1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. is a publicly traded corporation owned by public and institutional shareholders rather than a single private individual. It was founded by entrepreneur Jim McCann, who bought the toll-free telephone asset in the 1980s and built it into an e-commerce gifting empire. While McCann and his family retain substantial insider stock ownership, day-to-day governance and overarching strategic operations are managed by executive officers under the oversight of a corporate board of directors.