WS Member Numbers

[CHR]

Cheryl - Terrific post, both here and on the blog.

Mikey - Thanks for adding you considerable .02 on the blog as well.

I got a tip that when 1800Flowers claims 9000-9500 florist members in press releases and company reports that they're including every member that's ever signed up, which counts folks that have joined and quit.

According to the directory download, the number of BMT florists is 6900 or so. That's a huge discrepancy between what they're telling Wall Street and what seems to be the real number.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[TOTO]

Re: Truth bee KNOWed.......................

As stated above, us "old timers" have no one to blame but ourselves. Despite the "rebate" pressures from AFS & Teleflora back in 1992, FTD was still the "Cadillac" of wire services because it was owned by US. There were many, many members that shunned the rebates and sent FTD because it was OURS. Of course, the florists that went after the rebates were the same ones that voted for the sale. 1800 was still in its infancy and in hindsight if FTD had promoted its 1800SENDFTD business better (or had bought up 1800 outright)...well who knows. One correction...the Perry Group bought FTD in 1992 not the Green Group.

Us old timers fought long and hard over the governance of just how our cooperative had been operating their an old and outmoded fashion.

Having wrestled with the two factions and since 1984, one we called the white hats and the other we called the black hats, us WEE BEES (The Family Members) were constantly in a dither as to our own elected Board Members, Presidents, and Chairmen of Da Board, and just who they were representing, THE FAMILY or their new 800 God.

Sadly, some of them, having been compromised by their 800 GOD by filling that company's incoming to the tune of $200K to $300K per year in their shops, begged the question of just WHO THEY WERE GOING TO SERVE?

The joke back then was in the fact that, our very own bylaws strictly prohibited any one member from creating a separate and distinct list of filling florist members and to the EXCLUSION of ALL FTDA MEMBERS.

Since FTDA would not enforce one of it's own bylaws back in the late 1980s, that dereliction of duty, and in my continued umble option, was the beginning of the end of, what was once a GREAT member owned and operated cooperative world renowned brand.

However, and up and until the 11th hour and before the members voted to SELL or NOT TO SELL, DA OLD BOARD was given the choice of giving up their current form of governance and in favor of hiring a FULL TIME CEO who would run our cooperative as a serious retail company who could turn on a dime.

Prior to that, and given the fact that, we were trying to operate a FULL TIME BUSINESS with a PART TIME BOARD, bearing in mind those on our board who were compromised, things had to change one way or the other.

In the end, the black hats on DA BOARD refused to give up their power at the request of the white hats, and that forced many a family member to vote YES to the sale using their heads rather than a wanting to VOTE NO from their hearts.

The real rub in the NEW PARTNERSHIP VENTURE was in the fact that, the NEW PARTNER simply lied to the members before the sale and (F)ailed (T)o (D)eliver on his promises after the sale.

 

[RWK]

Well, Prior to Norton's assholery, there was another brief helmsman......and the sad thing is....I wanted to really like her. She left FTD to take the head as CEO of Ebay. I am speaking of Meg Whitman. During her very brief tenure, I think she understood what FTD needed to do in order to not alienate it's members. However, We since all know how history records the progress ...or lack thereof.....of FTD since then.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Let's move on.....

While the stroll down memory lane is great, folks, lets move on......
let us not forget where we have all come from, but let's all plan & look ahead to where we are all going.

Again, we can all wring our hands, and whine and moan about what was...
OR

We can do something positive about our future.

Which is is going to be????

Can we get a marketing campaign going?
Can we agree on certain standards again?

etc.. etc....

And, by the way, I'm still waiting for notification of the FC & IFA meeting that was going to be held "sometimme this summer". If all we do is talk and chat away, with no concrete plan, and everyone playing the "every man for himself" game, then how will our collective businesses ever get better??

Your thoughts?

