Minnesotan To Meet: Dale Bachman
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Whether you've gotten married, gotten in trouble with your spouse or celebrated Valentine's day - there's one thing you need: flowers. And there's really one name most of us think of: Bachman's.
The man taking the floral gift and garden store into the future still has the last name Bachman. That's what makes Dale Bachman a Minnesotan to Meet.
A grey day outside Highway 62 and Lyndale Avenue immediately brightens inside Bachman's.
"It's like going to Florida without having to fly," Dale Bachman said.
The 129-year-old shop started as a produce farm and has undergone transitions ever since. The changes began with the second generation of Bachman's, when the family's five boys were given space to grow whatever they wanted.
"My grandfather, Albert, used his space in the greenhouse to grow flowers," Bachman said, "likely because he knew they were his mom's favorite."
He started selling to Oak Hill Cemetery across the street, once profitable he convinced the others and the family put down roots in flowers and never looked back.
"Our team members probably think there's too many of us sometimes," Bachman said, "but there's only five and we're totally outnumbered."
Bachman is now part of the fourth generation to manage his family's business, which includes 1,300 employees during peak season.
"We have our six home and garden centers around the Twin Cities, and we have a relationship with Lund's and Byerly's," Bachman said. "When you add that up, it's 34 locations."
There's been plenty of innovation from previous family members. In the 1950s, the company sold cut flowers at Dayton's department store. That's where Dale and his wife Ruth got married in 1973.
In 1968, Bachman's started the European Flower Market kiosk to sell flowers at the Byerly's grocery store in Golden Valley.
"Now, most of the flowers are sold in the flower industry are sold at grocery stores," Bachman said.
That type of vison has brought changes to the store like a café -- kids' toys, cabin collectibles and women's clothing.
The company also follows trends.
"Vertical gardening is coming to America," Bachman said. "We'll be installing at the new LL Bean store at Mall of America which will be opening just prior to Thanksgiving."
They're also installing Live Roof products at new chic apartment complexes in Downtown Minneapolis.
Then there's the wildly popular "holiday ideas house." Fall, Holiday and Spring gift and gardening merchandise and services are displayed in one of the original houses on the Bachman's property. The holiday ideas house opens Thursday, Nov. 6.
"There's never been a day that I've been at Bachman's that's the same," Bachman said. "It's always changing."
Yet, whether it's family pictures on the wall or bricks excavated in the '90s by construction crews, the past is always part of the present.
"Just a great reminder of where we came from," Bachman said.
There are now three members of the 5th generation working for the company. Dale Bachman's tenure as CEO started as a tragedy following the stabbing death of his second cousin, Todd Bachman, in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.
When asked if he thinks there will ever not be a day a Bachman is working at Bachman's, Dale Bachman replied: "It's a little hard to imagine there wouldn't be someone active in the company with as much family as we have."
He said it's amazing where flowers can get you in the door. He and his wife were invited to lunch when Mikhail Gorbachev visited Minnesota.
He has met presidents and got to go to the Rose Bowl in the 1990s when their flowers were used in Target's Parade floats.
Dale Bachman's wife Ruth has battled soft tissue sarcoma, and in the fight she lost an arm. You can find her inspirational book about change on sale at Bachman's stores. The couple has two children, though neither of them currently want to be in the business.
If you were curious, Dale Bachman's favorite flower is alstroemeria, developed at the University of Minnesota. He said it's his favorite because it lasts the longest.
