Our History
1880
Willem Ruigrok began growing fruits and vegetables in De Zilk, the Netherlands in what would become the heart of today’s Dutch flower bulb district. At the same time, he also started a small flower bulb nursery
1910
Inspired by his father’s work, Willem’s son, Carolus (C.J.) Ruigrok, also started his own bulb business at the age of 20. Together, the two built the first warehouse to store and treat their bulbs. This warehouse was different in that it had opening doors on all sides for optimal air circulation, an idea that was actually very modern at the time. Soon, Carolus began exporting his products into Europe, predominantly in Germany. Later, during the crisis years and World War II, most of the flower bulb stock had to be destroyed and the business was briefly transformed into a dairy farm
1946
With Europe’s economy crippled by years of war, many young people began migrating to United States looking for new opportunities. In the spring of 1946, C.J. sent his 19 year old son Simon to North America to work the US and Canadian markets. Soon, the first flower bulbs were being exported to the continent. The venture proved to be an enormous success; Simon would end up travelling the United States and Canada for more than 55 years
1948
Simon became a partner in the company and later on was joined by his two brothers Anton and Cor. At this time the company name was changed to C.J. Ruigrok & Zonen (Sons). They also formed a new corporation in the US, called Ruigrok Bulbs Inc. This was a initially a small distribution center in Wyckoff, New Jersey
1978
Ruigrok Bulbs purchased two local bulb wholesalers, DeGroot Bulb Company and George Alkemade Inc, forming present day A.D.R. Bulbs Inc. Now in need of someone to manage his growing American operation, Simon turned to his young cousin, Walter who agreed to move to the United States permanently to become A.D.R’s manager
1983
A.D.R relocated to a new 12,000 square foot facility in Bloomingburg, New York where the company continued expanding by adding a retail line to their existing bulk offerings
1985
In keeping with the family tradition, Simon Jr. became a partner in C.J Ruigrok and Sons at the age of 21. Simon also began to travel New England for A.D.R Bulbs. At this time, his uncles Anton and Cor retired from the company. 1985 also marked our 75th anniversary, and at the celebration, the company’s founder, C.J. Ruigrok was present at the age of 95
2004
From 1985 to 2004 the expansion of both C.J Ruigrok and A.D.R Bulbs accelerated, both in the nursery and export divisions. All old buildings were torn down and replaced by a larger, modern and more efficient bulb warehouse. State of the art storage rooms were constructed enabling us to store bulbs at the ideal temperature at all times
2005
Walter’s son Chris joined A.D.R as a salesman, becoming the 4th generation of the Ruigrok family involved in A.D.R Bulbs
2006
A large bulb farm in the North Holland bulb district was added increasing our total production capacity to over 150 acres. The American branch, A.D.R Bulbs also moved to new facilities; a 33,000 square foot warehouse with modern storage and cooling facilities in Chester, New York
Present day
Our flower bulb nursery in Holland is still growing and now ships bulbs all over the US, Canada and Europe. We pride ourselves in using only the most modern equipment in the industry to harvest and store our high quality bulbs in a cost effective way. In the summer of 2010 a new bulb warehouse of 3000 square meters will be added to our existing complex with new storing facilities and many different temperature controlled cells.
{All historic images are provided by courtesy of the Flowerbulb Museum 'De Zwarte Tulp' www.museumdezwartetulp.nl}
