We will be a progressive, profitable company that is always improving results and is recognized by its employees for providing opportunities to grow, both personally and professionally; appreciated by its customers and suppliers for providing quality products and services as efficiently as possible; respected by its communities for the value it and its employees add; and admired for its integrity.

Merchants Distributors (MDI) is a privately-owned wholesale grocery store distributor headquartered in Hickory, NC. MDI supplies over 600 retail food stores with food and non-food items in NC, SC, GA, TN, VA, AL, WV, OH, FL, PA and KY.

Humble Beginnings

We celebrated our 85th anniversary on September 21, 2016. Our 85 year history is an interesting story of sacrifice, growth and success. It
began as a small family business in the small town of Hickory, North Carolina, and as one local newspaper described it, “With little more than a bag of peanuts, an apple, and a stick of candy.” What Lebanese immigrant Moses George and his sons purchased in 1931 for $17,000 has since grown to become a multimillion-dollar wholesale grocery company that employs more than seventeen hundred workers in the Southeast.

Building Blocks For Success

Merchants Distributors is a great American success story but it is a company that has never forgotten its roots. Our success is based on:

• our values, our facilities, our variety, our Advertising programs, our cost of goods, and our innovations
• the one thing that distinguishes MDI as superior to other distribution companies – our leadership. Our owners have created a leadership style that supports the organization as one family working together for one common goal and a culture in our people that is impossible to duplicate.

It’s Because of Our People

MDI’s true greatness lies within the people it serves and employs. We want to win people’s hearts and minds, not just their hands. We want people to have jobs for life.

The Road Ahead

MDI remains poised for tremendous growth but its mission of providing exceptional value and unmatched customer service – a mission that began with Moses George in 1931 – will always remain unchanged.