Cheryl

 

[RWK]

Reliability and Quality

That is one of the very reasons that whenever possible....I try and call an order to a fellow AIFD member. I feel that I should get a reasonably nice design that will please my customer. I feel fairly confident that I wil get the service and quality that my client demands.

Is this to say that there are not fantastic florists out there who are not AIFD? Heavens No !

I see the quality of people on here and would call any of you for a customer's need.

 

[TOTO]

Our History is critical for moving on!

While the stroll down memory lane is great, folks, lets move on......
let us not forget where we have all come from, but let's all plan & look ahead to where we are all going.

Again, we can all wring our hands, and whine and moan about what was...
OR

We can do something positive about our future.

Which is it going to be????

Can we get a marketing campaign going?
Can we agree on certain standards again?

etc.. etc....

And, by the way, I'm still waiting for notification of the FC & IFA meeting that was going to be held "sometime this summer". If all we do is talk and chat away, with no concrete plan, and everyone playing the "every man for himself" game, then how will our collective businesses ever get better??

Your thoughts?

Cheryl

In my umble opinion Cheryl, us WEE BEES need to understand just where we all were (pre 1984) and before the advent of the 800 Floral and DOT.CON Middlemen OGs and DOGs factors changed the balance of trade in our floral industry.

That having been the Achilles' Heel of WEE REAL FLORISTS, WSs which were supposed to be OUR PARTNERS mistakenly began to SELL THEIR SOULS to these devils in return for HUGE BLOCKS of guaranteed outgoing orders paid for by ever higher rebates to DA SKIMMERS and subsidized by the very filling florists the outsiders depended upon.

Even FTDA (pre 1993) fell victim to the ponzi scheme although, theirs was a TWO SIDED SWORD. Black Hats compromised by huge amounts of incoming to THEIR SHOPS and WHITE HATS worried over loosing the volume to other WSs.

As to the FTDI/FTDA partnership? Well, the first CEO of FTDI, Dick Boyce, only stayed for 6 months, and only because he didn't run the move to Chicago passed his wife first!

I liked him, and he may have made a difference.

Next, we had Meg Whitman for three years. At our convention in Minneapolis, I asked her: Meg, we really need to move into the ALTERNATIVE GIFT GIVING arena, (aka: TOTO's BIG ASS HAMS) Her answer to mee was: Well TOTO, that's just NOT ON MY RADAR SCREEN right now.

Well, we fudged along the highway, and at the end of her 3 year tenure and when fledgling EBAY was looking for investment dollars, Meg made it happen, and moved on.

Her parting comment: When I came to FTDI, I was convinced that, this was just like any other business, and I could make it happen just like I did at Disney. Now that I'm leaving FTDI, I've come to realize that, THIS IS NOT LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS I've ever been associated with.

Her replacement, SMALL bob, handed us his full kit and caboodle and we bought into it, HOOK, LINE, and SINKER!

What he had promised us in Hawaii such as: Well, I would like to see DOT.CON go to 80% to the filling florists, and possibly even 85% or 90% at sometime in our future.

Well, that lasted up and until their first IPO, (DOT.CON), got quickly rescinded back to 73%, and back to square one, EY?

DOT.CON relished in Alternative GIFTS while enjoying their usual double digit quarterly growth patterns, and SMALL bob gave US WEE BEEs his alternative line of GIFT JUNK.

Then, and when many of us wanted to weed out the poor florists, rebuild DA BRAND, and model it after a FRANCHISE BUSINESS MODEL, he started VNS, and moved those NOT SO GREAT florists over to that generic wire service.

What we didn't know was that, SMALL bob really had no intention of working the FRANCHISE model in the interest of creating MO VALUE for the reduced number or GOOD MEMBERS.

His goal was to STARVE FTDA for the revenues which were agreed upon in our original MUTUAL SUPPORT AGREEMENT.

They had simply decided to KILL FTDA since, no new buyer would have any interest in BUYING IT, if FTDA was in the picture acting as the GATEKEEPER for NEW FTDI Members.

