FTD and President Rob Apatoff '80 Celebrate Milestone

August 18, 2010

August 18, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — "FTD began as an agreement between entrepreneurial florists and 100 years later our florists remain the life blood of our business," says the president of FTD Group, Inc., Robert S. Apatoff. Today, the company is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding.  Apatoff is a 1980 graduate of DePauw University.

Business Wire notes, "Founded in 1910 by 15 visionary florists who banded together in order to give customers the ability to send flowers nationwide, FTD has become one of the world's best known brands, with the Mercury Man logo displayed in over 40,000 floral shops worldwide." 

"Our founder, John Valentine, and the other original FTD members truly were visionaries in that they realized collective effort by florists could expand the floral industry as a whole," notes Apatoff. "FTD has grown exponentially over the past 100 years and while the marketplace is vastly different, our core mission has not changed. Our mission is to help grow FTD and the retail floral industry, ensure the success of our member florists and, of course, make the world more beautiful with flowers."

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Rob Apatoff, who serves on DePauw's Board of Visitors, was featured in this previous story.

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