The Kohlfeld legacy: Family looks back at more that half-century of business

One customer at a time.

That's the way Leo Kohlfeld built the foundation for a family-owned company that has grown to be one of the largest and most successful beverage distributorships in the Midwest.

Kohlfeld died in 2010, but March 31 of this year, he was posthumously recognized with the Drury Family Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet in recognition of the entrepreneurial success achieved by the company he founded.

Leo's oldest son, Mike, who became the company president in 1991 when he and his brother, Mark, purchased it from their father, talked with the Southeast Missourian recently about the company and the legacy Leo's family continues decades later.

"Everybody loved Leo Kohlfeld," Mike Kohlfeld said during an interview at the distributorship's corporate offices and main warehouse between Cape Girardeau and Jackson. There were countless times, he said, when his father would find ways to help others, and, by doing so, he also helped grow his business back in the 1950s and 1960s.

The late Leo Kohlfeld, center and seated, founder of Kohlfeld Distributing, 4691 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson, is seen in this undated photo with his sons, Mike Kohlfeld, left, and Mark Kohlfeld, who carry on the leadership of the family business. Leo Kohlfeld died Oct. 26, 2010, at the age of 82.Submitted

The late Leo Kohlfeld, center and seated, founder of Kohlfeld Distributing, 4691 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson, is seen in this undated photo with his sons, Mike Kohlfeld, left, and Mark Kohlfeld, who carry on the leadership of the family business. Leo Kohlfeld died Oct. 26, 2010, at the age of 82.Submitted

'You look thirsty'

Leo began working as a route salesman for William B. Schott Distributing in 1948 and became manager of the distributorship, then located on North Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, in 1955. Thirteen years later, in 1968, he and his wife, Blanche, purchased the company and incorporated it as Kohlfeld Distributing Inc. (KDI), the exclusive Stag beer distributor in Cape Girardeau County along with Bollinger County, Perry County and parts of Scott and Stoddard counties.

Mike Kohlfeld remembered one of the unique and personable ways his father would promote the business and build customer loyalty.

"He would drive around on country roads with a 48-quart cooler full of Stag on hot, dusty days, and when he'd see farmers out planting or harvesting, he'd stop, climb over the fence, walk out there with a couple of Stag beers and, of course, the farmers didn't have (air conditioned) cabs on their tractors back then, and my dad would walk up to them and say 'You look thirsty', and hand them a couple of Stags," he said. "Once in a while they'd say 'I don't drink', but most of the time they'd just say 'Wow!' and Dad would say 'My name's Leo Kohlfeld, Kohlfeld Distributing and I'm a Stag distributor.' That's how he built the business — one customer at a time."

Even before he graduated from high school, Mike Kohlfeld was helping out around the Kohlfeld offices, emptying trash cans, cleaning the employee restroom and doing some clerical work.

"Dad had a big thing about work ethic," he explained. "(Being there) was a chance to be with my dad, and it was important to him that I learn to work."

Kohlfeld Distributing became a "family" business in 1971 when Mike Kohlfeld, who was a student at Southeast Missouri State University at the time, became a paid employee and started handling beverage sales. Mark Kohlfeld, who is 11 years younger than Mike, joined the company in 1982 and now serves as Kohlfeld's vice president and general manager.

Mike's son, Courtland, and Mark's daughter, Taylor, represent the third generation of Kohlfelds in the business, with Courtland as the company's vice president of sales while Taylor is involved in product ordering.

"It's a family business where everybody has worked hard and not taken anything for granted," Mike Kohlfeld said. "Not one (employee or family member) is more important than any of the others. If Dad hadn't built the foundation he did, we could not have done what we've done. It just wouldn't be possible."

Growing

Starting in the early 1970s, Kohlfeld began acquiring other distributorships, expanding the company's territory and adding brands such as Falstaff, Hamms and Olympia. With more brands and a larger distribution territory, KDI outgrew its warehouse on North Kingshighway and in 1975 it relocated to its current headquarters just west of Interstate 55 along U.S. 61 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Consumer tastes and distribution channels started to evolve during the 1970s and '80s. "In the old days, guys would go to the Sprigg Street Tavern or the Central Inn right after work and have five, six or seven beers," Mike Kohlfeld said. "Grocery stores didn't have beer. There were package liquor stores and a few bars, but there were no such things as convenience stores. These days, it's just the opposite of that. There aren't many bars anymore and (places like) Central Inn and Sprigg Street Tavern are gone."

By the mid-'80s, Mike Kohlfeld realized there was a significant shift in consumer preferences and a growing demand for non-alcoholic beverages. "In 1984, I told my dad, 'Dad, if we only stay in beer, we ain't gonna make it; we need to start a non-alcoholic side,'" he said and remembered how others distributorships were skeptical. "Everybody laughed at us and said, 'What are you doing? You're idiots. All you're doing is changing your focus. You'll have too many things to worry about and you're not going to be good at anything.' But I said, 'Great! God bless them for thinking that way because then they won't compete with us!'"

The addition of non-alcoholic brands led to the creation of Kohlfeld Companies, encompassing Kohlfeld Distributing for beer and other alcoholic beverages and Kohlfeld Beverages for everything else.

Expansion into the non-alcoholic market, along with a growing distribution territory, also led to multiple expansions of the company's warehouse. Today, after six expansions, the company's main warehouse covers 90,000 square feet. The company also has a pair of 15,000-square-foot beverage warehouses in Poplar Bluff and Farmington, Missouri.

Sons take over

Mike and Mark purchased Kohlfeld Companies from Leo 32 years ago, and together they continued building the distributorship on the foundation laid by their father with Mike as president and Mark in the role as vice president of sales.

"But there really are no roles," Mike Kohlfeld said when asked about the company's leadership. "Everybody has their job and everybody does what they need to do to move things forward. Dad always said, 'Hire good people, empower them, pay them, provide benefits for them, and then get out of the way and let them do their jobs.'"

And it's not unusual for Mike and Mark to help fill various duties within the company.

"People see me at night at Food Giant or Schnucks stocking shelves and ask, 'What are you doing that for? Can't you pay somebody to do that?' Sure, we've got lots of people who are paid to do that, but I want to be out there so I can know my business," Mark Kohlfeld said.

As for the 115 people who work for the company, he said, "They're not employees. They're our peer group. We're just people who work here. Isn't that the way it should be? To me, top-down leadership only works in the military."

If Kohlfeld had an organizational chart, Mike Kohlfeld said it would look like an upside-down pyramid, "and I would be at the very bottom while all of the people who are out there every day, fighting the battles, they're the bosses."

Today, Kohlfeld Companies serves 19 Southeast Missouri counties and represents more than 100 beverage brands from dozens of suppliers.

"We've worked hard and, hopefully, we've been relatively visionary to try to see what's around the next curve," Mike Kohlfeld said of the company's growth and success.

As for his father, Mike said he believes Leo would be amazed if he could see Kohlfeld Companies today.

"He'd be amazed and then he wouldn't be because he knew our potential," he said. "He built the foundation, and the foundation he built was strong enough to support all this growth. And I tell you what, and I don't care who knows this, God has been at the forefront of all our success. He just is, and I never forget that."

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