Hallmark, Inc., recently announced that it will stop selling direct-to-consumer flowers and gifts through its Web site. The company cites an overly competitive marketplace as the reason behind pulling the plug.

"Basically, we have taken a close, thorough look at the current competitive marketplace — particularly for flowers — and our business model, and have determined that the investments we needed to make to keep those businesses running and profitable, simply couldn't guarantee the results we need," company spokeswoman for Hallmark, Julie O'Dell, said in a recent statement.

Hallmark began its flower business with a pilot flower program in 1999 before taking it national in 2001. When it came to flowers, the company's focus differed from wire services because it offered box orders, which actually bypassed florists.

"Our focus is on flower orders delivered by florists," said Tom Butler, chairman of Teleflora. Teleflora's hand-arranged and hand-delivered method falls into a different niche than Hallmark's box orders.

BJ Dyer, AAF, AIFD, of Bouquets in Denver, believes Hallmark's box order strategy might have surprised customers who were expecting professionally designed arrangements as opposed to simply the raw materials. Dyer also thinks that Hallmark's exit from the online flower business will, in turn, help bring business back to florists.

"Over the long term, it points us in the direction that I think eventually the business will come back to the florists," Dyer told E-Brief editors.

E-Brief editors contacted Hallmark, Inc. to inquire what date the company will officially stop selling flowers and gifts online but were unable to reach anyone for comment.

--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org

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