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Merchants Foodservice has a firm foundation. It was laid February 11, 1904, with seven original stockholders
as the Fain Grocery Company, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to service the retail and wholesale grocery trade.
The Company was originally housed in the old First Baptist Church building, which was selected because of its close proximity
to the railway service. Originally, the Company employed ten people and utilized two horse drawn drays. (It may be of interest
to note, that one team of the horses was named Nip and Tuck).
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From the very beginning, product delivery has been a prime component in the success of Merchants Foodservice! |
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The charter was amended in 1907, changing the name of the Company
to The Merchants Grocery Company and again in 1927, to The Merchants
Company.
In 1907, an aggressive building program began and a contract
was let for construction of a two story brick warehouse on East
Pine Street in Hattiesburg with cost not to exceed $29,950,
exclusive of electrical and plumbing work.
In 1915, a corn meal mill was put into production in the Hattiesburg
Plant, and in 1917, a small grain elevator and feed mill was
established. This was soon outgrown and in 1924, a new modern
feed manufacturing plant was opened in Laurel, MS with the blending
of flour to begin in 1927. In 1920, a cold storage plant was
built in Hattiesburg to handle fresh fruit and vegetables.
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Management personnel, staff and sales representatives are shown in this undated photograph.
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In 1923, a milestone was reached. The Merchants Company generated
one million dollars in sales.
In 1931, the first branch in Jackson,MS was opened. In that
same year, because of changing methods of distribution, the
Company opened it first packing house to sell fresh and frozen
pork, beef, and Allied products. The packing house operation
was in Hattiesburg in a building that was directly across from
the existing warehouse; the first year's sales were $295,000.
By 1935, the Company had purchased a feed mill on the outskirts
of Jackson in Gowdy, MS. This mill was destroyed by fire in
1945 and a modern grain elevator and feed mill were constructed
to replace it. In 1950, all grain operations were moved to Vicksburg,
MS to take advantage of the Mississippi river barge rates. The
Jackson plant was sold to Ralston Purina in 1952. It was during
this time that the Company began operating the Vicksburg Terminal
Elevators.
In 1951, the Company purchased a meat processing plant in Hattiesburg
and operated it as Central Packing Company. In 1961, Pine Burr
Packing Company, a state-of-the-art USDA inspected plant, was
opened to replace Central Packing Company and operated until
closing in 1982.
In 1959, The Company built and operated Forrest Farms in Hattiesburg,
as a completely integrated poultry operation, which was later
sold to Marshall Durbin.
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Currently, Merchants Foodservice is ranked 19th in the nation in sales. |
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In 1982, the course was set to convert The Merchants Company to a
modern competitive full line foodservice distributor. The grain elevators
were sold and the seven distribution centers were consolidated into
two expanded facilities. Today, we provide service into 8 states from
2 expanded and modernized warehouse facilities, Jackson, MS and Alabama's
newest foodservice distribution center in Clanton, Alabama.
A fleet of new multi-temp trucks was secured to properly handle the merchandise.
Data processing hardware and software were acquired to give operations
and sales people the tools to do the best job possible. Merchants
Foodservice became associated with Frosty Acres in June of 1983 and have
received many benefits from that association.
There are 2,600 Food Distribution Companies in the United States
and Institutional Distributor Magazine in 2003 ranked Merchants
Foodservice 19th in the nation in sales.
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| Merchants Facts |
| • | Merchants Foodservice is headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. |
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CEO - Don Suber |
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President - Andy Mercier |
| • | Merchants is a part of the F.A.B., Inc buying group. |
| • | Donald Suber is a member of the board of F.A.B. |
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Merchants Foodservice began operations in 1904 as Fain Grocery Company, a wholesale grocery distributor. |
| • | In 1982 the Company changed its focus and concentrated all efforts on becoming a broadline food distributor. That first year ended with approximately $10,000,000 in foodservice sales. |
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Since 1982, the Company has experienced phenomenal growth resulting in sales volume for 2005 of approximately $230,000,000. |
| • | The Company currently delivers into eight southeastern states from its distribution facilities in Jackson, Mississippi, and Clanton, Alabama. |
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Currently of the 2,600 foodservice distributors operating in the nation, Merchants ranks number 19th in sales volume. |
| • | Merchants has continuously updated data processing systems and delivery equipment with the latest technology. The company currently communicates with numerous vendors, customers and its entire sales force through EDI. |
| • | MerchantsFoodservice played a major role in the pilot program for Distributor Distribution of USDA Commodity Product for the Public School System in the 1980's. This program has proven successful both to the U.S. Government and the distributor, and has been adopted throughout the nation. |
| • | Customers of Merchants Foodservice currently number more than 5,000. |
| • | The average number of orders delivered on weekly basis by Merchants is 6,000. |
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The average number of cases delivered weekly is 220,000. |
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