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Merchants Grocery Company

Merchants Grocery Company, Inc. (MGC) was founded in 1917 to provide the best service and products to our clients. Today, more than 100 years later, we’re proud to serve many surrounding states as the area’s premier full line wholesale food distributor for candy, grocery, tobacco, beverage, GM/HBC, and food service products. Simply put,we want to be the one name to trust in food distribution.

Merchants Grocery Company




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    About us

    Merchants Grocery Company has a rich history of being the company you can count on for over 100 years.

    Our History

    Merchants Grocery Company (MGC) was founded on February 23, 1917. In 1927, the first truck was purchased for deliveries as most freight was sent by railroad to a train depot and the stores had to arrange their own transportation to pick up groceries. Back in those days, every town had at least one to two distributors. Culpeper had another distributor called Culpeper Grocery Company. In Orange, Virginia, there were also two distributors, but they consolidated and operated under the name of Peoples Grocery Company. Finally, in 1958, Merchants Grocery Company bought the stock of Peoples Grocery Company and operated under the name of Merchants-Peoples Grocery Company.

    One of the first financial threats to the company was regarding future purchases of sugar due to the rationing situations during World War I. The difficulty arose when the price of sugar dropped abruptly below the purchase price because the price was already paid. Finally, Franklin Sugar Company compromised and reached an agreement with Merchants Grocery Company for $1,500. Because of this struggle, the Culpeper Grocery Company went out of business.

    In 1933, the first profit loss was recorded at MGC for $100. Even though MGC had a fiscal loss, a dividend was paid to the stockholders and this trend has continued every year since.

    In July of 1982, MGC consolidated with Peoples Grocery from Orange and moved into the new warehouse.. Even though we were experiencing all of the trials of moving into a new location, our commitment to our customers never changed. In fact, we didn’t miss a single day of shipping product to all of our locations. Throughout this process, we invested heavily into our technology that would make our warehouse more efficient and our customer experience effortless.

    Our current property has a warehouse of over 150,000 square feet of product which includes a 30,000 square foot freezer. We are large enough to supply all your business needs, but small enough to always be here for you!

    In our 104 year history, MGC has always been committed to being the Company You Can Count On.

    Our Heritage

    Elvin Smythers

    41 Years of Service at MGC

    Born in Carroll County Virginia on August 23, 1938. After graduating from Woodlawn High School attended West Virginia Business College. Employed by Virginia Foods, Inc. in Salem, Virginia for 12 years as Director of Advertising and Promotional activities for several IGA Supermarkets plus put in charge of servicing a large K-Mart supermarket in Roanoke which was served by Virginia Foods. Later became a key account representative for Kraft Foods company for a period of 4 years.

    While at Kraft Foods he was approached by Sam McNeil, a brother of Mary Willis, asking him to consider a management position at Merchants Grocery Company. In July of 1973, he was employed by Merchants as General Manager of two distributors located in Orange and Culpeper. Later became President/CEO and later retired after 41 years of service on December 31, 2014.

    Past Industry and other involvements:

    • Board member of Virginia Wholesalers & Distributors Assn. and twice served as President.
    • Board member of Virginia Free (a pro-business group evaluating General Assembly actions in Richmond.)
    • Board member of Pleezing, Inc., located in Chicago, Illinois the first national foodservice buying group in the USA and served as President of the distributor members for two terms.
    • Board member of the Progressive Group Alliance (A foodservice buying group composed of 400 plus distributors with over $20 billion in annual sales.)
    • Board member of AWMA a national association of wholesale distributors.
    • Board member of the Southern Assn. of wholesale distributors.
    • Board member of the Culpeper County Chamber of commerce and one of the original participants in developing the Culpeper Fest in the early 1980’s.
    • Board member of the Retail Merchants Assn. and chaired a committee to eliminate the Merchants Capital Tax, a tax on inventory value in the county.
    • Finance Chairman for a locally held Billy Graham Crusade.

    Industry and other awards:

    • Lorillard Humanitarian Award in 1993 and 2005
    • Candy Wholesaler of the year Award
    • The National Grocers Assn. “Spirit of America Award”
    • K.O. Lester (Community involvement and service Award)
    • AWMA Hall of Fame Award presented in Las Vegas on February 25th, 2015
    • Dale Carnegie Recognition sales award

    Why choose us ?

    We will be what you expect and more!
    For over 100 years, MGC has provided competitive prices, quality products, and superior customer service.
    Our team can help you grow sales and improve profits!

    TEAM SUPPORT

    Our MGC Team will provide support in your store across all categories!

