1-800-Flowers.com founder Jim McCann stepping aside as CEO

The founder of 1-800-Flowers.com is stepping aside as chief executive, but leadership of the company is staying in the family.

The Carle Place-based flower and gift retailer announced Wednesday that Jim McCann, its founder, chairman and chief executive, will become executive chairman on June 30. His younger brother, Chris McCann, who is now president of the company, will take the helm of the 40-year-old retailer as chief executive.

“When we set up this succession plan many years ago, we did so with the goal of having a seamless transition,” Jim McCann said in a statement. “Working closely with Chris, I know there is no one better equipped to spearhead the continued growth and innovation of our company.”

Jim McCann, 64, will continue to oversee the company’s staff evaluation and training, mergers and acquisitions and long-term planning. Chris McCann, 55, who became president in 2000, will take on additional duties, including the company’s annual and longer-term operating and financial plans.

“I have learned a great deal working alongside Jim over the years, as we took one storefront shop on Manhattan’s East Side and grew it into a leading, omnichannel gift retailer,” Chris McCann said in a statement.

In 1976, Jim McCann opened the floral business that became 1-800-Flowers.com.

The company’s stock price closed up 11 cents to $8.03.

By Maura McDermott

maura.mcdermott@newsday.commauramcdermott

Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.