Top business leaders honored by Blank Slate

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Jim McCann, founder of 1-800-FLOWERS, started with a singular flower shop in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. In a matter of 47 years, he grew that shop until it blossomed into the global flower and gift delivery service it is today.

But his career didn’t start with the flower shop.

McCann used to work in social services, managing a home for teenage boys in Rockaway Beach. While he said the work was rewarding and a passion of his, the pay was not sufficient to support his family. To supplement his income, he began working at a TGI Friday’s.

It was at this second job that McCann met a regular who was selling his flower shop. McCann shadowed him for two weeks and jumped at the opportunity to purchase his business.

But McCann said he didn’t just buy a store but rather a means to build a business. This is exactly what he did, transforming his flower shop into a global company that delivers more than 30 million gifts a year, from flowers to cookies to chocolates.

Now McCann has entered the second act of his career, which is incorporating his successful, global flower delivery company and helping out his community, he told an event honoring Blank Slate Media’s Top Business Leaders of Nassau County.

Blank Slate Media singled out 45 local business leaders for their impactful work in 2022 in front of 300 attendees Thursday night at Leonard’s Palazzo in Great Neck, with McCann as the keynote speaker for the third annual event.

“Tonight we celebrate a diverse, talented and committed group of people who have em-

Continued on Page 50