Carl Sidwell
Humble Beginnings
Carl Sidwell was an amazing entrepreneur. He was born and raised in West Nashville TN and drafted into the army at the age of 18 and served in WWII from 1941-44. When he returned home he moved from Nashville to Detroit to find work. Having worked in auto factories in Detroit, he moved our family from Michigan to Georgia in 1960. He found work as a bread man with Dutch Oven bakery which eventually closed down and he lost his last 6 weeks of pay. He then went to work for Merita Bread Company and after a few years they had a “snack cake” route open up and he took the job. This proved to be the spark that started his distribution company Vend Service Inc. in 1965.
He used the back bedroom of our modest home in South Rome GA as his first warehouse and pulled a UHaul trailer behind a 1965 Chevelle.
Over the years he was able to grow the business by literally “raising” his own workforce. His five children Steve, Mike, Diane, Greg, and Mark along with my mom Nell Sidwell all played a pivotal role in our family business expanding our territory covering the “south like dew covers Dixie.
This picture was taken in 2010 at our 90,000 sq ft facility in Rome GA. Dad used to tell folks that his office was bigger than his first warehouse.
He was a man of great integrity and wisdom. He used to tell us “a sale is not a sale until the check payment clears the bank!”
We all learned tremendous work ethics from him and cherish the memories of being brought up in a family business.