    COMPETITIVE PRICING

    We offer competitive pricing in all categories throughout your store. We can help you earn more retail accruals through our WAM partnership!

    MAXIMIZE REBATES

    Our technologies help manage, execute, and achieve compliance with over 50 manufacturer program rebates that guarantees your profit growth!

    IN-HOUSE MARKETING

    We provide branding/ imaging for your store and POS sales support.

    TOBACCO/ OTP MANAGEMENT

    Our team has the experience and expertise in helping retailers maximize vendor programs.

    CENTER STORE CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

    We provide plan-o-grams and category retail pricing assistance.

    PERFORMANCE DATA

    We offer the latest technology to review and grow your business.

    FOODSERVICE PROFESSIONALS

    We help you select the right items and achieve greater margins of profit in this category.

    BEVERAGE SERVICE PROFESSIONALS

    We create a destination within your store to increase sales and profits!

    WE ARE A COMPANY YOU CAN COUNT ON!

    Experience the TEAM MGC Difference!

    WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE MGC DIFFERENCE ?

    Team

    Who we are

    Chris Smythers

    President & CEO

    Tenure | 28 years

    Robbie Surratt

    Vice President & CIO

    Tenure | 20 years

    Bruce Davis

    Vice President of Sales

    Tenure | 40 years

    Robin Fadely

    Vice President of Foodservice

    Tenure | 21 years

    Carolyn Corbin

    Office Manager

    Tenure | 49 years

    Kristin Simler

    Marketing Director

    Tenure | 1 years

    Tony Reeves

    Warehouse Manager

    Tenure | 4 years

    Jacqueline Orange

    Human Resource Manager

    Tenure | 3 years

    Mike Stephens

    Transportation

    Tenure | 2 years

    Melissa Manuel

    Human Resource Director

    Tenure | 7 years

    Our affiliations

    Because MGC is a member of these groups, we are able to offer our customers amazing rebates! See below how these affiliations can benefit and grow your business.

    Wholesalers And Manufacturers (WAM) was started in 1985 with a vision to help convenience-store distributors, manufacturers, and retailers partner together in a more effective way. With over 25 distributors, WAM became the third largest account in the C-store channel with 7 billion in sales.

    In 2020, through the WAM rebates program, Merchants Grocery Company was able to give $243,000 in rebate money!

    Click to be directed to their website.

    UniPro Foodservice, Inc. is the largest foodservice distribution cooperative in the United States. Comprising over 650 shareholder companies with over 900 locations, each distributor is independently owned and operated, marketing with products and services provided by UniPro Foodservice. With a collective sales volume of over $60 billion, the buying power of UniPro enables its members to receive enhanced purchasing opportunities, thereby providing better pricing and a vast array of products and services to our customers.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    Virginia Wholesaler and Distributors Association (VWDA) is a lobbyist in Richmond who works on our behalf, as well as our retailers, to keep unreasonable and burdensome laws from affecting our industry in the state of Virginia.

    The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) is an important retailer based trade association and it promotes more productive efficient relationships between our retail customers and ourselves.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    The Southern Wholesaler and Distributors Association (SAWD) is an organization with buying shows, training programs, and networking contacts that brings value to our accounts.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    The West Virginia Wholesalers Association (WVWA) is working to keep unreasonable and burdensome laws from affecting our industry in the state of West Virginia.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    The Convenience Distribution Association (CDA) is the trade organization working on behalf of convenience products distributors in the United States. Its distributor members represent more than $102 billion in U.S convenience product sales, serving a wide variety of small retail formats. Associate members include leading convenience product manufacturers, brokers, retailers, suppliers and others allied to the industry.

    CDA provides convenience distributors with advocacy on legislative and regulatory issues; business education, programs and initiatives on a variety of areas from category management and food safety to warehouse delivered data and logistics; innovative events, communities and forums helping to align distributors with their trading partners and suppliers, and, a full slate of distributor-focused published products.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) has for over 63 years assisted distributors and retailers in fighting tobacco legislations in all 50 states and in Congress. NATO is a leader among trade associations in protecting all of us in a very volatile industry.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) advocates the interest of the foodservice community in government and industry affairs through research, education, and communication.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    Organized November 1, 1991, the Peer Marketing Associates, Inc. (PMA) is a national bargaining cooperative owned by 104 convenience distributor companies. PMA’s network totals 229 distribution centers that service 125,000 unique retail outlets. Our convenience distributors quickly and efficiently move fast moving consumer goods to their retail customers.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    We support the Virginia Petroleum, Convenience & Marketers Association (VPCMA) on issues which negatively impacts our customers and ourselves in the selling and distribution of our products in the marketplace.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    • Individual Consultation
    • Menu Diversification Assistance in compliance to USDA Nutritional Guidelines
    • Fully Functional Test Kitchen
    • Food Cost Analysis
    • USDA Contract Supplier
    • Large Selection of products meeting FDA Nutritional Guidelines
    • Full line cleaning products  and paper products
    • Equipment, smallwares, and supplies
    • Customer Connection- Online Ordering System

    Click to be directed to their website.

