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Seminar Topic: Electronic Investment -Services
with Merrill Lynch OnLinesm.
DATE:
TIME:
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7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Birmingham Internet Group
Big Surf Cybercafe
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Birmingham
SPEAKER: Doug Zack, Financial Consultant
Merrill Lynch Private Client Group
RSVP:
Debra at 248-737-6207
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NICHE MARKET page 111
so well." Indeed, the two have an
almost uncanny manner of be-
ing able to complete the other's
sentences and thoughts.
"It has been a lot of hard work
over the last 10 years building
this business to where it is to-
day, and if the two of us hadn't
been able to do it side-by-side, I
don't know if we ever could have
done it alone," said Tushman.
Added Ishbia, "Our mission,
when we formed the partner-
ship, was to be a full-service dis-
tributor of all meat products to
the marketplace. And by that,
we not only are selling poultry
and pork as we originally were,
we have a full line of beef, sea
food, and deli products."
"We even sell a lot of the dry-
goods," said Tushman, "that go
into fast food restaurants, such
as napkins, buckets for the
chicken, mops and things like
that."
Tushman attributes the com-
pany's rapid growth to good ser-
vice and good pricing, but
acknowledges it has also grown
through acquisitions. In 1994,
Sherwood Food Distributors took
over A&W Foods, a major food
distributor in Cleveland not af-
filiated with the Livonia-based
A&W restaurant chain.
Where do the partners see
Sherwood Food Distributors go-
ing now? "We always have our
eyes open looking for more ex-
pansion," said Tushman. "We
normally say that our main goal
is to take what we have and
make it run more efficiently. If
an opportunity comes along,
sometimes as a good business
person you can't say no, you have
to take advantage of it."
Both partners credit their em-
ployees in the company's
growth, with many having been
with the two firms 20-25 years
or more.
Ishbia said Sherwood Food
Distributors is "very fortunate
to have a second generation
working in the company as well.
Larry has a son, Lee, who is in-
volved in the sales department;
and I have three sons, Howard,
Jason and Joel, in various as-
pects of the business. And Alex
Karp also has his son Gary here.
So we actually have five second-
generation family members in
training.
"We have each of these young
people in jobs that we feel are
very important to the success of
the company," he said.
With a sales office in Atlanta,
the company is looking at the
southern market. The company
covers the East Coast, from New
York to Florida, via their Cincin-
nati warehouse.
"We purchase our meats and
poultry all from the manufac-
turers, from the slaughterhous-
es. Everything is brought into
our warehouses. Today, every-
thing is in a boxed state. There
are no more hanging carcasses,"
said Ishbia.
The only processing done by
the firm is at its Kalamazoo fa-
cility, where it cuts up about
150,000 pounds of poultry per
week.
Sherwood also is a major dis-
tributor of processed meats, buy-
ing various brands from local
manufacturers like Thorn Ap-
ple Valley and Hygrade. Every
day they receive between
100,000 to 120,000 boxes of
meat in their Detroit ware-
house, with the weight per box
averaging 50 pounds.
"Because there's a lot of corn-
petition out there today, you
have to be competitive," said
Tushman. "I believe our buyers
are some of the finest in the in-
dustry today. Many of our peo-
ple have been in the meat
industry for their whole lives.
"We have several who owned
their own businesses at one
time. When they closed up, they
came to work for us, bringing
their specialized knowledge with
them."
Joel Dorfman, president of
Southfield-based Thorn Apple
Valley, Inc., said Sherwood Food
Distributors is "certainly one of
the most successful distributors
of poultry products in south-
eastern Michigan and northern
Ohio, their principal markets."
Sherwood has 25 sales asso-
ciates in Detroit, and can deliv-
er a full meat order within 24
hours.
To meet that turnaround
time, the company processes all
of its orders at night, with the
goal of having all their trucks on
the road by 8 a.m. "We start
dispatching trucks from about
midnight on," said Ishbia. Na-
tionally, Sherwood maintains a
fleet of 150 trucks.
"I don't know if our business
is the meat business or the lo-
gistics business," said Ishbia.
"We are a 24-hour business,
open around the clock."
Over the last 12 months, the
company spent in excess of $1.5
million to expand and renovate
its Detroit headquarters and
warehouse. Office space was
doubled to 16,000 square feet
and property across the street
was purchased to enlarge the
parking area. Warehouse rack-
ing was increased by 70 percent,
along with the refrigeration of
an additional area within the
warehouse and the replacement
of floors and lighting.
The temperature in the ware-
house is kept at a steady 30
degrees, except for a colder area
where some frozen products
are stored. And there are back-
up compressors in case of a pow-
er failure. It is one of the few
places in metro Detroit where
you can see men wearing fur
parkas comfortably on a 90-de-
gree day. ❑