 -- while
protecting the income of our growers," said Bill Strauss, CEO. "Equally
important is the employee experience -- we strive to make ProFlowers a
fantastic place to work and take pride in the loyalty of our employees as much
as our customers."
In 2003, the company changed its name to Provide Commerce, Inc. and went
public on NASDAQ at $15 a share. In 2006, Liberty Media Corporation
(Nasdaq: LINTA, LCAPA) ("Liberty") purchased Provide Commerce for $477 million
or $33.75 a share.
"Provide Commerce's superior business model and high-quality leadership
team caught our eye early on," said Greg Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty.
"The company continues to hire and retain top talent, enabling the innovation
necessary to exceed customer expectations. These strengths combined with
ongoing solid sales growth make Provide Commerce an important asset for
Liberty and a brand that will continue to be a strong performer for us."
About ProFlowers(R)
ProFlowers(R) is run by Provide Commerce, Inc., which operates an
e-commerce marketplace of websites for perishable goods that offers fresh,
high-quality products direct from the supplier to the customer at competitive
prices. The company's platform combines an online storefront, proprietary
supply chain management technology and established supplier relationships to
create a market platform that bypasses traditional supply chains of
wholesalers, distributors and retailers.
Provide Commerce(R) launched its marketplace in 1998 to sell and deliver
fresh cut flowers for everyday and special occasions such as Valentine's Day,
Easter, Mother's Day, birthday and anniversary events, through its
ProFlowers(R) brand and website, http://www.proflowers.com. Provide Commerce
also offers fresh fruit and confections direct from the supplier to its
customers at Cherry Moon Farms(R), http://www.cherrymoonfarms.com, and Secret
Spoon(sm), http://www.secretspoon.com. For more information, please visit
http://www.providecommerce.com.
Liberty Media Corporation is a holding company that owns interests in a
broad range of electronic retailing, media, communications and entertainment
businesses. Those interests are attributed to two tracking stock groups:
Liberty Interactive, which includes Liberty Media's interests in QVC, Provide
Commerce, IAC/InterActiveCorp and Expedia, and Liberty Capital, which includes
all Liberty Media's assets that are not attributed to Liberty Interactive,
including Liberty Media's interests in Starz Entertainment Group and News
Corporation.
SOURCE ProFlowers

Brent Harney, bharney@bratskeir.com, or Courtney Ryder, cryder@bratskeir.com,
both of Bratskeir & Company, +1-212-679-2233, for ProFlowers; or Karen Behrman
of ProFlowers, +1-858-909-4237, kbehrman@proflowers.com