293:. After Moses George died in 1947, his sons Alex and Lee took over the business, along with daughter Josephine. The name changed to Merchants Distributors Inc. or MDI in 1956. By 1960, MDI had over 130 employees and supplied 400 grocery stores within 150 miles. Alex George was president, and the company added a $ 1 million, four-acre facility on Twelfth Street. In 1965, MDI began selling to schools and eventually merged its MDI Foodservice with James Wholesale Company, also in Hickory, forming Institution Food House (IFH), with Lee George as president. Norman James was vice president; after his death, the George brothers bought his share of the company and made IFH a subsidiary of MDI. Lee George retired in 1980 but remained chairman.
311:. The company received $ 5.5 million in economic incentives from Caldwell County and Hickory, with plans for Hickory to annex the site and turn part of it into an industrial park (though as of 2008 the city had done nothing with its part of the land). This arrangement created controversy because the North Carolina Supreme Court had not yet ruled on whether such economic incentives to keep businesses were constitutional. Two years later, the distribution center was complete, though neighbors complained about the noise, and a few people claimed construction damaged their nearby homes. IFH took over the former MDI location.
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grocer, bought
Merchants Produce for $ 17,000 and began running it with his sons Alex and G.L. George. Merchants Produce took advantage of the trend away from "mom-and-pop" grocery stores, as chain stores became common. In 1938, the name changed to Merchants Produce and Grocery as the company became
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After MDI bought
Institution Food House, in 1992, MDI reorganized as a holding company, Alex Lee, Inc., with MDI, IFH and Lowes Foods as subsidiaries, named for Alex and Lee George. MDI president Boyd Lee George, grandson of the founder, became chairman and president, remaining as chairman of MDI.
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304:(IGA). In addition to providing the IGA stores with low-priced merchandise, this arrangement allowed IGA to take advantage of the advertising and merchandising skills of MDI.
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The company's roots date back to around 1920, when A.C. Kelly took over
Merchants Produce Company of Hickory, a wholesale fruit and produce company. In 1931, Moses George, a
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supermarket chain as well as
Merchants Distributors, Inc., which supplies more than 600 stores located in nine states, mostly in the
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with the intent to rebrand 15 of the stores as KJ's Market IGA with the other 5 rebranded under the Lowes Foods banner.
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Rob Urban, "L-R's Man of the Year Known for
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MDI also supplies Galaxy Food
Centers, founded in 1979, with 100 stores in 7 states.
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Alex Lee Inc. announced on
October 28, 2019, that it had completed its purchase of
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MDI now supplies more than 600 stores located in eleven states, mostly in the
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321:-based W. Lee Flowers & Co., a wholesale distributor which supplies 75
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Hannah
Mitchell, "Hickory Still Has No Plans for Vacant 122-Acre Tract,"
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On
September 1, 2020, Alex Lee, Inc. announced that it was purchasing 20
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Norman Gomlak, "Incentives for
Keeping MDI in Hickory Top $ 5 Million,"
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an important distributor of merchandise to the independent stores in
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618:"'Southeastern Grocers to sell 23 stores to Alex Lee, B&T Food'"
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Also in 1995, MDI announced plans for a $ 60 million plant in
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http://www.merchantsdistributors.com/customer_service/galaxy/
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and KJ's Market stores, 50 of which the company owned.
586:"The Briefcase: Lowes Foods' parent buys S.C. grocer"
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Jon Goldberg, "Hickory Company Gets Noise Warning,"
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679:Privately held companies based in North Carolina
254:. Alex Lee is ranked 139 on the list of largest
669:Business services companies established in 1931
300:In 1993, MDI became a distribution center for
152:Supermarkets, grocery stores, pharmacies, food
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674:Distribution companies of the United States
332:stores in South Carolina and Georgia from
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584:Craver, Richard (October 29, 2019).
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258:in the United States, as listed by
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459:"Company Profiles: Alex Lee, Inc"
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408:"Moses George Buys Fruit Co."
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302:Independent Grocers Alliance
412:, September 22, 1931, p. 1.
75:; 93 years ago
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574:, Retrieved on 2008/12/15.
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319:Scranton, South Carolina
256:privately held companies
165:$ 3.2 billion (FY 2021)
570:March 5, 2009, at the
553:The Charlotte Observer
540:The Charlotte Observer
527:The Charlotte Observer
485:The Charlotte Observer
282:Shelby, North Carolina
193:Merchants Distributors
591:Winston-Salem Journal
264:. Alex Lee owns the
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410:Hickory Daily Record
360:"Investor Relations"
334:Southeastern Grocers
555:, October 24, 1997.
542:, January 31, 2008.
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179:Number of employees
91:Alex and Lee George
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385:"Alex Lee Brands"
242:headquartered in
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199:Subsidiaries
96:Headquarters
60:Distribution
31:Company type
266:Lowes Foods
208:KJ's Market
204:Lowes Foods
663:Categories
602:August 14,
511:August 14,
347:References
119:Key people
394:8 October
369:3 January
341:Southeast
270:Southeast
189:Divisions
64:Wholesale
626:Archived
596:Archived
568:Archived
505:Archived
469:June 12,
463:Archived
438:July 28,
432:Archived
389:Alex Lee
225:.alexlee
149:Products
88:Founders
52:Industry
17:Alex Lee
276:History
244:Hickory
218:Website
157:Revenue
101:Hickory
78: (
70:Founded
56:Grocery
38:Private
364:Forbes
261:Forbes
183:16,000
330:BI-LO
170:Owner
634:2020
604:2020
513:2020
471:2012
440:2012
396:2014
371:2022
289:and
227:.com
80:1931
73:1931
323:IGA
223:www
139:CFO
128:CEO
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