Which begot STUPERMARKETS, BUCKET SHOPS, and anyone and their mother too, and MO DUES PAYING MEMBERS to FTDI.

In the end, and since SMALL bob kept FTDA in court for more times than I sold big hug mugs, the original MUTUAL SUPPORT AGREEMENT became useless and the decision to submit and split, became the only viable alternative.

Just another door closing in DA FACE of WEE REAL FLORISTS.

And so, that's where we were.

As to where WEE BEE? Segmented, segregated, and standing alone in a business environment, in which, US WEE BEES are looking for a leader who will get it all back together and force the changes needed for our own future INDEPENDENT survival while eliminating all of the middlemen who continue to try and feed upon us.

As to where WE'RE GOING? Unless and until we decide to GET-IT-TOGETHER by GETTING TOGETHER as an independent retail fighting force in the form of an ASSOCIATION (aka: Union), the answer, I'm very sad to say is NO WHERE!

There is hope, but it will take some very special people to be the leaders in this movement. :fdevil:

 

[lenwlod]

Cheryl and Toto...Great points. Toto...you should write a book about this...I got a title..."The American Tragedy".
You are right Cheryl, we need to move on. But as Toto points out it won't be easy. What we need more than anything, unfortunately, is MONEY, because it will take a lot to start up what I think many of us envision...an independent association of retail florists. There have been a few attempts so far, lets hope someone has the vision and the deep pockets to make it come true.
Toto, I think we are leaving one other "villain's' name out of this history...that would be John (I think that was his first name) Borden. Although I do not have as much knowledge of this whole thing as you, I think Mr Borden really had a huge hand behind the scenes in the sale and benefited very well in the end.

 

[Joe Mioux]

Well, I just returned from servicing a wedding, I am sitting in my office enjoying an adult beverage and also enjoying reading this thread.

Lots of memories floating in my head right now.

the first one of not is How many of you FTD members were approached by your FSR and were asked to sign up for VNS?

How could any FTD member be stupid enough to sign up for that?

Toto, you are dead on accurate with your history lesson.

Now, how do we solve this problem?

The WS industry as we have known it is DEAD!

The internet has changed that and 800 and FTD have capitalized on the new technologies and delivery logistics very well.

RULE 1: WE WILL NOT CHANGE THAT!

RULE 2: If we as florists desire a network of like minded florists then we have to think like 800/ftd.

RULE 3: Refer to rule 2, we will have to have some standardized products. Just finding a flower shop willing to accept your order on a B2B business is a waste of time if there ineeds to be some coordination in marketing, merchandising and advertising.

RULE 4: The internet rules! Lets capitalize on the new technologies and link it to the "grunt" work. which leads to rule 5

RULE 5: WE DELIVER ON TIME!, We, retail flower shops, excell at on time delivery and we deliver product in good condition. Retail flower shops can deliver faster and with better quality than the alternatives, i.e, FedEX, UPS, Purolator etc.

RULE 6: WE DELIVER FRESHNESS! We won't deliver and leave on the door step when the temps are freezing.

RULE 7: Flower shops need to be "floral-inter-linked" to our repective websites. Flower shops need an online network of links that is available to our customers.

RULE 8: Retail flower shops need to give up the notion of receiving a 20 pct commission for outgoing wire orders. Our websites need to be linked to a network of qualified flower shops through out the country.

RULE 9: LET THE CUSTOMER DECIDE. Let the customer use your website to find a flower shop in another part of the country to send their flowers to. If we have good qualified shops on an "inter-linked-floral-web-network" our customers will recognize our own businesses' quality of customer service.

RULE 10: Quit reading this drivel and get back to work developing your own markets!

Joe

 

[Chezbloom]

Right on Joe,

Especially the "let the customer use your website to locate a shop in another area. Genious. I would put a link on my site to a database of OG free and preferably WS free florists all over the world. Nothing against the WS members but I so hate what the WS themselves have done to our industry by supporting the OG's and charging obscene membership fees for jack squat.

