1900 · What's in a name?
Turns out, a lot. In 1900, Karl Zeidler Sr. lent his name to a small floral shop he began operating out of his Evansville basement, armed only with a love of flowers and the willingness to work hard. And work hard he did. With the help of his wife, Mary, Karl's quick success meant he could move the business from the basement to a proper brick-and-mortar building — and a 2,000 sq ft one at that. Later, he purchased 13 acres of land along Fulton Avenue; he knew his onetime basement business would need it.
Karl Zeidler Sr., founder
Read our story1928 — 1958
From Fred Zeidler to Al Dauble
When Karl's son Fred took over in 1928, Alvin "Al" Dauble's family was just setting up their own shop on Garfield Street. While Fred was busy increasing production, expanding the greenhouses and hiring more employees, Al was learning the ropes of the floral business. When Fred began wholesaling products to local shops, Al Dauble's was one of them. Fred quickly became a kind of mentor to Al — so in 1958, when the Dauble brothers bought Zeidler's, there was no one better prepared for the job.
1960s — 1970s
The greenhouse years
Under Al's direction, Zeidler's flourished through the 1960s and 70s, adding new locations and dozens more employees to the family. The greenhouse space swelled to 100,000 square feet, the Fulton shop added 8,000 more to its footprint, and the wholesale division had taken off. Dauble's vision, leadership and dedication earned Zeidler's a lot of success — including a Top 100 Florist award from FTD in 1975. There would be 30 more after that.
1989 — TODAY
The next generation
Our current President, Blake Mobley, began his relationship with Lori Dauble — the youngest of Al's three children — in 1980, and joined the company in 1989 to run the retail division. Through the years the business continued to grow under Blake and Lori's leadership. The pursuit of perfection led to many changes and improvements in operations, communications, technology, personnel and facilities. Today, Zeidler's Flowers continues Karl and Al's legacy with the next generation of Daubles at the helm.
BY THE NUMBERS
A century and a quarter
- 1900
- Founded in a basement
- 1958
- The Daubles buy Zeidler's
- 100,000
- Sq ft of greenhouse
- 31
- FTD Top 100 awards