In the early 1950's, Jim Lipari began distributing unique products from the back of his Ford station wagon. Through the following years, Jim worked as a meat cutter and operated a full line grocery store in 1960. Jim and his partner created their own barbecue sauce called Bazzo's. On Jim's day off he would load up the station wagon with Bazzo's and work a sales route.
In 1963, Jim formed Lipari Food Distributors in order to continue distributing Bazzo's, and soon after Bella Mia Spaghetti Sauce. Lipari Foods was headquartered in St. Clair Shores, MI at this time. Other products continued to be added to the Lipari Product line, but Jim's big break didn't come until 1967 when Frank's Tea & Spice appointed Lipari as their distributor. Jim was soon known as the spice man on the street and his customer base included many independent supermarkets. Spices were very service-oriented and customer service was a skill that Jim had mastered. In 1971, Jim's son Thom started working at Lipari Food Distributors. With the purchase of their second building in St. Clair Shores came two walk-in coolers. Soon the addition of cheese, ham, and salami started Lipari Food Distributors in the deli business. As Lipari continued to master the deli business they soon moved to a 21,000 sq. ft. facility in Mount Clemens, MI, with 20 employees and 6 trucks. In 1983 Thom had an idea to sell frozen dough to bakeries. Lipari was the first company in Southeastern Michigan to market in-store frozen dough to the bakeries and independent grocers. In 1995, Lipari moved to their current location in Warren, MI, with 90,000 square feet. Since 1995, Lipari Foods has experienced tremendous growth. Their growth has come in many forms including: acquisition of two distribution businesses, product expansion including the addition of full-line packaging and several partnerships with wholesale warehouses. The facility in Warren is now more than 270,000 square feet.
The driving force behind the company has been the philosophy of Jim Lipari: "Take care of the customer". These are not just words at Lipari. Instead of using computers to handle some store demands we hire additional salespeople as we expand our business.
"Technology is not used to eliminate salespeople; it is used to help our salespeople so we can maintain a high level of customer service", says Thom Lipari.
Service will continue to be the driving force behind the Lipari commitment to our customers. |
Rose and Jim Lipari
Liparis First Deli Show
Liparis First Semi-Truck
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