Dive Brief:

• Flower and gift-basket e-retailer 1-800-Flowers will buy fruit-laden gift basket catalog company Medford, OR-based Harry & David for $142.5 million in cash, the companies said Tuesday.

• Harry & David, famous for its high-quality fruits often sent out between Thanksgiving and Christmas, had filed for bankruptcy in 2011, but emerged from that with stronger sales and reduced debt.

• The deal could boost Westbury, NY-based 1-800-Flowers’s revenue to more than $1 billion and introduce the potential for cost reduction at both companies. Harry & David will be run as a subsidiary, with no changes to management, according to the deal revealed Tuesday.

Dive Insight:

Harry & David was founded in 1910 and has been famous for its tasty fruits and fruit baskets, but the economy took its toll starting about 2008. Critics claim former CEO Steve Heyer took steps that diluted the company’s high-quality offerings and demoralized its employees, helping push it to bankruptcy. 1-800-Flowers is taking it on after it has swung back to health in recent years.