Looking to bolster its presence in the food, wine, and gift baskets category, Garden City, NY-based 1-800-Flowers.com purchased Westerville, OH-based Cheryl & Co., a manufacturer/marketer of baked goods, for $40 million.
1-800-Flowers, whose other titles include Plow & Hearth, The Popcorn Factory, and Magic Cabin Dolls, plan to grow sales at the $40 million Cheryl & Co. to about $50 million within 18 months. Chris McCann, 1-800-Flowers president, says Cheryl & Co. will have access to its parent company’s expanded corporate sales force and database of more than 15 million active three-year customers.
Cheryl & Co.’s catalog and Internet business accounts for about $25 million in sales, says Brent Kelly, senior vice president of sales and marketing. It also markets through eight stores as well as a corporate sales business, which makes up about a quarter of its sales.
The acquisition will increase 1-800-Flowers’ annual revenue from food, wine, and gift baskets to more than $100 million.