Cheers,
Enjoy that beverage!

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

With All due Respect.....

Toto,
Thanks again for the history lesson.
I was part of FTD, and was at the convention when we all voted to sell.

That was a LIFETIME AGO!!!! About 14 years if my math is correct.
Stuff has happened, and we do not operate in a vacuum.

I have no interest in debating where we have been, who was a fault, or why it should or should not have been done the way it happened.

Things happened. We all (that's a collective ALL) learned a number of hard lessons with the FTD sale. I do not care to repeat them. I have also learned a number of other "hard" lessons in the last 15 years......like, the economy & technology and the WAY we do business has changed....because of forces NOT related to the FTD mess. (9/11, the internet explosion, technology advances, just to name a few).

Let's move on...............

Can we go back to what we had? No! Never!!

Can we create something new, using the new technology we now have at our fingertips? YES! Definately!!!

Can we get back some of what we have lost, in terms of local market share? Yes, I think we can! thru inovation, and the collective brains of a lot of smart people, who cannot be bullied like we once could.

We have to do it one market, one city, one florist at a time.

It takes money, it takes time. It takes committment.

A number of Good things have been started by the FC community. I personally think we could build on this.

See Joe' post above for some great ideas!

For instance, Let's start with advertising.
Who among us has signed up for the Beneva Christmas catelogue, or the AMK designs brochure or the John Henry christmas catalogue? I would be interested in creating a spreadsheet just to know who is carrying similar product to what I am carrying.....so that when I need to send something to another city, I can, with confidence, tell my customer what they will be receiving, and show them a picture of the design we are all featuring.

Simple concept....one the wire services calls a "directory". We can do this on-line now....without the 35 lb door stop!

Small steps, one at time, are what change is all about.
Let's not forget the past, but let's build on it for our futures!

Best regards,

Cheryl

 

[TOTO]

Actually, John A Borden was OUR ADVOCATE!

Toto, I think we are leaving one other "villain's' name out of this history...that would be John (I think that was his first name) Borden. Although I do not have as much knowledge of this whole thing as you, I think Mr Borden really had a huge hand behind the scenes in the sale and benefited very well in the end.

Just have to correct you on who John A. Borden was and what he tried to do FORE US!

When John was appointed by the board as our New Executive Vice President taking over the helm of FTDA in November of 1988, his very first GEN merc message stated the following:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear FTD Members:

As you know, I have been appointed your New Executive Vice President. It's been really exciting to come to FTD, especially at this time of year when all the systems are running at full capacity. I have been told that December accounts for up to 35 percent of a florist's annual volume. That's a "MAKE-OR-BREAK" situation in my book. Of course, FTD knows that and that's why you'll see more FTD commercials on National Prime Time Shows this month than ever before -- And you'll get more business because of these commercials.

To keep this marketing effort going, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! We need you to send all of your orders the FTD WAY! I've only been here little more than a week, but it takes NO CRYSTAL BALL to see that FTD's success is a team effort. It's GREAT to be a PART OF YOUR TEAM!

Let's break all records this month! Have a Great Holiday!

John A. Borden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having been at the HELM for only the one week, it appears to me that, he had already figured out for himself, the REAL PROBLEM which FTD was suffering from.

FTD would spend MILLIONS OF ITS MEMBER DOLLARS on National Advertising to assist their members in CAPTURING THE CONSUMER'S 100% SALE FIRST. That advertising revenue was a direct result of our own clearinghouse revenues. Then, and after the consumer sale had been WON by our FTD advertising dollars, many FTD members would simply FLIP THE SALE by RESELLING THE OUTGOING WIRE ORDER to any other wire service who was paying their shop the highest rebate dollars.

