In the midst of the pandemic, some are taking this unique moment in time as an opportunity to innovate—turning lemons into lemonade. Altering how you operate is fundamental to good business practices, so we’re always on the lookout for successful pivots.
One such pivot that we’re excited to be part of is the 1-800-Flowers.com and Alice’s Table workshop collaboration.
Helping people express and connect with the important people in their lives is a core mission of 1-800-Flowers. As part of this, we’ve always invited our customers into our shops to take floral arranging classes or make seasonal wreaths and arrangements. We wanted to scale this offering to our customers around the country. We found a wonderful partner to do so: Alice’s Table, a company that brings people together to learn new skills and live a social and creative lifestyle.
On March 9, the Alice’s Table and 1-800-Flowers teams came together at our headquarters for our scheduled kick-off meeting. We were excited to begin our collaboration, which included hosting 150 fun-filled, in-person events around the country each month. Then, only a few days later, we realized the impact of the pandemic and that our plans would need to change. We needed to quickly adapt.
And adapt we did. Working together—and, in a first for both of our companies—Alice’s Table and 1-800-Flowers began offering virtual floral arranging workshops. Each guest receives a floral arranging kit of farm-fresh flowers and a vase delivered right to their door, along with a Zoom link to the event.
The response has been extremely positive, providing opportunities for connection with friends, family and coworkers during these challenging times. We love hearing stories of customers who have one Zoom screen with the Alice’s Table workshop and the other Zoom screen with their friend or family member so they can participate in the class side-by-side!
We are proud of Alice, her team and our team (Meredith Weinberg, Loreen Entenmann and Steve Roberts) for embracing the new normal and adjusting as necessary to continue our mission of helping our customers stay connected with loved ones.
Although we’re living in strange and difficult times, we have to always look for ways to cultivate our relationships and grow together. Even though change can be uncomfortable and challenging, it’s critical to adapting to the new normal, to moving forward and emerging from this crisis stronger than before.
Jim McCann is the founder and executive chairman of 1-800-Flowers and the executive chairman of Worth.
