Profile on Plow & Hearth--Reaping What You Sow (2,623 words)

Larry West, a merger and acquisition expert with New York-based West and Co., sorted through the company's suitors.

"Larry was the person we used to identify prospects. 1-800-FLOWERS was a company we never would have thought of in a million years," admits Rice. "Why would we really? We had no way of knowing what they were thinking and didn't know enough about them to know the potential synergies."