MEDFORD, Ore. — The promised integration and changes of Harry & David into 1-800-Flowers.com following the holiday selling season came quickly and forcefully as CEO Craig Johnson and other executives were axed.
“We did make some changes effective Tuesday,” 1-800-Flowers.com spokesman Joe Pititto said. “Harry & David will now be reporting directly to David Taiclet, president of the Gourmet Food and Gift Baskets division. Craig Johnson is leaving by mutual decision.”
Other unspecified members of the executive team that worked with Johnson in leading Harry & David Holdings following the company’s exit of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in September 2011 were also let go. Johnson came on board the following month. The Carle Place, N.Y.-based floral, gourmet food and gift company acquired Harry & David Holdings in September.
Last October 1-800-Flowers.com CEO Jim McCann spoke in glowing terms of Johnson and the local management team.
“The reason why we got more interested this time and the reason we’re so excited about merging these companies is that the company has been fixed by a talented management team,” McCann said at the time. “It’s not like it was in the past when we would say, ‘Are we up to this task? Are we up to cleaning this whole thing up and righting this ship?’ That’s already been done and that’s what made it palatable for us. The recession punched us in the nose and clearly had an impact on Harry & David. We’re both doing much better now.”
Apparently that has changed.
“As a company policy, to respect the privacy of all our associates, both current and former, we do not comment on personnel matters,” Pititto said.
The parent company issued a statement that shed little light on the changes: “As we launch the integration of Harry & David we are increasingly excited by the opportunities to accelerate growth across our entire enterprise by leveraging our combined assets, experience and skill sets.”
Pititto said Taiclet will be “on the ground” in Medford working with the existing team at Harry & David for some time going forward, after which he will be in Medford frequently.
“We may add a new brand leader at some point in time who would report directly to Dave,” Pititto said. “Similar to the structure we have with all of our other gourmet foods and gift baskets brands.”
A phone message to Johnson was not immediately returned.
Taiclet is a former Army infantry captain, who earned degrees at Notre Dame and Harvard. He was the co-founder and co-owner of Alpine Confections, which he grew to $120 million in sales in 10 years. Alpine Confection was named Candy Industry Magazine’s “Manufacturer of the Year” in 2005. In May 2006, 1-800-Flowers acquired his holding company, Alpine Confections Inc., and two of the five Alpine subsidiaries, Fannie May Confections and Harry London Candies
He now oversees more than 2,000 manufacturing plant and distribution facility employees for Harry & David, Fannie May Fine Chocolates, Harry London, Cheryl’s, The Popcorn Factory, Stockyards, DesignPac Gifts and 1-800-Baskets.com.