(Footnote) BACKGROUND AND REASONS FOR THE MERGER: The dollar value of all clearings has dropped from approximately $700 million in 1990 to a 1994 level of approximately $600 million. The actual number of orders has fallen from a high of approximately 22 million in 1988 to a 1994 level of approximately 16 million. (net loss of almost 27% in six years due to rebaters and 800 middleman marketeer Buccaneers.)

(Mynote) Many of the same officers and board members (aka; The Blackhats) and the supposed owners of our FTD Cooperative, were DUAL and/or MULTI WS members who were intent on collecting those OWs rebates while complaining about how FTDA was being operated, when in fact, it was they who were calling all of the shots and running the ship. (into the icebergs) Add to the fact that, they were also filling incoming orders for THEIR GOD to the tune of $200K to $300K annually, it was no small wonder to TOTO as to why we were loosing clearing house revenues. Kind-uv-like sitting on the board of Continental Airlines while working for NorthWorst and better known as a SERIOUS CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

Adding insult to injury, THEIR NEW GOD, a so called MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING, had set up his own SELECT NETWORK of FILLING FLORISTS, and to the EXCLUSION OF ALL OTHER FTD FILLING FLORIST MEMBERS which was in DIRECT VIOLATION of our own FTD BYLAWS.

The double whammy was due to the fact that, in many major metro markets and where the bulk of our advertising dollars were spent, DA PUBLIC and when they heard or viewed our FTD ads, actually thought that, THAT ONE 800 MEMBER was FTD!

That led to those sales created by our dollars going to that one company, after which, they re-treaded them through their own SELECT GROUP of DELIVERING FLORISTS, but not always through the FTD network.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John's parting letter to me dated December 12, 1994.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear John:

This month will conclude my tenure as FTD's Executive Vice President and Secretary. It hardly seems possible that I celebrated my sixth anniversary with FTD in November. Time, when you are looking back seems to have moved very quickly and when you are looking forward it seems to move very slowly.

FTD is about to enter a new era and only time will tell what these changes will mean for the FTD Members. When I first came here six years ago, I told everyone who would listen that I felt FTD needed to change if it was going to be viable into the 21st century. However, I do no think anyone envisioned all the changes that are happening right now. For as it so often happens, outside forces can have a significant impact on change.

I want to thank you personally for all of the help and support you have given me over the last six years. I think together we have done a lot of good things. I want to assure you that my experience with FTD has been enjoyable.

I have had the opportunity to meet and work with some of the finest people I have ever known in my business career and in the end it's the people who make the difference.

I know that not everyone is pleased with the events but I believe this is the best deal that we could have gotten for the Members given our political structure. I personally wish that things could have been different but we are faced with the situation as it exists. What is important now is to look forward and with FTD, Inc. build a strong Association for the future.

Thank you for the opportunity of knowing and working with you.

Sincerely,
John A. Borden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John had nothing to gain regarding the sale. In fact, he had nothing to do with the sale. Under the laws of Michigan, the board had a fiduciary responsibility to pick the BEST OF ALL OF THOSE UNSOLICITED OFFERS, and bring that one back to the membership for their vote. The board HAD NO CHOICE!

In my best recollection, John's retirement severance package from FTDI was pretty austere and included the USE of a company car (not the ownership) for six months and less than $300K in salary. (see below update)

Merger Agreement with John: This agreement will replace Mr. Borden's current employment with FTD, which expires June 30, 1996. and provides for an annual salary of approximately $218,000, $229,000, and $243,000 in 1994, 1995, and 1996, respectively.

Under this agreement, effective upon the Merger, Mr. Borden will be paid $130,000 per year, payable in equal monthly installments, and be afforded certain health and life insurance benefits, pension benefits, outplacement services, and an automobile. (3yrs)

Not even close to the windfalls that the INC groups got.

Were there MOLES in the old FTDA that sold US WEE BEES down the river? Absolutely, and I could even name some of them, but I won't.

