Dickerson Distributing said its 65 full-time employees service approximately 1,000 retail customers in Preble, Butler and Warren counties from the 75,000-square-foot distribution center.
“We just felt like it was time for us to exit,” Dickerson said. “We value so much all the associations we’ve had with people in the community.”
“I don’t think it’s really going to have a lot of effect on the employees. I think they plan to keep business running as usual,” he said.
Dickerson’s brands include beer products brewed by Anheuser-Busch/Inbev, such as Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob, and other brands including Corona, Rolling Rock, Goose Island, Redhook, and Yuengling, according to the company’s website. The local company sells about 3.5 million cases of beer a year.
Founded in 1934 by Eugene Dickerson, Dickerson Distributing’s original headquarters were on Crawford Street in Middletown, John Dickerson said.
Until the early 1970s, the distributor was owned in partnership with the Reckman family. The Dickerson family bought it out. Operations have been based at the same Monroe site since 1978, Dickerson said.
The business is now overseen by the third generation of the Dickerson family including John and his cousin Michael, the company’s president. The fourth generation works there, but not in an executive role, and at least one member of the fourth generation will work for the new company, John Dickerson said.
“Our families are at a certain age and we have a lot of other stockholders that expressed a desire to sell,” Dickerson said.
Dickerson is board chairman of The Chamber of Commerce Serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton.
“I think Dickerson has been an outstanding corporate citizen,” said Rick Pearce, the chamber’s president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to welcoming the new owners to town and getting to know them and getting them engaged in the community.”
According to Gold Coast Eagle, sales manager Devyn Dugger is being promoted from Florida to president of the new subsidiary, which will be named Ohio Eagle Distributing.
“Dickerson Distributing Co. is a great organization with dedicated people and we are committed to continuing the company’s strong business practices and building on the legacy founded by the Dickerson family,” Gold Coast Eagle President John Saputo said in a release. “We anticipate a smooth transition with our existing team members, the Dickerson team and our new customers and friends in southwestern Ohio.”
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