1-800-Flowers Sells Two Gifting Sites for $45M

1-800-Flowers agreed Sept. 29 to sell PersonalizationMall.com and Things Remembered to PlanetArt for about $45 million in cash, per its press release.

The same company paid $245 million for PersonalizationMall.com alone in 2020, according to Retail TouchPoints. The 2026 price covers two brands, so the comparison is not clean, but it is a useful signal for anyone who owns an online store they might sell one day. At Ecommerce Paradise I write for store owners, so here is the plain version: this deal shows what buyers pay for a mature ecommerce brand when growth stalls, and what that means for the resale value of your high-ticket store.

Below: the facts of the deal, how 1-800-Flowers got here, what it does to your store’s exit math, and six moves to make this week. If you are still building, start with my guide to what high-ticket dropshipping is and come back once you have profit worth protecting.

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PlanetArt Pays $45M for PersonalizationMall and Things Remembered

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. announced Sept. 29, 2026 that it entered a definitive agreement to sell PersonalizationMall.com and Things Remembered to PlanetArt, LLC for approximately $45 million in cash, according to the company’s press release. The sale is expected to close within the coming weeks, subject to customary closing conditions.

CEO Adolfo Villagomez said in the release: “The sale of PersonalizationMall.com enables us to further sharpen our portfolio focus, strengthen our financial position and create additional capacity to invest in the strategic initiatives we believe offer the greatest opportunity to drive improved performance and long-term growth.”

The two companies expect to sign a commercial agreement that lets 1-800-Flowers keep offering select PersonalizationMall.com products. Per the release, the company plans to reinvest part of the proceeds in revenue-generating initiatives across its primary brands. Retail Dive reported the deal Sept. 30.

The buyer is not a newcomer. PlanetArt was founded in 2010 and operates CafePress, Personal Creations and Gifts.com, according to Chain Store Age. The seller runs 12 major brands, including Harry & David, Cheryl’s Cookies and Shari’s Berries.

The sale lands 19 days after a rough earnings report. In its fiscal 2026 results, filed Sept. 10 in an SEC 8-K, 1-800-Flowers reported full-year revenue of $1.50 billion, down 10.8% from fiscal 2025. Net loss was $134.8 million, including a $45.2 million impairment charge, and adjusted EBITDA was $2.9 million.

Fourth-quarter revenue fell 12.9% to $293.1 million, with a net loss of $52.3 million. For fiscal 2027, management guided to a mid-single-digit revenue decline and adjusted EBITDA of $10 million to $15 million. The company said that outlook does not include this sale and that updated guidance will come with first-quarter fiscal 2027 results.

One gap matters. The earnings release does not break out revenue or profit for PersonalizationMall.com or Things Remembered, and none of the coverage I reviewed does either. Nobody outside the company can calculate the multiple PlanetArt is paying.

From $245M in 2020 to $45M: How 1-800-Flowers Got Here

1-800-Flowers completed its purchase of Personalization Mall on Aug. 3, 2020 for $245 million, funded with cash and its credit facility, per Retail TouchPoints. The deal included a 360,000-square-foot production and distribution facility and a customer database covering consumer and corporate accounts. Then-CEO Chris McCann said the addition “significantly enhances our ability to help our customers engage and stay connected with the important people in their lives.”

On Jan. 13, 2023 the company added Things Remembered, the customizable-gifts brand, according to Gifts & Decorative Accessories. The price was not disclosed, and Things Remembered’s physical stores were not part of that deal. McCann called it a way to solidify the company’s “leadership position in the growing market for personalized gifts.”

Three years later the growth story has reversed. Company revenue fell 10.8% in fiscal 2026, and management is guiding to another decline in fiscal 2027.

Also keep the seller’s position in mind. Public companies sell divisions for reasons that have nothing to do with a brand’s quality: debt, focus and cash. The CEO himself said the sale will “strengthen our financial position,” and the company reported a $134.8 million net loss for the year. A seller who needs cash accepts a lower price than a seller who can wait. The lesson for you is to sell from strength, not from need.

The counterpoint is that $245 million to $45 million, a drop of roughly 82%, is not an apples-to-apples markdown. The 2020 price bought one brand plus a large production facility, in a different demand environment. The 2026 price covers two brands, and nothing I read says whether that facility is included. The company also frames the sale as portfolio focus, not distress, and it keeps a commercial agreement to sell select products. I would read the gap as a signal, not a verdict.

What a $45M Gifting Exit Means for Your Store’s Resale Value

My read is that this deal is less about gifting than about what buyers pay for. They pay for profit that repeats: customers who come back, traffic you own, and supplier terms that survive a change of owner. They discount rented traffic and seasonal peaks. Gifting is a Q4 business almost by definition, and when revenue shrinks two quarters running, a buyer prices the shrinkage, not the history.

For a small-business benchmark, the Empire Flippers scoreboard lists multiples of trailing-twelve-month net profit: 2.2x for typical businesses, 2.3x for premium businesses, 3.1x for premium businesses above $1 million, and 1.2x for distressed ones. The page is undated, so treat it as a rough guide, and note these are marketplace deals between individuals, not a public company selling a division.

Here is hypothetical math, not a reported figure. A store netting $300,000 a year sells for about $660,000 at 2.2x, $930,000 at 3.1x and $360,000 at 1.2x. The spread between the best and worst case is $570,000, and the only thing that changes is how risky the profit looks.

