For those of you who have been in this business in New York for as long as I have, you may remember a little place on Duane Street called Harry Wils and Co. Well, the place actually wasn’t so small. Often crowded with over a dozen trucks parked in front at any one time being serviced by a loading dock over 120 years old. A visit to the building was like taking a trip back through time and stood as a reminder of the old Washington Market which later became known to us all as Tribeca.
As with many areas of New York, gentrification further changed the neighborhood. Triburbia as some residents refer to it brought an overwhelming number of new young families. Along with it came supermarkets, health clubs, and better schools.
The writing was on the wall and in 1998 Steven Wils moved his business to Secaucus NJ. The move was healthy and his company once known simply for its butter and eggs and eventually specialty dairy and specialty foods now had more room to flourish.
Somewhere along the way, long before the move to New Jersey, we fell out of touch. In our opinion, they had lost some key people and the relationship just wasn’t the same. We were very curious and pleasantly impressed with what we saw on our trip today.
We’re not sure yet if Harry Wils is a fit for ChefMod. That decision is still to come and there are of course many factors to consider when bringing on additional distributors for our group. That said, it was a pleasure to sit with Steven if only for a short time to catch up and discuss some old stories but more importantly to discuss new opportunity.
Thank you Monty for meeting us and helping us navigate the quick trip out there!
If you like this post, please let us know! There is a comment area below. Thanks!
Andrew and Josh in front of a whole lotta eggs!
