Latest news with #JimMcCann
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
5 Revealing Analyst Questions From 1-800-FLOWERS's Q1 Earnings Call
1-800-FLOWERS faced a difficult first quarter, as the market responded sharply to results that missed Wall Street's expectations. Management attributed the shortfall to both external and internal factors, including declining consumer sentiment, increased tariffs, and expensive digital marketing channels that failed to yield expected returns. CEO Jim McCann was notably self-critical, describing the company's order management system rollout as a 'colossal screw-up' that impacted sales and customer satisfaction, particularly in the Harry & David brand. The leadership team also acknowledged the loss of lower-income customers and a promotional market environment as key contributors to the quarter's underperformance. Is now the time to buy FLWS? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $331.5 million vs analyst estimates of $364.2 million (12.6% year-on-year decline, 9% miss) Adjusted EPS: -$0.71 vs analyst estimates of -$0.34 (significant miss) Adjusted EBITDA: -$34.92 million vs analyst estimates of -$12.43 million (-10.5% margin, significant miss) Operating Margin: -16.7%, down from -6.4% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $326.1 million While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Anthony Lebiedzinski (Sidoti and Company) asked about the impact of holiday timing and the Easter shift on sales. CEO Jim McCann and CFO James Langrock confirmed that holiday placement helped, but everyday business remained soft, and the Easter shift materially affected year-over-year comparisons. Lebiedzinski (Sidoti and Company) questioned the financial and operational impact of the order management system issues. McCann called the implementation a 'colossal screw-up' and Langrock estimated at least $20 million in lost sales and $11 million in incremental costs over two quarters. Lebiedzinski (Sidoti and Company) sought details on the Celebrations Wave timeline, asking what could be achieved in the first year. Management outlined near-term steps including new app capabilities, expanded relationship management tools, and AI-powered personalization for customer engagement. Michael Kupinski (NOBLE Capital Markets) asked whether revenue weakness was concentrated among higher or lower-income customers. President Tom Hartnett stated the biggest declines were among lower-income consumers, while higher-end customers continued to spend on premium items. Doug Lane (Water Tower Research) inquired about the decision to exit retail during COVID and prospects for returning to physical stores. McCann admitted the closure was a mistake and discussed plans for further holiday pop-ups and select permanent store locations based on recent positive results. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will watch for (1) measurable reductions in customer acquisition costs from the Celebrations Wave ecosystem, (2) progress on resolving order management and system implementation issues, and (3) stabilization or recovery in everyday gifting demand outside of major holidays. Additional attention will be paid to early traction from the company's AI-driven personalization features and any material impacts from changes in tariff policy or consumer sentiment. 1-800-FLOWERS currently trades at $5.13, down from $5.80 just before the earnings. Is there an opportunity in the stock?See for yourself in our full research report (it's free). Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FLWS Q1 Earnings Call: Strategic Overhaul Amid Revenue and Margin Pressures
E-commerce florist and gift retailer 1-800-FLOWERS (NASDAQ:FLWS) fell short of the market's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, with sales falling 12.6% year on year to $331.5 million. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.71 per share was significantly below analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy FLWS? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $331.5 million vs analyst estimates of $364.2 million (12.6% year-on-year decline, 9% miss) Adjusted EPS: -$0.71 vs analyst estimates of -$0.34 (significant miss) Operating Margin: -16.7%, down from -6.4% in the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $327.4 million 1-800-FLOWERS' first quarter results were shaped by persistent macroeconomic headwinds and internal operational issues. Management openly acknowledged the impact of declining consumer sentiment, increased marketing costs, and the fallout from a problematic order management system rollout. Chairman Jim McCann described the implementation as a 'colossal screw-up,' noting that it disrupted fulfillment and customer service, particularly in the company's food group brands. The company also cited a highly promotional sales environment and the reduction of lower-income customer spending as factors that weighed on performance. These challenges combined to drive a double-digit decline in revenue and significantly weaker profitability. Looking ahead, 1-800-FLOWERS is focused on its new Celebrations Wave strategy to address both external and internal pressures. Management emphasized plans to reduce marketing costs, improve operational efficiency through artificial intelligence, and revamp customer engagement with a new digital ecosystem. CFO James Langrock explained that, 'We anticipate that our new celebrations ecosystem will meaningfully reduce our customer acquisition costs and enhance customer lifetime value over time.' The company withdrew near-term guidance due to external uncertainties, including tariffs and consumer spending trends, but expects the new strategy to eventually restore growth by targeting both everyday and holiday occasions with a broader product range and more personalized experiences. Management attributed the quarter's underperformance to macroeconomic softness, shifting consumer behavior, and internal