Fallons, A Gerald Stevens Company, is Official Florist of 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Business Wire, June 10, 1999

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 1999--

Fallons Creative Flowers, a Gerald Stevens company, is the official florist of the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

Gerald Stevens, Inc. (Nasdaq: GIFT) is the largest integrated specialty floral and gift retailer and marketer in the United States. Fallons is its premium Raleigh-based florist, with five stores in the Triangle area. As the official florist, Fallons will celebrate the Special Olympics' 30th Anniversary starting with a June 3 kick-off event at their flagship retail location in the Raleigh Historic District.

Throughout the `99 Games, Fallons will provide flowers for over 7,000 Special Olympics athletes from more than 150 countries. Additionally, Fallons will be the sole provider of the Courage Bouquet, donating proceeds from sales to the `99 Games, and will host a floral exhibition in the World Games Festival Village.

"We are proud to support all Special Olympics athletes, whose determination and love for sports inspire us all," said David Lindquist, president of Fallons and Zone Vice President of Gerald Stevens. "We at Fallons and Gerald Stevens are thrilled to contribute the beauty of our flowers, our employees' time and our financial support to the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games."

Flowers Make Everything Special

Between June 26 and July 4, 7,000 athletes with varying degrees of mental retardation will gather in the Triangle area of North Carolina from 150 countries to compete in 19 sports. As the official florist of the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Fallons has designed and will donate celebratory flowers for the '99 Games. In addition to dedicating flowers, Fallons' contribution and involvement with the Games is multi-faceted:

-- Flowers for Athletes

Each Special Olympics athlete will carry a bright red, yellow or purple flower at the Opening Ceremonies, and each award-winning athlete in the gymnastics, equestrian, roller-skating and bocce ball competitions will receive a bouquet from Fallons. From the time they arrive at the airport, until the end of the `99 Games, Fallons will provide the 7,000 athletes with flowers, honoring their determination and participation in the events.

-- Celebratory Courage Bouquet

The creed of Special Olympics athletes is, "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." Fallons held a contest among its award-winning floral designers to create the Courage Bouquet, the official bouquet of the 1999 Special Olympics World Games, which symbolizes this creed through flowers in the reds, yellows and purples that represent the `99 Games. Fallons designed the bouquet as an imaginative salute to Special Olympics athletes, and will dedicate proceeds of $10 from every $29.95 Courage Bouquet sold during June and July to the `99 Games. In addition, Fallons will carry `99 Games official licensed merchandise in all five retail locations.

-- "World of Blooms" Celebration

At a June 3 celebration for the media, Fallons will unveil a special window, featuring a tribute to the `99 Games and introducing the custom-designed Courage Bouquet. Included at the event will be Special Olympics athletes as well as local dignitaries. Fallons will give each attendee at the unveiling a themed bouquet of symbolic red, yellow and purple flowers.

-- The World Games Festival Activity Tent Events

Fallons will round out their distinctive presence with a floral exhibit at the World Games Festival Village on the campus of Meredith College in Raleigh. The World Games Festival Village is an entertaining and educational venue that celebrates the global reach of the `99 Games though art, culture, industry and the local community. At their tent, Fallons will sell a variety of floral bouquets and other items, and will feature their floral artists, who will demonstrate the art of arranging flowers. The tent will showcase a series of sketched canvases designed by a local artisan that combines the beauty of flowers with the symbolism of Special Olympics. Visitors are invited to contribute color and a signature to the sketches, ultimately creating a one-of-a-kind mural that will be given to Special Olympics headquarters as a gift from Fallons and Gerald Stevens. In addition, on July 3, Fallons will hold a drawing from the tent for flowers and candy for a year.

About Fallons Creative Flowers

Fallons Creative Flowers (www.fallons.com), a Gerald Stevens company, began in 1840, when the Fallons, a family of Irish flower farmers, started a floral business. Since then, the family has opened florist shops in locations including Lynchburg and Raleigh-Durham. Fallons, the largest florist in North Carolina, is ranked as one of the top 25 in the country and as the number one florist in Raleigh-Durham for seven consecutive years. Gerald Stevens, Inc. (Nasdaq: GIFT) is the largest integrated specialty floral and gift retailer and marketer in the United States, and Fallons is its premium Raleigh-based florist.

About Gerald Stevens, Inc.

Gerald Stevens, Inc. (Nasdaq: GIFT) is the leading retailer and marketer of flowers and floral-related merchandise and gifts. The company currently owns 125 retail locations in 18 markets in the United States: two of the largest floral order generation businesses, The Flower Club and National Flora; the Florafax wire service, the fourth largest flowers-by-wire service in the United States; and a number of Internet floral businesses, including http://www.flowerclub.com, http://www.flowerlink.com, and http://www.flowermarket.com. Gerald Stevens has strategic alliances to fill floral orders for numerous Fortune 500 companies, including several major oil companies, airlines, department stores and banking institutions.