History

1976

Open for business

Mike Williams purchases the faltering Watkins-Sydnor Wholesale Distributor, established in 1948, that features a truck fleet of three 16-foot dry grocery trucks.

Guiding philosophy
Guiding philosophy
1979

New name

Company name changed to “M.R. Williams Wholesale Distributors” and the first computer is purchased, featuring a 10-megabyte hard drive connected to three CRT monitors.

1982

Expansion

MR Williams purchases 56,000 SQFT building behind original warehouse and moves operations to this location.

1991

Electronic ordering

Computer upgrade clears path for electronic order entry. Customers connect the MSI 55 & 65 to an existing phone to transmit orders directly to the IBM System 36 computer located on site at MR Williams.

Guiding philosophy
Guiding philosophy
1999

Lawson joins the team

The freezer is doubled, and additional office space added to the warehouse. Lawson Williams moves from Dallas to join MR Williams.

2004

New technology & facilities

MR Williams develops proprietary order and inventory management software. Novelty Express moves operations to its own facilities.

Guiding philosophy
2018

Another expansion & new leading technologies

MR Williams completes an 85,000 SQFT addition to the dry warehouse, and adds an additional 8,000 SQFT addition to the freezer / cool dock to support rapidly growing food service demand. A new generation of inventory management technology is deployed to retailers, our Sales team, and Drivers that utilizes a modern Android operating system.

2022

All in on food service

In 2022 MR Williams expanded operations into a new 20,000 SQFT freezer with 600 feet of conveyor across three levels, more than doubling existing freezer capacity. The addition continued a broader investment towards becoming a leader in food service.

All in on food service
To Be Continued

We Aren’t Finished

Despite having almost 50 exciting years of innovation and growth behind us, we’re not letting off the accelerator: 2024 is promising to be our biggest year of investment, innovation, and expansion in value-added services we’ve ever seen. We can’t wait to share more — stay tuned!

Build your future with MR Williams

 

We’ve got a lot of innovation and growth ahead of us. Learn how you can take part in that journey.