execution missteps, while highlighting new leadership and a transformative strategy to realign the business. Order management system setbacks: The company's implementation of a new order management system led to operational disruptions, inventory write-offs, and customer dissatisfaction, particularly in the Harry & David food group. Management estimated the impact at over $20 million in lost holiday sales and more than $11 million in incremental costs across two quarters. Marketing cost pressures: Shifting digital platforms toward paid placements reduced the effectiveness of traditional marketing channels, raising customer acquisition costs. Management noted that sales and marketing spend has averaged 25% of revenue in recent years and expects new strategies to lower this over time. Everyday business softness: While holiday occasions like Valentine's Day performed reasonably, everyday gifting occasions saw significant declines. The company attributed this to weakening consumer confidence and decreased discretionary spending among lower-income customers. Product mix and customer segmentation: Higher-income customers continued to spend, with new high-ticket offerings selling out, while lower-income segments reduced purchases. This mix shift elevated average order values but masked underlying volume declines. Retail strategy evolution: The exit from most physical retail during the pandemic was described as a mistake by management. The company is now selectively re-entering retail through pop-up stores and a new flagship Harry & David location, aiming to increase brand engagement and diversify sales channels. The company's outlook hinges on the successful execution of its Celebrations Wave strategy, ongoing cost reductions, and adaptability to consumer demand volatility. Celebrations Wave rollout: Management is betting on the new Celebrations Wave initiative—combining a digital ecosystem, personalized engagement, and loyalty enhancements—to drive frequency, reduce acquisition costs, and broaden the customer base beyond holiday periods. Early investments include a new app, expanded greeting card options, and a revamped website. Cost reduction and operational efficiency: The company is targeting annualized cost reductions of $40 million, including $17 million already achieved. These savings are expected to support reinvestment in technology, marketing innovation, and margin stabilization, but near-term volatility remains possible as execution continues. Tariff and macroeconomic headwinds: Exposure to tariffs, especially on goods from China, and uncertain consumer sentiment remain key risks. The company is working with vendors on cost concessions, adjusting its product assortment, and evaluating pricing strategies to mitigate impacts, but visibility remains limited. Over the next few quarters, the StockStory team will monitor (1) progress on resolving order management system issues and restoration of everyday business trends, (2) measurable reductions in marketing spend as the Celebrations Wave ecosystem expands, and (3) the revenue and engagement impact of new digital products and retail concepts. The ability to navigate tariff risks and maintain customer loyalty will also be key markers of execution. 1-800-FLOWERS currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 17.5×. In the wake of earnings, is it a buy or sell? See for yourself in our full research report (it's free). Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
12-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why 1-800-Flowers Continues To Bloom Through Decades Of Change
Almost 40 years ago when 800 phone numbers that spelled something were all the rage, Jim McCann transformed his chain of New York flower shops into what became the national chain 1-800-Flowers. It's stayed relevant through the years by adopting new technology, making acquisitions in the gift-giving and delivery space, and staying true to an always-desired product. Today, the day after one of the busiest in the flower delivery business, Adolfo Villagomez takes over from McCann as 1-800-Flowers's new CEO. McCann will remain the company's executive chairman. I talked to McCann last month about his time in the flower business, the risks he's taken, and the reasons business has persevered. This interview has been edited for length, clarity and continuity. It was excerpted in the Forbes CEO newsletter. How did you get started in the floral business? McCann: It was an accident. I grew up in Queens, New York, and looking around at the potential role models around me, there were some bad people and there were lots of good people: civil servants, shopkeepers, tradesmen. I decided to be a policeman, so I went to John Jay College of Criminal Justice. While I was in school, I started working in a group home for teenage boys. I was a live-in night counselor, and that caused me to accidentally have a career in the social services because I really came to like the work and did it for quite a while. Over the years, I went from living in a group home to running a group home to running all the group homes. That's where I grew up. It really changed me as a person, matured me, so I kept postponing going into the police department. But working in a not-for-profit social work world, you don't make very much money. I married young, we started a family young, and so money was always an issue. I worked part-time in other jobs. And being an Irish Catholic kid from South Queens, the prevalent job was bartending. 