FTD Group, Inc. has been sold for approximately $800 million to Internet and media services provider, United Online, Inc., the company announced earlier this morning.

A nationwide restaurant chain is changing its tune regarding disparaging remarks it made against the floral industry, thanks to the diligence of an SAF member.

SAF has responded to two additional instances of national corporations making negative remarks about flowers in their Mother's Day advertising campaigns.

Yahoo! News is among the media reporting on new university research that reveals people who send flowers are viewed as successful, caring and emotionally intelligent.

Higher-ticket items look to be the big sellers this Mother's Day, according to a recent survey published by the National Retail Federation (NRF). The majority of the 84 percent of consumers celebrating Mother's Day will put their hard-earned cash into one major gift for mom, instead of several smaller gifts.

Grocery store floral retailers saw an increase in Valentine's Day sales and orders, according to a recent survey released by the Produce Marketing Association (PMA).

The event that won the Southern California Plant Growers Floral Management's 2000 Marketer of the Year award is expanding its reach well beyond the San Diego area.

New York Times Op-Ed contributor Nicholas D. Kristof uses Norma Reynosa, a Colombian flower farm employee, to make a case for the renewal of the U.S. free trade agreement with Colombia.

The gift of flowers have an 'oohing' and 'ahhing' power, as demonstrated in the ABC primetime TV show, "Men In Trees."

Mother's Day 2008 marks a century of celebration of the national holiday, and to commemorate it, a Florida florist is jumping aboard the 100 years theme.

A good excuse for a press release is never too far way — in fact, a press release about, well, your company's press coverage may just be worthy of even more press coverage.

What does today's consumer want? Protection, education and collaboration, according to panelists at a branding session recently hosted by Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in Washington, D.C.

There's one more reason for small business owners to sigh about the current state of the U.S. economy. According to a recent study by the U.S. Small Business Administration, skyrocketing energy costs are impacting the small businesses sector — particularly the manufacturing and commercial sectors — the most.

• "Keys to Communication" by SAF's PFCI featuring Sharon McGukin, AAF, AIFD, PFCI: July 7, 2-3 p.m. in Chicago, in conjunction with the AIFD National Symposium.
• SAF Palm Beach 2008: Sept. 17-20, 2008, at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.

In the April 23 Wednesday E-Brief, we identified a Harris Interactive poll as citing that 22 percent of U.S. consumers whose mothers are still alive will buy flowers for mom this Valentine's Day. The poll actually attributed that 22 percent of consumers will purchase flowers for Mother's Day. We regret the error.

Our article about the Melting Pot restaurant chain's initial response to SAF's letter concerning the chain's negative advertising captured top-billing for E-Brief readers last week. Fortunately, the company's ad agency changed its tune, as reported in this issue.

After last week's coverage of The Melting Pot restaurant's negative remarks about flowers, several readers wrote in about the flower-friendly practices of The Melting Pot restaurants in their area — a helpful reminder that what happens at the national level of an operation is not always reflected in the individual franchise locations.

Access important floriculture industry trends, sales and production levels with "The Changing Floriculture Industry: Fourth Edition." This information-packed guide provides vital statistics on each segment of the floral industry. The report is produced by SAF's Business & Economic Trends Committee and focuses on floriculture production, importing, retailing and wholesaling. SAF members can purchase this invaluable report for only $49.95. Order the companion CD-ROM which showcases the report's charts and tables in an easy-to-use Microsoft PowerPoint format for only $9.95 for members. (Must purchase full report prior to order.)

This week on the discussion boards, topics ranged from packaging orders to increasing sales by setting up a Web site.

APW sales are lower than compared to last year's, according to the results of last week's e-poll.

Percentage of Mother's Day Orders and Deliveries by Days of the Week

Source: SAF's Post-Mother's Day Online Survey of retail florists, 2007. Based on 376 responses (response rate = 11.1%).

Orders for Mother's Day will peak next Thursday and Friday, according to last year's post-Mother's Day survey of retail florists. About 77 percent of the responding business owners indicated that most orders will come in on those two days. About one in five orders will have arrived by the time next week's E-Brief arrives in your inbox on Wednesday afternoon. Almost a third of florists (32 percent) say most deliveries will be made on the Friday before Mother's Day, but the bulk of shops (63 percent) reported distributing most orders to customers on Saturday.