M. R. Williams, Inc. is a full service wholesale distributor serving convenience stores, college stores, departments of correction, truck stops, drug stores, and small grocery stores.  Its distribution territory covers nearly all of North Carolina and Virginia , as well as parts of Maryland , South Carolina , and Washington , D.C.   Product categories distributed include groceries, confections, retail and food service beverages, health & beauty care, tobacco, automotive supplies, food service products and programs, general merchandise and novelties, and pre-paid cellular and phone card programs.

 M. R. Williams, Inc. was established in 1976 when its current owner and CEO, Mike Williams, purchased the Watkins-Sydnor Company.  The acquired company had been operating since 1948 from a small 25,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Henderson , NC with wooden floors and low ceiling heights.  The company’s fleet totaled three 16 ft. delivery vans and it employed 22 people.  Its annual sales at that time were 3 million dollars and on the decline.  A re-engineering process began immediately with the addition of refrigerated space, the development of value-added retail service programs, computer automation, and electronic order entry.  Sales began to skyrocket and the company quickly outgrew its facility, moving to a much larger warehouse in 1981.

 After many years of steady growth and facility expansion, the company now resides in over 130,000 square feet of modern warehouse and office space, boasts several thousand feet of powered conveyors and the latest in computer technology, and employs nearly 200 people.  In 2001, after eighteen months of development and testing, the company was the first in its industry to replaced the standard electronic order entry system and introduced its proprietary C-Tech 21 Palm technology to customers, which provided fingertip inventory and profit management programs to c-store managers.  This system became the model for the industry and company sales soared 34% that year as customers embraced this new technology.

 Today, the company serves over 1,000 customers.  It is listed among the largest privately held firms in North Carolina, and ranks in the nation’s largest fifty convenience store distributors.  The company prides itself in being an extremely low cost provider, while setting the standard for exceptional value added customer service.  This was accomplished through focusing on market share rather than expanding its distribution radius, and by using technology to improve efficiencies and drive cost out of the company’s operating systems.  The company continues its tradition as a trend leader and recently added two additional divisions – food service equipment placement and repair, which includes ice machine and beverage equipment lease and service, and a “store door” novelty merchandise service called “Express Sales.”

 For more information on the company, you may contact any one of its employees in the staff directory, or feel free to e-mail the company president directly at  mwilliams@mrwilliams.com.