This is a list on how each member of the FTD Board of Directors voted on the issue of whether to recommend the merger offer with Perry Capital as it appeared in our issue of FTD FAMILY in August of 1994.

YES VOTERS: Wanda Brady, Ken Coley, Don Covey, John Cowgill, Eileen Dutterer Gist, Steve Hahn, Brook Jacobs, Mark Knox, Ralph Ritter, Tony Thonnerieux.

NO VOTERS: Wayne Babb, Frank Campisi, Harry Cholakis, Payl Daudelin, Pat Foley, Janice Tillman Gatch, Dan Harwell, Mickey Oberlander, John Partridge.

The YES voters having the majority of ten versus the NO voters with nine, had the majority vote.

However, we must all remember that, UNDER MICHIGAN LAW the board had NO CHOICE but to end up with a MAJORITY VOTE OF YES to bring the offer directly to the members for them, and ONLY THEM, to vote upon and have the final say over the issue of the Perry Capital merger.

When (out in the hallway) the NO voters realized the board now had a total of 10 YES sacrificial lambs publicly, which then exonerated them from probably being dragged into court by a liability lawsuit, they could look like THE GOOD GUYS who REFUSED TO SELL FTD!

Rumor had it that, in order to get those 10 YES VOTES, one of their own NO VOTERS had to change over to a YES vote.

And some in the old FTDA back then called it POLITICS!

It was ALWAYS ABOUT DA MONEY and SOME of that small group of inner circle members did a heck-uv-a lot better than MOST OF DA REST OF WEE FAMILY MEMBERS!

On another historical note: John A. Borden's predecessor addressed the Board prior to his departure and stated flatly to them that, unless FTDA changed their current form of governance from a part time operation to a FULL TIME CEO, he saw no hopes for their future. Perhaps and if one of my neural transmitters decides to fire, I may even remember what his name was.

 

[bloomz]

Good history lesson Toto - thanks for keeping the archives as I find it quite interestng how things progressed.

I was not a member back then - just the biggest public FTD basher in the US. When I finally met Bob - he told me he had asked before "Who the f*k is this guy bloomz?"

How things have changed...opinions vary, as well as change each year, always subject to constant revision...

 

[goldfish]

I'm confused. Maybe you guys can explain.

First, many of the past strings of posts about FTD alluded to the fact that FTD made money from it's florist side of the business?

If that is true, why would you allow that side of the business to erode?

Wouldn't you want to maintain high membership numbers?

No, because not all members are equally profitable for FTD. All FTD is doing is apply a little selective pressure to weed out the florists who aren't contributing to the FTD's bottom-line.

It may be part of, I'm just guessing, their cost restructuring plan. The cost is more efficient when the ratio of fixed expense vs variable expense (so-called "operating leverage") is greater. That's because when the revenue grows, the margin stays the same when most expenses are proportional to the revenue (low operating leverage).

To increase the operating leverage in florist segment, FTD needs to decrease the number of support personnel (tech, accountant, sales, etc, etc) to the absolutely bare minimum. You can't do that, if FTD needs to support a large number of unproductive members who still uses FTD human resources.

 

[Joe Mioux]

IYES VOTERS: Wanda Brady, Ken Coley, Don Covey, John Cowgill, Eileen Dutterer Gist, Steve Hahn, Brook Jacobs, Mark Knox, Ralph Ritter, Tony Thonnerieux.

NO VOTERS: Wayne Babb, Frank Campisi, Harry Cholakis, Payl Daudelin, Pat Foley, Janice Tillman Gatch, Dan Harwell, Mickey Oberlander, John Partridge.

Toto, I do remember certain names here.

I also remember "Payl" coming down to one of our District meetings to discuss the sale. As a board member he was obligated to say certain things. After the meeting he and I chatted for over an hour. He wouldn't remember this meeting, but I do.

