Almost 2 billion of that on flowers. Another 1. 8 billion on candy, and even more on jewelry and going on that special evening. Much of that spending has moved to the internet. 28 of americans will shop online, an increase of nearly 12 since 2010. And consumers are also going mobile. More than 17 plan to use their phone to shop for valentines day. But how we celebrate is also changing, and its not just chocolate and roses. While the percentage of americans buying candy has remained relatively stable over the last decade, the number of consumers buying greeting cards has fallen off nearly 15 and the number buying clothing has increased by more than 5 . Many couples now celebrate the couple with a night out, which may include dinner to a restaurant or tickets to a show. 30 years ago, jim mccann was a disrupter before we ever knew what that term meant. He changed the name of his flower stores to a 1800 number. More than 1 billion in sales. Jim mccann is 1800flowers. Com founder and ceo, a
Times and whats the next wave . Its a multiheaded wave. Everything about local, everything about social. I think the best way for us to stay connected is to be, is to be paranoid about whats going to come next, the change. If you look at the essence, becky, of why we embrace all the new technologies, its all about being convenient, and its all about being accessible. And if we do that, we can really help our customers to act on their thoughtfulness. The more convenient and accessible you are, the more likely when you have that good thought like, oh, its valentines weekend, and geez, i ordered in my case, i want to make sure im sending those boxes of butter cream cookies to my grandkids for valentines weekend, im more likely to act on that if its as convenient as picking up my smartphone and placing an order in just a minute or so. And we still have stores, we still have the internet, we still have telephone access when its appropriate. And most of our customers are multichannel or omni
Record amount on the holiday of love this year. Nearly 20 billion. Almost 2 billion of that on flowers. Another 1. 8 billion on candy, and even more on jewelry and going on that special evening. Much of that spending has moved to the internet. 28 of americans will shop online, an i irease of nearly 12 since 2010. And consumers are also going mobile. More than 17 plan to use their phone to shop for valentines day. But how we celebrate is also changing, and its notust chocolate and roses. While the percentage of americans buying candy has remained relatively stable over the last decade, the number of consumers buying greeting cards has fallenn off nearly 15 and the number buying clothing has increased by more than 5 . Many couples now celebrate the couple with a night out, which may include dinner to a restaurant or tickets to a show. 30 years ago, jim mccann was a disrupter before we ever knew what that term meant. Flower stores to a 1800 number. Today h h leads t t company with more th
I think we pad abt 4,000 or 2,000 drains that we had to disconnect as well. Were halfway through that already, sois was a challenge. It so it was a challenge. It was tough at first, but we made those positive steps to make that change already. Ron the last 30 seconds, roads in cedar falls, are they in good shape, or what are you doing with those . Mayor brown the roads overall . I think theyre in okay shape. Improvement. Ron and waterloo, i noticed there was a long,long construction project going off west 9th during the summer and thing like that. Overall, how would you describe the roads . Mayor hart i think the roads are during the winter, its bad, but orall, wer making progress. But also, maybe we can come back one other day and talk about some of the other developments that are taking place. We have some outstanding things taking place withinthe city and so id like i look forward to the next time we can come on. Ron you have an open invitation. Mayor jim brown of cedar falls. Thats
Valentines gifts this year. Thats up about five bucks from last year. But how and what were spending that money on is changing. Thats our cover story. Red is the color of valentines day, but retailers should be seeing green. The National Retail federation predicts americans will spend a record amount on the holiday of love this year. Nearly 20 billion. Almost 2 billion of that on flowers. Another 1. 8 billion on candy, and even more on jewelry and going on that special evening. Much of that spending has moved to the internet. 28 of americans will shop online, an increase of nearly 12 since 2010. And consumers are also going mobile. More than 17 plan to use their phone to shop for valentines day. But how we celebrate is also changing, and its not just chocolate and roses. While the percentage of americans buying candy has remained relatively stable over the last decade, the number of consumers buying greeting cards has fallen off nearly 15 and the number buying clothing has increased by