From You Flowers in the News

From You Flowers for arrangements in custom vases that'll be a constant reminder of your thoughtfulness.

Valentine's Day is one of the biggest occasions for the sale of flowers. And there are many ways to buy them. One of the most popular is to purchase and send online. But is what you see always what you get? On Monday, Early Show financial contributor Vera Gibbons ordered from five different online florists, to find out if ordering that way is all it's cracked up to be.

Just recently I had the opportunity to talk with Michael Chapin, CEO of leading e-commerce floral company, From You Flowers, who has made analytics central to how he runs his business. Michael decided that rather than outsource or bring in external consultants to run their analytics they would build an in-house team.

When Michael Sabia arrived at From You Flowers in 2011, the mandate was clear. "Grow the business, essentially," he remembers with a laugh. The vice president of marketing was one of many new hires at that time, brought into the parent company Tenth Avenue Commerce and set up in a new Manhattan office. From You Flowers had been founded a decade earlier by CEO Michael Chapin, but between the acquisition that spurred the mandate and the floral industry's rapidly evolving online embrace, Sabia had his work cut out for him.

Mike Chapin chuckles to himself when he talks about how his company, From You Flowers, got into the jewelry business a few years back in expectation that there would be synergy between bouquets and bangles. Ah, not so much. But when it comes to data and delivery, he's hit a home run.

For Bronwen Smith of B Floral and Nick Bazas of From You Flowers, creating an impressive and expensive-looking bouquet from grocery store blooms isn't much of a challenge. But for the rest of us who aren't professional florists, we're lucky if a bunch we grab at the market and place in a vase at home lasts more than a few days.

Chapin founded From You Flowers in 2002, and it was acquired by an equity firm in 2011. New ownership helped the brand supercharge its use of data and further build out its digital platform and distribution networks, all of which added up to From You Flowers' biggest sales day in history on February 13.

Twelve years ago, Mike Chapin found himself out of a job after the company he had been working for, Flowers USA in Centerbrook, was bought out by an even larger floral-delivery firm, industry powerhouse FTD. Rather than fret over the setback to his marketing career, within a month Chapin and four other key colleagues had launched their own floral-marketing service, From You Flowers, with the idea of taking the company aggressively forward on the Internet.

FromYouFlowers.com, a nationwide same-day flower delivery company, and EvesAddiction.com, a jewelry retailer, recently relocated their 240 combined employees to a larger office, according to executives of the two compaies. From You Flowers had been located at 455 Boston Post Road. From You Flowers acquired Eve's Addiction in September 2013. This the first time that the two companies have been together in the same building.

Today, From You Flowers has grown to 400 employees, and revenue this year is expected to rise to $225 million, up 30 percent from last year, Chapin said. He sold the majority stake in 2011 to Tenth Avenue Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm.

Today, we are excited to announce we are becoming a part of major e-commerce retailer, From You Flowers. In a strategic effort to advance From You Flower's mission as a customer-centric approach to business, SML will become a part of From You Flower's digital portfolio, demonstrating its commitment to further engage online customers.