Weisser Distributing sees increased growth

One locally based company is making leaps and bounds as it expands beyond its humble beginnings. Weisser Distributing of Tea has now opened a new facility both in South Dakota and in California.

Weisser Distributing got it’s start back in 1978 as Robert Weisser’s one-man business that focused on selling automotive products. For 33 years total, Weisser’s business was a one-man-show. Later on, Weisser’s son Eric Weisser came on board in 2011. Eric Weisser stated how the plan was for him to simply take over the one-man business, however, as the company wanted to start selling online, plans changed, and another employee was brought on to increase the selling ability. Long story short, the trend continued as Weisser Distributing grew and sales increased, more and more employees were added on.

Eric Weisser said, “Over the last eight years we’ve been hiring, on average, about one person a month. We have about just shy of 150 employees in three locations selling products all over the world.”

This success lead to an expansion of a substantial range of different products throughout the years and the creation of 14 different brands to-date that Weisser sells through a variety of outlets and eCommerce marketplaces, such as through Amazon. According to Eric Weisser, there were about 900 new products brought in and added to Weisser’s expanding catalogue of items. Currently Weisser sells products ranging from their root products of automotive tools and supplies to pet supplies, survival supplies, children’s’ games, and so forth.

As their product range and company grew, Weisser Distributing has now expanded both nearby in Sioux Falls and out at Las Vegas. The Sioux Falls expansion is a warehouse that Eric Weisser explained is used primarily for overstock and receiving, with most of the products handled there being ones that are domestically sourced. The Sioux Falls facility is 40,000 square feet.

On the other hand, the new Las Vegas facility was opened this year by Weisser to strategically work with the company’s shipping logistics for imported products. According to Eric Weisser, the way that Weisser previously had to work with imports was having them shipped in from China to Seattle, then transported via train to Omaha, and then driven from Omaha up to Tea by semi-truck. Eric Weisser explained how this method was expensive and time consuming.

(Photo courtesy of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce)