As rivals bloom, FTD looks to headquarters move, tech investments to grow business

CHICAGO - Earlier this month FTD Cos. CEO John Walden cut the ribbon on the floral and gifting company's still-under-construction 40,000-square-foot headquarters in the Chicago Loop, closer to the city's hip tech firms.

For the nearly 110-year-old flower and gifting business, the pending move of roughly 200 jobs from the suburb Downers Grove to the city signaled not only a new space, but the beginning of a pivotal year.

Despite buying Internet flower firm ProFlowers and its sister gifting brands such as Shari's Berries and Personal Creations for $430 million in 2014, the deal hasn't worked out as planned.

Revenues doubled initially