Father's Unspectacular Day

Ryan Abood knows a thing or two about gift giving. His parents own Chalifour's Flowers, New Hampshire's largest retail florist, which netted $3 million in sales last year, and Abood runs Gourmetgiftbaskets.com, one of the store's Web sites. When it comes to special days, he says, Father's Day doesn't hold a candle to its maternal counterpart.

"People shop more intensely for their mothers than for their fathers," says Abood, who adds that he has sold 100 of his Father's Day specially packed golf-and-fishing baskets so far, half the number of gift baskets he moved for Mother's Day. Historically, his family's store and affiliated Web sites spend two more weeks ramping up for the Mother's Day crush than they do for Father's Day, which tends to bring in last-minute business.