Valentine's Day is right around the corner and 1-800-Flowers.com has been working overtime in an attempt to deliver the perfect gift. Chris McCann, CEO of 1-800-Flowers.com, joins The Long and The Short to discuss the season of love.
McCann says Valentine's Day is actually the company's third busiest time of year. He says other companies within the 1-800-Flowers.com brand, such as Harry & David, have boosted the company's revenue and growth. The company has had to widen its product offerings in an effort to attract younger customers. McCann says the sentiment of gifting hasn't changed, but the type of gifts have. However, the biggest trend for this Valentine's Day season? Purple flowers!
Plus, how technology has impacted the way flowers are sold. McCann says voice assistants are becoming a popular way to order flowers. 1-800-Flowers.com has tried to embrace technology as much as possible to cater to the changing needs of its customers.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
