How a Bartender-turned-Florist Became The First Ecommerce Giant: 1-800-Flowers' Jim McCann

Everyone Talks To Liz Claman

Jim McCann fondly remembers his humble beginnings in Queens, growing up the son of a working-class Irish Catholic family. He worked plenty of jobs before he finally bought a flower shop, with plans to become a florist and build a business.

After ten years in the florist game, he had acquired nearly 40 flower shops. But the world around Jim was changing; 1-800 numbers were all the rage, and e-commerce had exploded since the embrace of the Internet.

1-800 Flowers CEO Jim McCann joins Liz to share how he grew his one retail flower shop into a massive company worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He explains how he acquired the signature 1-800 Flowers and what he did to adapt his business through the decades to become the national brand they are today.

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