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In 1897, Isaac Van Westenbrugge started a business delivering butter and eggs to local grocers in Grand Rapids. In 1916, his daughter, Ruth, met Ben Gordon at church, and they were married in 1921. So what started as a very small family food business in the 19th century is Gordon Food Service (GFS) today, still owned and operated by the Gordon family and doing business in 10 states and across Canada. In addition to expanding, the company has also evolved over the years to what are now its two main divisions: Gordon Food Service and the GFS Marketplace retail stores.
"Gordon Food Service is a food service distribution [company] for restaurants, hospitals, school systems, and anyone who would want large deliveries off a truck," explained Mary Anne Manderfield, communications manager for GFS. "If our truck customers are out of a product, they can shop at the store before their next delivery arrives; or, with smaller businesses and restaurants, they may not have the room to hold the stock or may not need that amount of quantity. We also service caterers, churches, VFW halls who host spaghetti dinners or fish fries, or any business that has a food service type of need, such as concessionaires and daycare operations. Of course, we service people who are event planners, having tailgate parties, or a big Christmas party coming up.
"The key to our stores is that you can get the same restaurant quality product that's being delivered off our truck," Manderfield noted. "It makes it convenient for our customers. We are the only food service company that offers both the off-the-truck delivery option and retail stores."
GFS currently has 109 of the stores in markets where it provides truck delivery services.
"We're a pretty unique entity," added Jeff Campbell, Lansing's West Saginaw GFS Marketplace store manager. "When [our customers] run out of items they need, they know they can find quality products here. They know that's what they're going to get."
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