Hallmark to cease direct-to-consumer flower, gift business

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Customers will no longer be able to buy flowers from Hallmark by catalog or online.

The Kansas City-based greeting card maker is discontinuing its direct-to-consumer flower and gift business. Company officials say the company was not getting the return on investment needed to continue the operation.

Hallmark Cards Inc. spokeswoman Julie O'Dell said 100 jobs are being affected. Of those, 65 were at the Kansas City headquarters and 35 at the company's flower and gift distribution center outside Memphis, Tenn.

The Kansas City employees, who work in such areas as marketing and technology, will be able to apply for jobs in other parts of Hallmark. The workers at the distribution center near Memphis will lose their jobs, but will be offered severance packages and outplacement help, O'Dell said.

"Basically, we have taken a close, thorough look at the current competitive marketplace -- particularly for flowers -- and our business model and have determined that the investments we needed to make to keep those businesses running and profitable simply couldn't guarantee the results we needed," O'Dell said.

Hallmark launched a pilot flower business in 1999 and went national with it two years later. The company entered the direct-to-consumer catalog and online gift business in 2005, sending eight catalogs to customers in 2007.

Most of the home decor and other gift items sold through the direct-to-consumer business were different from those sold through Hallmark's more than 4,000 Gold Crown stores.

O'Dell said the company, which is privately owned, will stay committed to its online greeting card business, both for free e-cards and premium ones. She declined to give specifics on revenues for the discontinued flower and gift business.