1-800-Flowers founder and Executive Chairman Jim McCann. I was working Friday and Saturday nights on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. One of my customers who would stay late on Saturday nights owned the flower shop across the street and chatted a bunch. He told me he was going to be selling that flower shop. I thought, that's interesting, retail. I've worked in retail all of my working years. I understood it. I asked him how much he was asking for the flower shop. He said $10,000. I thought it was a sign from God because I just sold a building that I had bought in Brooklyn and fixed up. I had a $10,000 profit. So, I said, this is a sign. I wound up buying that flower shop. I kept my job at St. John's Home with the intent of not just becoming a florist, which of course I did, but to build a business. Six months after I bought the first shop, I opened the second shop, and every six months I'd open a shop. Then every three months. Eight years later, I was full-time in the flower business. How did you go from flower shops in New York City to the nationwide company 1-800-Flowers? Ten years in, I had 40 or so flower shops, and I decided to buy the company that had the telephone number that became 1-800 Flowers. Then I changed how we went to market. I changed the name of the shops to 1-800-Flowers. Everyone thought that was crazy: To buy the telephone number, to change the name of the retail stores to a telephone number. But so far it's worked. I sold those shops because I needed money to build this idea, to market it. I didn't know anything about venture capital or private equity. I didn't have any of those skills or knowledge. So I became a franchisor because I needed to sell the shops to get money to build this brand. The good news is, five years later, we were a national brand because we didn't have any money, so we couldn't make any big financial mistakes. And we caught the wave of interest in people using 800 numbers. We got a lot of free press and promotional opportunities that really helped us become a brand. At that point, my younger brother, 10 years my junior, joined us in business. We said, 'If we could become a national brand with no money and no knowledge, what's going to replace us?' So we were always on the lookout for what's next. What happened next? Of course, what's next was the internet. We were early to it. That was our third wave. The fourth wave was just at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. We were impacted by it and we said, 'Geez, we can't afford to do all these development ideas we had in mind.' We went from 16 to three that we continue to fund. One was our technology platform and the other two were social and mobile. And boy oh boy, they were the right guesses, because social and mobile changed everything for us. The fourth wave was just at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. We were impacted by it and we said, 'Geez, we can't afford to do all these development ideas we had in mind.' We went from 16 to three that we continue to fund. One was our technology platform and the other two were social and mobile. And boy oh boy, they were the right guesses, because social and mobile changed everything for us. How have you decided which business gambles to bet on? You've done well with all of them. Not really. When we got on the internet, we were tracking how many other things we tried, and it was over 50 other tech changes. We put our catalogs on a CD-ROM when that was in vogue back in the early '90s. It was a bomb. There were 50 of those bombs. The one we kept coming back to and iterating on was this online world, which was dominated at that time by CompuServe, Prodigy and this little outfit called AOL. My brother and I are very curious and we're not afraid to ask a lot of people what's going on. In my case, you don't have to be the smartest person in the world, but you have to ask a lot of questions, and you have to get to the right people to get their insights so you can make your judgment about what's coming through the pipe. Throughout your time in the flower business, what has been your philosophy? A wise fellow who I stay in touch with is Bob Pittman. [He] was running AOL with Steve Case and Ted Leonsis back in the early '90s when we chose them to partner with. We try to do all of our judgments based on genuine relationships, and Bob convinced us then that we should go public. That was a wise recommendation. He also espoused the theory of convenience. He said convenience trumps everything. We've been on our path as a company looking for how can we be more convenient for our customers. Basically, what we want to do is be convenient enough to help them to easily act on their thoughtfulness. What would be more convenient than coming to the store? My friends in the flower business told me, no one wants to use a credit card. They all want a house account. And no one wants to call you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All of which is wrong; Bob's prediction was ignore them. How can you be more convenient for your customers to enable them to act on their thoughtfulness? That's been our driving mantra: How can we be more convenient, which is why we adopted mobile so early, why we adopted the internet, and why we're using AI now. We realized a long time ago that we're not really in the flower and fruit and chocolate gift businesses. We're really in the relationship business because when people come to us, they want to express themselves and their emotions to somebody. Tell me about some of the options you have; the company is more than flowers. We just developed a small company last year and broadened its capability to help people to be able to send a greeting card. Now you can come to any of our sites, and you order a greeting card. You can choose from our library. You can write what you want in it, or you can take what we suggest. You can use our AI tools. My wife, who knows that I'm not at all creative, got a little emotional [earlier this year] on her birthday. I told our AI tool that my wife likes to garden, she loves spending time with her grandchildren, she's a baker and she loves teaching her grandkids how to bake, and once in a while, she likes a glass of good wine. The tool asked me: Would you like a poem, a limerick, a sonnet? When my wife opened that card last month in front of the whole family and read this message from me and got emotional, I was thrilled because