Multichannel gifts marketer 1-800-Flowers.com has acquired $30 million food gifts cataloger The Popcorn Factory from New York-based private investment firm Wand Partners for $12.2 million in cash and stock. The price includes the assumption of $7.4 million in debt.

The Popcorn Factory will maintain its Lake Forest, IL, headquarters. Kent Arett will remain president, and Cheryl Zatz will remain director of marketing. Westbury, NY-based 1-800-Flowers’ other catalogs include Plow & Hearth, Magic Cabin Dolls, and HearthSong.

“This is wonderful for us because it fits in so well for so many reasons,” says Peter Rice, president of Plow & Hearth and an executive committee member of 1-800-Flowers. For one thing, the deal will expand 1-800-Flowers’ product line of food gifts and gift baskets. For another, “we’ll be using our collective databases to find more qualified names for The Popcorn Factory.” 1-800-Flowers has about 10 million names in its database, while Popcorn Factory’s database has more than 1 million names, including a growing list of corporate accounts. Wand Partners bought The Popcorn Factory in July 1999 from now-defunct cataloger Foster & Gallagher.

Multichannel gifts marketer 1-800-Flowers.com has acquired $30 million food gifts cataloger The Popcorn Factory from New York-based private investment firm Wand Partners for $12.2 million in cash and stock.

The Popcorn Factory will maintain its Lake Forest, IL, headquarters. Kent Arett will remain president, and Cheryl Zatz will remain director of marketing. Westbury, NY-based 1-800-Flowers’ other catalogs include Plow & Hearth, Magic Cabin Dolls, and HearthSong.

“This is wonderful for us because it fits in so well for so many reasons,” says Peter Rice, president of Plow & Hearth and an executive committee member of 1-800-Flowers. For one thing, the deal will expand 1-800-Flowers’ product line of food gifts and gift baskets. For another, “we’ll be using our collective databases to find more qualified names for The Popcorn Factory.” 1-800-Flowers has about 10 million names in its database, while Popcorn Factory’s database has more than 1 million names, including a growing list of corporate accounts. Wand Partners bought The Popcorn Factory in July 1999 from now-defunct cataloger Foster & Gallagher.