    WAM

    Wholesalers And Manufacturers (WAM) was started in 1985 with a vision to help convenience-store distributors, manufacturers, and retailers partner together in a more effective way. With over 25 distributors, WAM became the third largest account in the C-store channel with 7 billion in sales.

    In 2020, through the WAM rebates program, Merchants Grocery Company was able to give $243,000 in rebate money!

    Click to be directed to their website.

    UNIPRO

    UniPro Foodservice, Inc. is the largest foodservice distribution cooperative in the United States. Comprising over 650 shareholder companies with over 900 locations, each distributor is independently owned and operated, marketing with products and services provided by UniPro Foodservice. With a collective sales volume of over $60 billion, the buying power of UniPro enables its members to receive enhanced purchasing opportunities, thereby providing better pricing and a vast array of products and services to our customers.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    VWDA

    Virginia Wholesaler and Distributors Association (VWDA) is a lobbyist in Richmond who works on our behalf, as well as our retailers, to keep unreasonable and burdensome laws from affecting our industry in the state of Virginia.

    NACS

    The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) is an important retailer based trade association and it promotes more productive efficient relationships between our retail customers and ourselves.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    SAWD

    The Southern Wholesaler and Distributors Association (SAWD) is an organization with buying shows, training programs, and networking contacts that brings value to our accounts.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    WVWA

    The West Virginia Wholesalers Association (WVWA) is working to keep unreasonable and burdensome laws from affecting our industry in the state of West Virginia.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    CDA

    The Convenience Distribution Association (CDA) is the trade organization working on behalf of convenience products distributors in the United States. Its distributor members represent more than $102 billion in U.S convenience product sales, serving a wide variety of small retail formats. Associate members include leading convenience product manufacturers, brokers, retailers, suppliers and others allied to the industry.

    CDA provides convenience distributors with advocacy on legislative and regulatory issues; business education, programs and initiatives on a variety of areas from category management and food safety to warehouse delivered data and logistics; innovative events, communities and forums helping to align distributors with their trading partners and suppliers, and, a full slate of distributor-focused published products.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    NATO

    National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) has for over 63 years assisted distributors and retailers in fighting tobacco legislations in all 50 states and in Congress. NATO is a leader among trade associations in protecting all of us in a very volatile industry.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    IFDA

    International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) advocates the interest of the foodservice community in government and industry affairs through research, education, and communication.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    PMA

    Organized November 1, 1991, the Peer Marketing Associates, Inc. (PMA) is a national bargaining cooperative owned by 104 convenience distributor companies. PMA’s network totals 229 distribution centers that service 125,000 unique retail outlets. Our convenience distributors quickly and efficiently move fast moving consumer goods to their retail customers.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    VPCMA

    We support the Virginia Petroleum, Convenience & Marketers Association (VPCMA) on issues which negatively impacts our customers and ourselves in the selling and distribution of our products in the marketplace.

    Click to be directed to their website.

    USDA
    • Individual Consultation
    • Menu Diversification Assistance in compliance to USDA Nutritional Guidelines
    • Fully Functional Test Kitchen
    • Food Cost Analysis
    • USDA Contract Supplier
    • Large Selection of products meeting FDA Nutritional Guidelines
    • Full line cleaning products  and paper products
    • Equipment, smallwares, and supplies
    • Customer Connection- Online Ordering System

    Click to be directed to their website.

    Serving in our community

    Extending our services beyond business.
    We are committed to the growth of our community through volunteer work and donations.
    • Culpeper Senior Center
    • Culpeper Soap Box Derby
    • Culpeper United Methodist Church
    • Blue Ridge Food Bank
    • Manna Ministry
    • Regional Tornado & Hurricane Relief
    • Culpeper Fire & Rescue
    • Reva Fire & Rescue
    • Brandy Station Fire & Rescue
    • Orange Fire & Rescue
    • Frederisksberg Area Food Bank
    • Culpeper County Sheriff’s Department
    • Handy Hearts Ministry
    • St. Stephens Food Closet
    • Kelsey’s Big Give
    • Powell Wellness & Cancer Center
    • Culpeper Renaissance
    • S.A.F.E. – Services to Abused Families, Inc.
    • Local Little League Teams