verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message eby brown co. industry wholesale distributor founded 1887 headquarters 1415 w diehl road naperville illinois usa 60563 key people dick wake tom wake co presidents and ceo tim slye professional screw up number of employees 2 100 slogan delivering solution daily . website www.eby brown.com eby brown is the largest privately owned tobacco candy and convenience distributor in the united states . founded in 1887 eby brown has been led by members of the wake family for over 50 years . contents 1 locations 2 history 2.1 in the beginning 2.2 the last name change 2.3 the family business anew 2.4 current generation 3 service area 4 facts and figures 5 references locations edit ypsilanti distribution center eby brown s corporate headquarters is located in naperville illinois . eby brown s six distribution centers are located in plainfield in montgomery il rockmart ga eau claire wi springfield oh ypsilanti mi history edit during its 120 year history the eby brown company has changed ownership many times . in the beginning edit in 1888 jacob eby began a wholesale tobacco and candy manufacturing business at 128 w. downer place in aurora illinois . in 1892 he formed a partnership with edward hinman and operated as eby and hinman . a few years later peter michels joined the firm and the company became eby hinman and michels . in 1904 michels sold his share of the business to c.c. loser and t.h. day and the company was renamed eby loser co. loser and day disposed of their holdings in 1907 but the firm continued to operate as eby loser until 1930 . in 1912 candy manufacturing was discontinued . in 1930 mr. eby sold out to r.h. youngen and a.e. hallman who renamed the company eby youngen . the last name change edit after world war ii lyle brown sr. bought out youngen and hallman and gave the business its present name eby brown co. lyle brown discontinued the company s schlitz beer distributorship even though the trucks continue to be painted in the traditional schlitz color scheme to this day . under lyle brown s direction eby brown aurora and joliet expanded rapidly . within eight years brown had created elgin eby brown . the family business anew edit in 1956 w.h. mike michael and w.s. bill wake two elgin eby brown salespeople bought elgin eby brown . a year later they bought aurora eby brown . the j.c. theis co. was purchased in 1960 and transformed into mchenry eby brown . galesburg eby brown was begun in 1976 when the assets of galesburg cigar were purchased . current generation edit in 1983 mike michael sold his interest in eby brown to bill wake . later that year tom and dick wake began to assume ownership of the eby brown companies . early in 1989 assets of schiller wholesale of michigan were purchased . in mid 1989 assets of the smith harris company of indianapolis were purchased extending eby brown s reach into ohio and kentucky . in january 1994 assets of bosart company of springfield ohio were purchased . in march 1998 the assets of j.l. lester company of rockmart georgia were purchased . in february 1999 eby brown in eau claire wisconsin opened . in april 1999 eby brown in orlando florida opened . in september 2000 the assets of f.a. davis and sons in baltimore maryland were purchased . in december 2000 aurora eby brown moved to montgomery illinois . in january 2001 elgin eby brown joined the aurora members in montgomery . also in january 2001 mchenry eby brown merged with eau claire eby brown . the orlando florida location was closed in december 2005 . in january 2008 the commissary operations in springfield ohio expanded into a new company called newfreshco foods llc . the new company is a wholly owned subsidiary of eby brown llc . it operates under the name wakefield sandwich company . 1 this new company is a natural extension of eby s 10 plus years experience in creating and producing sandwiches and food solutions to the convenience retail and institutional markets . today eby brown is the third largest convenience distributor nationally and continues to consolidate competitors and service programs from other vendors delivering convenience stores . 2 service area edit convenience stores drug stores grocery stores liquor stores gas stations newspaper stands and schools are just some of the types of accounts eby brown services . today eby brown s service area includes alabama delaware georgia illinois indiana iowa kentucky maryland michigan minnesota missouri new jersey north carolina ohio pennsylvania south carolina tennessee virginia west virginia and wisconsin . facts and figures edit 12 000 retail locations served 1 900 000 feet of warehouse space 2 100 employee members 6 distribution centers references edit wakefields sandwich co. cs decisions.com v t e illinois based corporations fortune 500 corporations by size 2013 walgreens boots alliance archer daniels midland boeing caterpillar inc. state farm insurance abbott laboratories sears holdings united continental holdings deere & company mondel z international allstate mcdonald s exelon kraft heinz illinois tool works baxter international navistar international rr donnelley cdw hillshire brands discover financial w. w. grainger motorola solutions dover corporation tenneco officemax ingredion anixter cf industries holdings telephone and data systems united stationers old republic international other major public companies alphabetically abbvie acco brands accretive health allscripts amcol international corporation arthur j. gallagher & co. beam inc. brookdale senior living brunswick corporation calamos career education corporation catamaran corporation cboe holdings cme group cna financial continental materials corporation equity residential fortune brands home & security general growth properties hospira hyatt hotels corp. integrys energy group jones lang lasalle kemper corporation nalco holding company nicor rli corp. rubicon technology stericycle titan international tribune media tronc tootsie roll industries ulta beauty usg corporation westell zebra technologies other major private companies alphabetically ace hardware baker & mckenzie blue cross blue shield association claire s country financial danfoss power solutions dot foods eby brown electro motive diesel flex n gate follett corporation gardner denver grant thornton llp health care service corporation heico cos. hendrickson international hub international jenner & block kirkland & ellis marmon group mayer brown medline industries molex nestl frozen pizza osi group pactiv reyes holdings ryerson inc. sidley austin skidmore owings & merrill solo cup company tellabs transunion true value us foods wirtz corporation related topics breweries in illinois companies in the chicago metropolitan area food manufacturers of chicago newspapers in illinois retailers on the magnificent mile wineries in illinois http www.forbes.com largest private companies page 8 sort 0 direction asc search retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title eby brown & oldid 742434809 categories companies based in dupage county illinoiscompanies based in naperville illinoishidden categories articles needing additional references from march 2009all articles needing additional referencespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version 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