With four days to go until Mother’s Day, 1-800-Flowers.com’s Web site yesterday was showcasing bargains galore — offering a dozen roses for a marked-down $24.99 in many combinations.

Founder and President Jim McCann is hoping it is enough to snag plenty of business for his 35-year-old company which, while improving of late, is still bleeding red ink.

And Mother’s Day is his most important time of the year — representing between 12 and 15 percent of the Long Island business’s annual sales.

In an interview yesterday at Nasdaq’s Midtown offices, after the 59-year-old executive rang the opening bell, McCann said it was too early to tell how the company will fare during its biggest season.

The struggling business saw floral sales during the quarter ended March 27 improve 4.7 percent, to $162.8 million, compared to a year ago — the first quarterly sales increase in three years — while margins plumped. Still, it posted a $2.7 million loss.

“In this economy, no one needs to buy flowers,” said Bean Murray, Carret & Co. analyst Eric Beder. “This holiday is a very important time for them. The question is if their numbers will improve in the face of rising gas prices.

The shares closed yesterday at $3.14, down 1.3 percent, off its 52-week high of $3.84, but well off its 2007 high of $13.

A banker familiar with the company said he sees it as a takeover candidate if McCann is willing to give up some control.

The personable McCann is seen as a social climber and sits on boards such as OfficeMax and is in the bidding for a minority stake in the New York Mets.

Yet his core business faces serious challenges. The industry, between United Online’s FTD and Roll International’s Teleflora, is pretty well consolidated and “will only grow along with the gross domestic product,” Beder said.

McCann said he hopes to expand the company’s gourmet and gift basket business from $250 million in sales to match the $350 million generated from the floral side.

The gift basket industry, unlike flowers, is fragmented and offers higher profit margins, Beder said.

McCann said he would consider buying fruit basket maker Harry & David, which went bankrupt last month, from its debtholders if they start seeking a buyer.

Meanwhile, he has pruned costs, shuttering five of his six US call centers. Now, 1-800-Flowers reps work out of their homes answering customer calls. Roughly 800 of the company’s 3,500 employees are in Long Island. jkosman@nypost.com