Nine florists made national network television earlier today, as guests on The Martha Stewart Show. The appearance was part of  the rollout of Martha Stewart for 1-800-Flowers.com, a new line of floral and hard goods from the domestic goddess. The florists who were chosen to participate on the program are all members of BloomNet (a wholly-owned subsidiary of 1-800-Flowers.com and an international wire service provider with a network of professional florists) and among the 1,200 select group of BloomNet Professional Florists who will be offering Stewart's designs.

The florists who appeared on the Wednesday morning talk show to promote the new line of products were:
• Stephen Saitos of Starbright Floral Design in New York, N.Y.
• Timothy Rasmussen of 1-800-Flowers in Boston
• Judy Sicola of 1-800-Flowers in Houston
• Margaret Fleegal of 1-800-Flowers in Fairfax, Va.
• Charlie Moran and Joan Moran of Evergreen Florist in Lindenhurst, N.Y.
• Maris P. Angolia and Mark Randolph Angolia of Karin's Florist in Vienna, Va.
• Skip Paal and Jocelyn Salzano of Rutland Beard Florist in Catonsville, Md.
• Kathy Gorris and Michelle Shively of Oneco Florist in Bradenton, Fla.
• Ben Veldkamp, AAF, and Martha Veldkamp of 1-800-Flowers in Colorado

The 10-minute segment about Stewart's designs for 1-800-Flowers kicked off the Wednesday show and the florists were invited to come out on stage — Stewart called this part of the show "a special delivery" — each carrying an arrangement from the new line.

"It was cool, very exciting to be a part of a live TV segment," Maris Angolia says. The florists got to participate in the full live TV experience, too, including arriving early (7 a.m.) on set at the station to have a few rehearsals and hanging out in the show's "green room," until they were ready to go on-camera right after 10 a.m., she says.

Jim McCann, founder and CEO of 1-800-Flowers, was also on-hand to talk about the new line with Stewart — the duo talked about the different arrangements and the flowers used to create the look.

In addition to the sheer excitement of getting florists on national television, Lisa Carmichael, BloomNet's vice president of marketing and business development, says the show also marks the first time a "celebrity has gone on national TV to say these floral arrangements will be done and delivered by your local florists."

The segment aired at 10 a.m. on national TV. To see the segment, viewers will need to check their local listings; to read more about the segment, click here.

--Cassandra P. Foster
cfoster@safnow.org

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