My rule of thumb, which is not a published benchmark: if one ad channel drives more than half your revenue, or one supplier more than half your gross profit, assume a buyer prices you toward the distressed end. If email and repeat orders carry 30% or more of revenue, assume the premium end is on the table. I walk through the full process in my guide on how to value an ecommerce store before you sell it.

Three outside forces push on those multiples right now. Borrowing costs come first: I covered consumer confidence falling to 81.9 as the Fed hiked rates, and higher rates tend to push buyers toward lower multiples. Buyer financing is next, and the SBA acquisition-loan rule change that kicks in Oct. 1 matters for anyone selling to a financed buyer.

Discovery is the third. AI shopping assistants lean toward big retailers, per the study in my post on AI shopping picking big retailers 9 times in 10. A niche store that depends on a search click it does not control is a riskier asset than one with a customer list and a brand people type into the address bar. I covered how to build that list in customer retention email strategies.

High-ticket dropshipping has a structural edge here. You do not carry a 360,000-square-foot facility, so there is no capital-heavy asset to impair. What a buyer is actually acquiring is the store, the domain, the email list and your supplier relationships. That is also the weakness. A supplier can sell direct, and a buyer will want authorized-dealer agreements that transfer.

A second read, and this one is speculation. PlanetArt already operates gifting and personalization sites such as CafePress, Personal Creations and Gifts.com, so I’d guess it is buying customers, traffic and production know-how it can fold into what it owns. If that is right, the buyers most likely to pay up for your store are not individuals on a marketplace but operators in your category who can plug your list and your supplier terms into their own business. That points to a simple plan: build a store a competitor would want to absorb, not just one that earns you a paycheck.

I would also expect a buyer to ask about chargeback rates on high-ticket orders and about unresolved sales-tax exposure. The Pennsylvania rule I covered in local sales tax on remote sellers is the kind of liability that shows up in diligence and comes straight off your price.

Here are three scenarios with thresholds, again my own framing and not data. First, your net profit is flat or growing, no single channel tops 40% of revenue and your books close monthly. Plan on the typical-to-premium range and start talking to brokers in about 12 months. Second, profit has fallen two quarters in a row, the exact pattern 1-800-Flowers showed in fiscal 2026. Fix the decline before you list, because buyers price the trend. Third, you depend on one supplier or one ad account. Spend the next six months on diversification, not on listing.

Vet the marketplace before you list. I covered whether World Businesses for Sale is legit, and the habit applies everywhere: verify who is actually paying you before you share your numbers. I am not a financial or legal advisor, so run any real sale past a broker and an attorney.

One more point on structure. If your store is a sole proprietorship, a buyer cannot purchase a clean entity, only a pile of assets. Putting the business in an LLC first, and for some owners under a holding company, makes the sale simpler. If running all of that sounds like a second job, my turnkey done-for-you service exists to take it off your plate.

Want a high-ticket store with real, sellable assets and none of the daily grind? My team builds and runs the store while you own the brand, the list and the supplier agreements. See the turnkey done-for-you service →

Six Moves to Protect Your Store’s Resale Value Before Q4

Do these six this week, in order. None needs a broker.

Calculate your trailing-twelve-month net profit, then multiply it by 1.2, 2.2 and 3.1 to see your honest range. Compare the result against the steps in my store valuation guide.
Measure concentration. In your Shopify reports, pull the last 12 months of revenue by channel and write down the percentage from your biggest ad source and your biggest supplier. Anything above 50% is the first thing to fix.
Move the assets into the entity. Register your domain through Namecheap under the LLC, not your personal name. Put your Klaviyo account on a company email too, because your list is the asset buyers value most.
Clean the books. Set up monthly closes in Finaloop, or in QuickBooks if you already live there. Payouts are not profit, which I explained in your ecommerce payout is not your profit.
Paper your suppliers. Get authorized-dealer agreements and MAP policies in writing, and keep a backup feed live through Inventory Source. Wholesale2b is a second option, so no one supplier carries more than half your gross profit.
Get an outside read. Book a discovery call with my team and ask how a buyer would see your store today. Then compare the answer with the numbers in what your ecommerce numbers are really telling you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did PlanetArt agree to pay, and for what?
About $45 million in cash for PersonalizationMall.com and Things Remembered, per the Sept. 29 press release. The deal is expected to close within the coming weeks.

Is $45 million versus $245 million an apples-to-apples drop?
No. The 2020 price was for Personalization Mall alone and included a 360,000-square-foot facility. The 2026 price covers two brands, and revenue and profit for both are undisclosed, so the multiple cannot be calculated.

Does this mean ecommerce stores sell for less now?
One deal is not a trend. It does show that a shrinking, seasonal brand gets priced on its decline, and the Empire Flippers range of 1.2x to 3.1x shows how much risk moves the number.

What do buyers check before they pay for a store?
I would expect clean books, transferable supplier agreements, chargeback rates, tax exposure and compliant policies. A privacy policy generator like Termly covers one box on that list in an afternoon.

When does the 1-800-Flowers deal close, and will guidance change?
The company expects to close within the coming weeks. It said its fiscal 2027 outlook excludes the sale and that updated guidance will arrive with first-quarter fiscal 2027 results.

What if I have not picked a niche that holds its value yet?
Start with the free 1,000+ niches list. Then check my high-ticket niches list for categories with real ticket prices.

Want to pressure-test your exit plan with other store owners and me before a buyer does? Join the Skool community →

If you own a store you might sell someday, build it so a stranger can understand it in one sitting: clean books, owned traffic, written supplier terms. I wish you guys the best of luck out there. Subscribe to the YouTube channel for daily breakdowns. More breaking news coming through the day.

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Trevor Fenner

Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.