Susan Bachman West named new president of Bachman's

Minneapolis, Minn., (April 2016) – Effective June 17, 2016, a new generation of the Bachman family will join the top leadership ranks of Bachman's, the 131-year-old floral, home and garden company. Upon the upcoming retirement of Paul Bachman, company President since 2008 and a member of the fourth generation of the Bachman family to lead the Minnesota-based, family-owned company since its founding in 1885, Susan Bachman West, 42, will take on the role of president. She will be the fifth generation of the Bachman family to serve as President, and will continue to sit on the senior leadership team led by her cousin, Dale Bachman, who serves as Bachman’s chairman of the board and chief executive officer.

Related: Preserving the past, focusing on the future: January 2016 cover story on the Bachman family and their business

“This will be the fourth time the Bachman family has passed the leadership baton to a new generation, and I can’t tell you how honored I am to be a part of that legacy,” Bachman West explains. “The Bachman’s company has so many deeply-rooted traditions, including our commitments to quality, to our community, and to customer service. But perhaps our most important family traditions are our dedication to maintaining Bachman’s leadership in our industry and our commitment to connecting with new generations of customers. I am so proud to be a part of Bachman’s history and its future.”

Susan Bachman West

Susan Bachman West, a 26-year company veteran and the first female family member to serve as Bachman’s President, will maintain her current responsibilties for overall planning, merchandising, and marketing of perishable products (annuals, perennials, blooming plants, green plants and cut flowers), as well as leading the teams in Bachman’s Floral Design and Weddings and Special Events departments. As Bachman West assumes her new role, she will have oversight of Bachman’s production and wholesale operations, which are led by John Daniels, vice president of production/wholesale operations.

Susan Bachman West worked part-time in various positions of the company throughout her education years. She joined Bachman’s full-time in 1997 as a manager trainee at Bachman’s Eden Prairie Floral, Home and Garden Center. She has served in numerous management positions since that time, most recently as vice president of perishable merchandising and floral design, learning the family business from the ground up. Susan is the great, great grand-daughter of Bachman’s founders, Henry and Hattie Bachman.

Additional fifth generation Bachman family members actively engaged in the company are Karen Bachman Thull, director of marketing and corporate communications and Adam Bachman, department manager / inventory control – Lyndale.

Photos by Becca Dilley.