she at least knew I was thoughtful enough to remember what things to tell the tool. She knows I couldn't compose that poem, but she knew I was thoughtful enough to get help to do it. I handed her the card, but we'll mail it for you for $5.99. People even within our company say, we can't give people a $5.99 alternative. They won't buy our $100 dollar gift baskets. I think they're wrong. More people come to us more frequently now because we have that capability. We have free recommendations. If you ask us to remind you about your mom's birthday, we'll remind you. You'll tell us you want to be reminded two weeks before or a week before or the day of. We use reminders more and more to help our customers to stay connected with the people that matter to them. [We also give] suggestions: gift suggestions, and we always say, here's something you can tell her. Here's something you can text to her. You could send a free digital greeting card. The first set of recommendations we always put forth are free, and then we give you [more options]. You want to send a $5.99 card with postage included? If we give you more reasons to come to us more frequently and you feel like you're having better, and deeper relationships, then it'll be good for our business. What are some other things you've been doing? At we've introduced a relationship management tool. In the beginning of Covid, I started writing a newsletter every Sunday to our customers. I didn't know what else to do. We didn't know if our business was going to go away, and the young lady who was my chief of staff at the time suggested, 'Why don't you just write what you're thinking and feeling and how we're managing through this to our customers? Don't try and sell anything.' I said, 'That's a good idea.' The good news is it worked. The bad news is it's a lot of work. I write about relationships, and I used the calendar a lot: Yesterday was National Siblings Day, so last night I gave everyone else the advice they should connect to their sibling. We use things like that to [remind you of] National Siblings Day, or National School Nurses Day and National Teachers Day. That's our newsletter. We have over 10 million subscribers now. It's taken off and become a podcast that we do exploring relationships and great stories. The community was starting to ask me questions at the beginning of Covid especially: What do I do if my kids are out of school? I created a panel of a half a dozen of the most prominent and thoughtful professionals, psychologists, mostly. Dr. George Everly was the first one that I asked to be on that panel. He called me one day and said, 'Jim, you love this work. I do too. We've been doing some really neat things together. Why don't we write a book?' He convinced me we should do it. It came out in the fall. It's called Lodestar. That resulted in us developing a relationship management tool at George's suggestion. I always remind people at the beginning of the year about their resolutions in my newsletter. And two years ago I started reminding them: You're going to change your diet. You're going to exercise. You should be cognizant of your relationships. Make a list of relationships you have that are going fine. Make a list of relationships that you had, but have waned over the years. Which of those do you want to reinvest in? Give me a list of three, four, five relationships you don't have that you want to be deliberate about: at work in your career, socially, in your community. What's your plan to ignite a relationship there? We use an AI tool to remind you what you tell us that you want to do. You said you wanted to get to know Megan better, but I don't see any correspondence between you, and Megan just got an award. I saw this clipping on it. You might want to drop her a note to say congratulations. We're building those tools into our every day using AI, which is the only effective way to do it, to help people be deliberate about relationship building. There are some founders that stay with their company for a long time, and there are others that don't. You've been in it for the duration. Why have you stayed in the business? I'm not a business person. I'm a person who's in pursuit of success, of feeling accomplishment and purpose. What I am going to do is fire myself again. Nine years ago, I stepped down as CEO. My younger brother Chris took over. Unfortunately, he has some health issues, so he had to step away. I'm only back in it for a temporary period, but I'll always be working and I'll always be around the company, my passion. I'll do the things that I can do: the podcast, the newsletter, thematically working with the management team. What do you see in the future for 1-800-Flowers? I'm very excited about the future, frankly, more excited than I've ever been. This celebratory ecosystem that we're developing has been an idea of mine for a dozen years. But now, finally, the tools are there for us to do that. Like the relationship management tool. We couldn't have done that a year ago. I'm very excited about fleshing out the celebratory ecosystem, helping our customers have better, bigger, deeper relationships, and giving them all the different ways they can connect, whether there's a transaction involved or not. We're starting now to track our customers' engagement with us, not just their transactions. What advice do you have for other CEOs? The advice I give myself is don't think that you have all the answers, and develop a support system of people that you can turn to get a different point of view. Get people who tell you things that you should hear, that you're not going to hear from the people who work for you. I turned to a friend this week and said, 'Bob, these are the three things that I'm wrestling with.' He gave me very unvarnished advice about where I should be spending my time and my energy, and he was very candid with me. So it's good to have people you can turn to who you trust and who will give you the unvarnished truth.
