OMAHA, Neb. —Consumer products company Amcon Distributing Co. has agreed to make a strategic investment in Team Sledd, a distributor that serves about 1,200 convenience-store retailers.
Team Sledd owners will retain a majority interest in the Wheeling, W.Va.-based company. Amcon’s geographic and economic scale will help broaden Team Sledd’s collective reach and capabilities, said Rob Sincavich, who will remain president of Team Sledd.
“This partnership helps us create the preeminent convenience distributor in both the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States,” Sincavich said. “As a distributor serving 26 states with six distribution centers, Amcon brings a customer-centric business model, hands-on customer service and support, and a commitment to innovative foodservice growth. Amcon's commitment to excellence in operations, logistics, financial reporting and cash management will provide a unique set of capabilities to support the future growth of Team Sledd.”
Randy Emanuelson, who co-founded Team Sledd with Sincavich, will remain vice president of the company. The two will retain a majority interest in Team Sledd, which has annual revenues of about $600 million.
“Ultimately, both Team Sledd and Amcon will be in a stronger position to serve both independent and chain retailers over a larger geographic footprint and enhance opportunities to grow our collective customer base,” Emanuelson said.
Team Sledd was founded in 1937 and serves retailers in the West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland markets out of a 200,000-square-foot warehouse in Wheeling.
Amcon’s President Andrew Plummer said Team Sledd is on the forefront of innovative retail branding and market concepts, particularly in store layout and design services and customer education programs.
“These programs are showcased out of a state-of-the-art, 5,000-square-foot Convenience Learning Center which we consider gold standard and are particularly attractive as we look to leverage these resources across our entire distribution network,” Plummer said.
Omaha, Neb.-based Amcon—a leading wholesale distributor of consumer products such as beverages, candy, tobacco, groceries, foodservice, frozen and chilled foods and more—serves about 4,100 c-store retailers in 26 states out of six warehouses in the Midwest and mid-South. It also operates 22 health and natural product retail stores in the Midwest and Florida under Akin’s Natural Foods, Chamberlin’s Natural Foods and Earth Origins Market.
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