Dear FTD, here's a deal for you.

[RussSchmitt]

I ran the program on my web site for about a year. I did get some orders and had a huge selection but I didn't feel it was working into our program. It was one of those decisions you make that you really should have thought about a little more before you drop it. The prices are right and you get paid a percentage of the total cost and they do everything. The customer places the order and they fill it and ship it for you, they collect the money and deposit your commission into your account every couple of weeks or so. You had no out of pocket cost involved. This is a very honest company you can trust.

 

[TOTO]

Not on my Radar Screen right now TOTO!

I think TOTO suggested this to MEG WHITMAN (how long ago was that?) when she was at FTD. think BIG AZZ HAM......

and her response was..........................

YUP! I was pushing for a selection of nationally Branded Top Quality Gifts which could be incorporated into our FTD delivery network as viable alternatives or add ons to our same-day, next-day delivery repertoire.

It was the consumers who wanted these alternatives. OK, so I sent Grandma flowers for her birthday and a plant for Mother's Day last year and maybe this year, we'll send her a gift basket of ???? or a box of Godiva chocolates or even one of TOTO's BIG ASS HAMS.

Similar to the very old FTDA Speed-a-Gift program back in the late 1970's. Great idea but the product selections were sucking wind.

I think we even have one of the Silver Sugar scuttles, a clock down in our basement somewhere. The perfume is long gone.

Anyway, started pushing the GIFTS with John Borden back in 1989 only the board and the Special Services committee had no vision.

Continued to push for it when the Perry partnership came about and with Dick Boyce as the first CEO of FTDI. When he left after only six months and Meg took over, she too had no vision.

My idea was to stock maybe 20 top selling gift alternatives in our shops and code the shops who stocked them. The second part of the plan was to allow us to drop ship those products from the manufacturers to our recipients.

The sign on shops could purchase a display stand for 20 items and as the concept and shop sales grew, so would the display stands in their shops.

Then, small bob came along and liked the idea so much that, he kept it for himself and incorporated it into FTD.CON leaving wee florists OUT OF THE GIFT DROP SHIP PROGRAM.

On the flip side and to try and soothe the ruffled feathers of wee florists, he had Tamaya Zymund create a NO NAME/NO VALUE line of junk, which we could purchase from the marketplace. They actually put that vendor OUT OF BUSINESS when their brilliant idea of a second rate line of junk wound up in the commode.

For those that tried to work within the FTDI second string, we got stuck with the JUNK. When the candy/nut tower or the Gourmet baskets were broken down, the costs were inflated, the items were minimal, and there was no perceived value in our eyes nor the consumers.

Just another GOOD IDEA gone into the commode due to the short term greed of the NEW FORE PROFIT INC versus the long term mutual profitability of both the Members and the wall street investment banker Players.

I remember another FCer, maybe even Mikey, complaining that when he sent a family member one of the Large small bob Gourmet Baskets, they complained that there was NOTHING MUCH in it. Lots of HAY and PAPER but real low on product. I think he counted up a value under $20 for a basket which cost him $50.