Muhlenberg County Kentucky
Local History
Zinsmeister Company Grew Rapidly in Muhlenberg County
Brizendine Brothers operated this small family business that turned into the largest wholesale grocer in Kentucky
During WWI, horse and wagon, steamboat, and rail transported food and most other items brought from outside Muhlenberg County. During the war, John S. Brizendine Sr. became a sales representative for the J. Zinsmeister Company, a wholesale grocer in Louisville, Kentucky. His letter of employment, dated January 15, 1916, stated, “Mr. Brizendine is also to endeavor to sell, as far as possible, the greatest amount of general merchandise such as coffee, etc.; and give more attention to that line of business than to the sugar, meat, and lard.” Canned goods were packed in wooden boxes, and flour came in cloth bags. Crackers were sometimes shipped in a large galvanized container, which became a good garbarge can when empty. Dried beans came in 100-pound sacks, and sugar was packed in 100-pound bags of cotton cloth that later could be sued for towels.
When roads began to improve after WWI, J. Zinsmeister Company could not compete with those competitors that gave better service with truck delivery. So in 1926 a branch warehouse was opened in Muhlenberg County in Greenville, Kentucky, in a brick building still standing today on the west side of North Main Street. William H. Brizendine Sr. joined the business, and later the two brothers purchased the Zinsmeister interest. Although they owned all the company, they never changed the name of the firm to Brizendine. They continued to operate as J. Zinsmeister Company.
The business remained small, but had a healthy and gradual growth. John Brizendine Sr., president, died of a sudden heart attack in 1942. His untimely death and the onset of WWII curtailed operations a great deal. There was a scarcity of items to sell and a shortage of available employees.
At the end of WWII, John Brizendine Jr. returned from the Air Force, and Thomas S. Brizendine came back from the Marines. John became president of the company and Thomas became vice-president. They worked together as a team to expand the area of operations and to increase sales. In 1953 the compnay affiliated with Independent Grocer's Alliance (IGA), an organization dedicated to developing modern supermarkets that could compete with the chain groceries. This partnership proved to be all that was necessary to turn the small family-owned business into the leading and largest wholesale grocer in Kentucky.
In 1956 a 45-acre tract of land had been purchased near the northern city limits of Greenville. John and Tom built a new 37,528-square-foot warehouse, and in 1962 added 42,560 square feet. They made a third addition in 1970 of 54,000 square feet, for a total of 143,000 square feet. The operation was modern in every respect and used the latest material handling equipment in this fire resistant building with an inside railroad siding. This was a 24-hour-a-day operation delivering groceries to retail stores within a 125-mile radius of Greenville.
In 1973, John and Tom decided that the company needed more office space and constructed the existing office building. They handled thousands of different items including frozen foods, dairy products, and health and beauty aids. The Zinsmeister Company provided 130 IGA retail supermarkets a full merchandising program that included advertising, accounting, store engineering, employee training, management, and store counseling. Merchandise was delivered to the retailer for a very low cost.
The progress that the company made from 1946 to 1973 was due to talented and hard-working employees. There were many faithful and dedicated workers too numerous to mention. John and Tom have always been grateful for the great job that they did for the company and for the customers. In 1973 to perpetuate the business and to unsure future growth, the Brizendine family sold the Zinsmeister firm to Wetterau, Inc. Several years later the Wetterau Company sold out to SuperValu, Inc. At the present time SuperValu is the second largest wholesale food distributor in the United States.
Source: Brizendine, Thomas. “J. Zinsmeister Company grew rapidly in Muhlenberg County.” Kentucky Explorer, 20(3), July-Aug 2005, pp. 13-14.
Updated July 14, 2022