Boesen the Florist of Des Moines, Iowa, is quickly becoming a Midwest power player with purchases of stores in Omaha, Neb., earlier this year, and now, its latest acquisition: six Amlings Flowerland locations in the Chicago suburbs.

And, this won't be the last business deal for Boesen the Florist co-owners, Ed, Tom and Frank. As Ed says, "We're always on the hunt," to grow the family business, which, with this year's acquisitions, has 26 locations.
 
"I, personally, would confine the target [acquisition] area to the Midwest, where people are like us," says Ed, who's handled the recent Amlings purchase. "I don't know where that stops."

Boesen the Florist, founded in 1923, acquired Piccolo's Florist & Gifts in Omaha in 2007 and Locker's Florist in the Milwaukee area in 2001. Amlings Flowerland locations include: Arlington, Deerfield, Naperville, St. Charles, Willowbrook and Wheaton. In each case, says Tom Boesen, the shop owners sought out Boesen the Florist when it came time to sell their business.

"We have yet to pick up the phone and call people to say we want to buy; we were approached," Tom says. "Every phone number has come our direction."

In all cases, the store names remain the same. "We keep the names, we keep the people," Ed Boesen says. "We just become tools in the tool box to better help them do their jobs."

Ed says he decided to buy Amlings because it was one of "the most recognized names in the business," as well as one of the oldest, at 118 years running.

Ed suspects businesses approach Boesen's because of its emphasis on service, quality and adapting each store to match the constantly changing customer needs. For example, he says, the company operates with a modern, technology-embracing business model that depends on a specific marketing structure, complete with purchasing and risk management plans.

"We have a reputation of growing businesses, not shrinking them," Ed Boesen says. And, he says, shop owners who sell their flower operations to Boesen know the store will benefit from the enhanced employee benefits and advertising scale of a larger operation.

The Boesen family has owned the business since 1923, except for about a little more than two years, from October 1998 to February 2001, when Gerald Stevens, a retail consolidator that eventually failed, purchased Boesen the Florist. The Boesen brothers bought back their operation in February 2001.

--Cassandra P. Foster
cfoster@safnow.org

Previous Article    Next Article