PAST & PRESENT

Koehler and Dramm was founded in 1955 in a partnership between Leonard C. Koehler and Eugene R. Dramm.  At the time, Koehler was a General Manager of a Chicago wholesale florist company and Dramm was President of Dramm Roses, Inc., a rose grower in Elmhurst, Illinois.  They combined efforts to form a new wholesale floral company, Koehler and Dramm.  Originally based in Chicago, Koehler and Dramm primarily sold fresh cut flowers to retail florists throughout Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

From these roots, the company branched out to Minnesota, the current home of our base operations since 1976.  The first building occupied by Koehler and Dramm in Minneapolis was on Broadway Avenue, a few blocks away from our current site.  The company moved to the present Hennepin Avenue location in 1990 with a total square footage of 40,000 square feet—1,000 square feet being refrigeration.  That area was increased in 1994 to 65,000 square feet including 10,000 square feet of refrigeration.  To provide the largest selection of fresh quality cut flowers, the cooler capacity of Koehler and Dramm continues to grow with a current square footage of 14,000 square feet.  This is more refrigeration than any other wholesale florist in the Upper Midwest, allowing us to supply retail florists a myriad of quality fresh flowers for their businesses.

Over time, change occurred in the ownership of Koehler and Dramm.  The company remained in the Dramm family for many years beginning with Eugene, handed down to his son, John, and then belonging to grandson, Rick.  In 1998 Rick Dramm decided to sell the business to a national company.  It wasn’t long, however, until employees of Koehler and Dramm bought it back in 2001 and it has been employee owned ever since.  Under the current direction of president, Lee Spence, Koehler and Dramm employs over 100 people.  The staff of highly qualified managers and personnel work hard in an ongoing pursuit of providing the best product, service, and education to our customers, the retail florists.