Nickey Gregory rolls into Southern Exposure celebrating 15th year with momentum
Nickey Gregory rolls into Southern Exposure celebrating 15th year with momentum
In 2000, Nickey Gregory had what some people thought was a crazy idea. He left an important job with a large distributor on the Atlanta State Farmers Market to start the Nickey Gregory Co. on that same market.
But the Nickey Gregory Co. has grown by leaps and bounds, already expanding its headquarters on the market as far as possible. Business has boomed so much as the company celebrates its 15th year that expansion is again a hot topic around the office.
“I knew we would grow,” Gregory said. “I did not know that we would be as big as we are. If you’d asked me in 2000, I thought space in our building was practically unlimited. If you told me we’d have another building and other sites, I’d have laughed and told you you were out of your mind. But success makes you plan bigger. A lot of times when I want to do something or we all decide to expand, the staff gets nervous and people say, ‘You only think big now.’ Well I thought small one time but it didn’t last long.”
Today’s Nickey Gregory Co. is a full service distributor and repack specialist with a second location in Miami, a tomato repack operation in College Park, GA, its own fleet of trucks and a transportation subsidiary, Gregory Family Express, that specializes in hauling fresh and frozen goods.
And the company is looking to grow further, actively seeking room for expansion in Atlanta. New packing lines and machines are constant additions — the Atlanta warehouse is regularly rearranged to somehow make room for more.
The in-house “Cheryl’s Best” brand has also grown, becoming a common sight in Southeastern retail produce departments.
A family atmosphere and across-the-board dedication are the secrets to the Nickey Gregory Co.’s success — along with a lot of hard work.
“Everybody at our company works hard,” Gregory said. “Recently we were behind on repack one night and the ladies out of accounting came downstairs and helped. My nephew Johnathan Gregory said it best: ‘Somebody might beat us as far as price, but as far as doing the job right no matter what, nobody can beat us because we will go at all odds to finish it one way or another.’”
That philosophy is an outgrowth of Gregory’s belief in making people accountable and giving them input into the organization.
“The majority of time if you give someone the authority to take action, they will grow,” Gregory said. “We’ve got 114 employees in Atlanta and 36 in Miami — 15 years and we’ve got basically 150 families we’re feeding and the company’s running the best it’s ever run. Nickey Gregory Atlanta or Miami, the tomato repack, Gregory Family Express, everybody is together as one.”
