Dickerson Distributing Co. is a family-owned wholesale distributor of high quality domestic, imported, and craft beers. Our service area includes Butler, Warren, and Preble counties in southwestern Ohio. We sell, market, and deliver beer products brewed by Anheuser-Busch/Inbev, Grupo Modelo (brewer of Corona and imported by Crown Imports), Rolling Rock, Goose Island, and Redhook.

The Beginning

In 1934, shortly after the Repeal of Prohibition, Eugene Dickerson and business partner George Reckman joined forces to form one of the area’s first wholesale beer and wine distributors: The Reckman and Dickerson Distributing Co., Inc. Headquartered in Middletown, Ohio, Dickerson and Reckman began distributing wine and malt beverages in most of Butler, Warren, and Preble counties in Southwest Ohio.

The most popular beers they sold were brewed locally in Cincinnati, one of the most prolific brewing centers at the time. Two years later, another brew was introduced to them from a sales representative passing through the Middletown area. The brewery the salesman represented was Anheuser-Busch and the product he touted was Budweiser. Little known to the Middletown area at the time, Dickerson and Reckman decided to begin selling the lager beer from Missouri which turned out to be the beginning of a long and rewarding relationship with the "King of Beers."

Growth and Change

The company began its distributing business in a small warehouse on Pennsylvania Street in downtown Middletown. After a few short years, the company required more space. In the mid 1930’s the company purchased property at 38 Crawford Street in Middletown and built a larger office and warehouse facility. Eugene and his wife Helen, who built their family home next to the business, had four children: James (Jim), Robert (Bob), Martha, and John (Jack). Eugene’s three sons began working in the warehouse and loading trucks at a young age.

World War II took the Dickerson boys out of the family business for several years: Jim, Bob, and Jack all proudly served their country. Following the war, Eugene’s sons returned home to work and to attend college. Jim and Jack attended Xavier University in Cincinnati while Bob graduated from Wilmington College where he was a four year letterman on the varsity football team. In 1944, Eugene Dickerson was stricken with illness and died.

Jim, the oldest of the three brothers, came into the business first. After several years of selling and delivering beer on the streets, he was promoted to President of the company. When Bob and Jack finished college, they joined their brother working full time at the distributorship in sales and delivery. Jack Dickerson left the business after a number of years to pursue a sales career in another industry.

Three Generations

In the mid 1970’s, the Dickerson family purchased the Reckman side of the business and officially changed the name to The Dickerson Distributing Company, Inc. Growth of the Budweiser family and the 1971 purchase of the Hamilton/Fairfield Anheuser-Busch territory prompted a move to a larger facility in Monroe, Ohio. Since the move to the current facility in 1978, the company has added over 50,000 square feet of beer storage and 2000 square feet of office space.

Unfortunately, Eugene’s children died relatively early in life. Jim, the eldest son, died in 1971 of a cerebral hemorrhage the young age of 48. Following Jim’s death, Jack returned to the business as President to operate the company with Bob. Bob, who served as CEO after Jim’s death, also had his share of health problems and passed away in 1983. In 1994, Jack died at the age of 67 from heart problems.

The third generation of the Dickerson family began working in the 1980’s. John Dickerson, son of Jack, is the current CEO and Chairman of the Board. Jim’s son, Mike, entered the business in 1982 and currently holds the position of President and COO.

Company Snapshot

We are 65 full time employees.

Our divisions include sales and marketing, warehouse operations and delivery, and administration.

We sell approximately 3,500,000 cases of beer annually and make over 2000 deliveries and sales calls each week.

We have been an Anheuser-Busch distributor since 1935, one of the oldest in Ohio.

Population of service area: 617,500.