ProFlowers is a

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

retailer Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is an

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...

company that sells products shipped from growers, suppliers and its own distribution facilities to consumers. ProFlowers is headquartered in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of FTD Companies.

History

ProFlowers, later called "Provide Commerce", was started by

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis (; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 20 ...

in 1998. In February 2006

Liberty Media Corporation Liberty Media Corporation (commonly referred to as Liberty Media or just Liberty) is an American mass media company controlled by chairman John C. Malone. The company has three divisions, reflecting the company's ownership stakes in Formula On ...

(NYSE:L; LMC.B) purchased Provide Commerce, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRVD) for a sum of $477 million in cash, at which point Provide Commerce became a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media. Provide Commerce also offers fruit, sweets and gift baskets direct from the supplier through its Gourmet Food Business Unit, which includes the brand names Cherry Moon Farms, Secret Spoon and Shari's Berries. In 2007 Provide Commerce was selected as one of California's Best Places to Work (Sponsored by Employers Group 2007). In 2008 Provide Commerce acquired RedEnvelope, a seller of gifts. In 2010, Provide Commerce acquired Personal Creations, a personalized gifting company. In June 2013, Provide Commerce acquired Gifts.com, a premium gifting company. In November 2014, Provide Commerce acquired Sincerely, a mobile app gifting startup. In 2014, flower delivery service

Florists' Transworld Delivery FTD LLC (FTD), also known as Florists' Transworld Delivery, is a floral wire service, retailer and wholesaler based in Downers Grove, Illinois, in the United States. FTD was founded as Florists' Telegraph Delivery in 1910, to help customers sen ...

agreed to buy ProFlowers and its sister gifting brands for $430 million, creating a combined company with over $1 billion in revenue. FTD Cos. completed its purchase of Provide Commerce Dec. 31, 2014.

Litigation

ProFlowers was sued by its major rival,

(FTD), for

false advertising False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...

and

unfair competition Unfair may refer to: * Double Taz and Double LeBron James in multiverses ''fair''; unfairness or injustice * ''Unfair'' (drama), Japanese television series * '' Unfair: The Movie'' * Unfair (song), a song by South Korean boy group EXO