Associated Press
12-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Kaplan Fox is Investigating Potential Securities Law Violations Against 1-800-FLOWERS (FLWS)
NEW YORK, NY - May 12, 2025 ( NEWMEDIAWIRE ) - Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP is investigating potential securities violations against Inc. ('1-800-Flowers' or the 'Company') (NASDAQ: FLWS). CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS INVESTIGATION If you are a 1-800-Flowers investor and have suffered losses, you may CLICK HERE to contact us. You may also contact Kaplan Fox by emailing [email protected] or by calling (212) 329-8571. On May 8, 2025, after the markets closed, 1-800-Flowers announced its fiscal 2025 third quarter results for. The Company reported '[r]evenues of $331.5 million and a Net Loss of $178.2 million, which includes a $138.2 million non-cash goodwill and intangible impairment charge.' The Company also announced that Chief Executive Officer ('CEO'), Jim McCann, will be stepping down as CEO immediately but will 'remain Executive Chairman and be actively involved in the company.' Following this news, the price of 1-800-Flowers stock fell as much as $1.93 per share or over 33% during intraday trading on May 9, 2025. WHY CONTACT KAPLAN FOX - Kaplan Fox is a leading national law firm focusing on complex litigation with offices in New York, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Jersey. With over 50 years of experience in securities litigation, Kaplan Fox offers the professional experience and track record that clients demand. Through prosecuting cases on the federal and state levels, Kaplan Fox has successfully shaped the law through winning many important decisions on behalf of our clients. For more information about Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP, you may visit our website at This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. If you have any questions about this investigation, please contact: CONTACT: Jeffrey P. Campisi KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP 800 Third Avenue, 38th Floor New York, New York 10022 (212) 329-8571 [email protected] Laurence D. King KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP 1999 Harrison Street, Suite 1560 Oakland, California 94612 (415) 772-4704 [email protected] Contacting or submitting information to Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor an obligation on the part of Kaplan Fox to retain you as a client.
Associated Press
10-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Kaplan Fox is Investigating 1-800-FLOWERS (FLWS) for Potential Securities Law Violations
NEW YORK, NY - May 10, 2025 ( NEWMEDIAWIRE ) - Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP is investigating potential securities violations against Inc. ('1-800-Flowers' or the 'Company') (NASDAQ: FLWS). CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS INVESTIGATION If you are a 1-800-Flowers investor and have suffered losses, you may CLICK HERE to contact us. You may also contact Kaplan Fox by emailing [email protected] or by calling (212) 329-8571. On May 8, 2025, after the markets closed, 1-800-Flowers announced its fiscal 2025 third quarter results for. The Company reported '[r]evenues of $331.5 million and a Net Loss of $178.2 million, which includes a $138.2 million non-cash goodwill and intangible impairment charge.' The Company also announced that Chief Executive Officer ('CEO'), Jim McCann, will be stepping down as CEO immediately but will 'remain Executive Chairman and be actively involved in the company.' Following this news, the price of 1-800-Flowers stock fell as much as $1.93 per share or over 33% during intraday trading on May 9, 2025. WHY CONTACT KAPLAN FOX - Kaplan Fox is a leading national law firm focusing on complex litigation with offices in New York, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Jersey. With over 50 years of experience in securities litigation, Kaplan Fox offers the professional experience and track record that clients demand. Through prosecuting cases on the federal and state levels, Kaplan Fox has successfully shaped the law through winning many important decisions on behalf of our clients. For more information about Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP, you may visit our website at This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. If you have any questions about this investigation, please contact: CONTACT: Jeffrey P. Campisi KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP 800 Third Avenue, 38th Floor New York, New York 10022 (212) 329-8571 [email protected] Laurence D. King KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP 1999 Harrison Street, Suite 1560 Oakland, California 94612 (415) 772-4704 [email protected] Contacting or submitting information to Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor an obligation on the part of Kaplan Fox to retain you as a client. View the original release on
