Magazine : 
7 Million Dollar Business Ideas
1-800-FLOWERS
Founder: James McCann
This is a classic example of a bad job leading to a successful business venture. In fact, James McCann suffered dual disappointments in his consecutive jobs as a social worker and an administrator. The earnings from the jobs he held were not sufficient to support his family, so he took up part time and weekend jobs. On weekends, he was working in a flower shop; the dream might have its origin here. He bought an old flower shop to start with. In 1976 he had his own flower shop and by 1986 he owned and managed 14 flower shops and called them ‘FloraPlenty’. While the business was moving slowly this way, he bought a nearly bankrupt company in 1986 which owned the number 1-800-FLOWERS and in a radical move changed the name of his business to the toll free number. And the rest, as they say, is history. In the early 90’s McCann had deals with AOL and CompuServe to facilitate online presence for 1-800-FLOWER. In 1995, www.1800flowers.com came to existence and became the pioneer of the online retail market.
In 1999, the company went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Today the company has total assets worth $286 million (FY2009) and revenue worth $714 million (FY2009).
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