My mind is buzzing. I seem to remember more of the Yes voters in FTD publications than the no voters back in circa 92. 93, 94.

For the record, I think I was Sec for our district back then. I also strongly encouraged our district to vote NO. Money talked and my efforts were for not.

Toto, thanks for the memories..... I think?.

 

[Joe Mioux]

Toto, thanks for the memories..... I think?.

Now, this trip down memory lane doesn't solve problems.

Most of our problems would be resloved if laws were enacted and enforced to elminate deceptive online marketing practices.

joe

 

[lenwlod]

Toto,
THANK YOU, I stand corrected. My apologies to Mr Borden. I have followed you around on all the chat boards through the years and appreciate your insight. Seriously, consider a book.
And again as Joe and Cheryl have stated time to move on, but how?

 

[TOTO]

No Problem! Just calls em as I SEIZE EM!

Toto,
THANK YOU, I stand corrected. My apologies to Mr Borden. I have followed you around on all the chat boards through the years and appreciate your insight. Seriously, consider a book.
And again as Joe and Cheryl have stated time to move on, but how?

Always happy to run the HISTORY of what WAS once a GREAT BRAND and when it was member owned and operated.

As to the name of John A. Borden's predecessor, I had to go back into my archives and there HEE BEE!

Bill Maas was the former Executive VP of FTD before John A. Borden came aboard.

When he was leaving, he warned DA BOARD that, unless they changed their GOVERNANCE (full time company being operated by a PART-TIME board) and hire a FULL TIME CEO, FTD fail to exist.

Then, and in an article which appeared in Florist's Review and after Bill Maas had left, he suggested that, FTD would no longer be around by the year 2000. Guy obviously had a crystal ball back then since, the FTD wee old timers which were a part of back then in the 1980s, is no longer recognizable to any of us since 1998.

As to MOVING ON? I still believe that, unless US WEE BEES all know where we were, and since HISTORY has a habit of repeating itself, whatever wee decide to do for OUR FUTURES must EXCLUDE all OGs, DOGs, 800 FLORAL, and DOT.CON MIDDLEMEN as well as WSs who enable them.

In my opinion, it was that group who ran to the DOJ always crying that BIG BAD FTD was trying to smoke their TEENY TINY BUSINESSES in the form of a monopoly.

After which, the DOJ forced FTD to allow EVERYONE and THEIR MOTHER TOO, access to our Mercury Network, our order communication system which had been CREATED and PAID FOR by the BLOOD, SWEAT, and TEARS of the thousands of MOM and POP shops who made up FTD.

After signing onto to several consent decrees which made FTD impotent, all of the MIDDLEMAN SKIMMERS had a real profit windfall, albeit AT OUR EXPENSE!

I still wonder why we were never able to get the point across to the DOJ that, FTD WAS NOT A FORE PROFIT BUSINESS MONOPOLY in any sense of the word, but rather a cooperative association made up of 18,000 FLORISTS, 17,000 of which were SMALL INDEPENDENT MOM and POP hard working slobs just trying to etch out a living while trying to FIGHT OFF the GREED of those others.

 

[BOSS]

By my records from todays directory update:

FTD: 13876 records, 313 new, 1151 removed (no longer members)

BMT: 6978 records

Tells me, their losing them faster than they are adding them.

Anyone got the Teleflora numbers?

Updated number for this month, it looks like Bloomnet is down to a handful over 6500...

 

[BOSS]

FTD current...NEW 207...total 13415

 

[bloomz]

I heard Bloom lost 1600 some and gained 160 or so - their coverage must be shaky at best. I wonder how they're getting all those FST orders placed?

People leaving in droves - hope it's the right ones

OR - possibly better yet - fewer florists period?

the industry purge we've been needing - which I know many of you would love to blame on wire services and OG's - but I blame on our government mismanaging our economy.

Edit: More I think about it - I really doubt much of this can be attributed to shops going wire service free - I think they're dropping like flies.