Editor’s Note: This Leader Board is an excerpt from “The Power of a Creed: How a Company Conscience Can Contribute to Bottom-Line Success,” by Shellie Frey, who was vice president and chief branding and communications officer at Irvine-based Golden State Foods. The company ranks No. 5 on the Business Journal’s annual list of private companies, reporting $5 billion in sales for 2023.
George Wetterau in the late 1860s left Germany to move to St. Louis where many Germans had settled, including his older brother Otto. George went to work for a local grocery wholesaler while studying business at night school. A year later, the owner retired and George took over, setting up a partnership in 1869 of Goebel & Wetterau Grocery Company on the west bank of the Mississippi near what would become the south leg of the famous towering Gateway Arch.
From the start, George Wetterau had demonstrated his values of honesty, pride and dedication. A prominent St. Louis trade journal at that time, Interstate Grocer, later noted George’s customer-centered approach to his business and encouraged retailers coming to St. Louis to visit this progressive company.
In the latter part of the 1800s, St. Louis became the fifth-largest city in the country and Goebel & Wetterau grew as well, delivering barrels and bags of groceries from their own horse drawn wagons to retailers throughout St. Louis and selling staples to thousands of frontiersmen heading west toward a new life.
George was quick to embrace technology advancements, such as being among the first in St. Louis to be part of the telephone system.
In 1899, Goebel sold his interest; that same year, three of George’s eight children joined the business. After George Sr. died in 1923, son Otto took over, introducing innovations to the Midwest like forklifts, trucks and pallet loading. In 1931, sales were $1.6 million, helping the company survive the Depression. By 1952, sales reached $25 million.
The Creed’s Founding
Ted Wetterau, the founder’s grandson who had trained to become a minister, joined in the 1950s, designing “the Packaged Store Concept” where retailers could choose from an array of pre-designed stores. By the end of the 1950s, sales climbed to $58 million and then $100 million in 1963. The company went public at that time.
When Ted became president in the early 1970s, he felt it was time to go beyond unspoken behaviors of goodwill and declare more openly and directly the organization’s philosophical approach to how they would conduct their business. The Creed, printed nearby, became the conscience of the firm. Its success, above all, can be attributed to how the company focused on the importance of people and their families.
The company established new businesses like Wetterau Finance Company and Creative Management Institute to help retailers build and improve their grocery businesses. They bought companies in industries like construction, baking and printing. When it celebrated its 100th anniversary, Wetterau was the nation’s third largest food distributor. It topped $1 billion in sales in 1979.
In 1981, the company faced a challenge more difficult than anything it had encountered in more than a century—a hostile takeover.
Even though the company’s stock was performing well, its distribution centers were fully depreciated so on paper they appeared to be undervalued. A buyer could acquire the centers for cheap and spin them off for a large profit. Wetterau risked losing its family-led company to the owner of a major propane gas distributor who allegedly had ties to the mob.
The family had to make a choice: sell out and never work another day in their lives or fight. It chose to fight by acquiring a retail chain, Laneco, which diluted the stock. Wetterau’s 1,600 retailers also let it be known they wouldn’t buy from the new owner. The raider took the short-term profit. The employees and family attributed their success to The Creed.
The company began to protect themselves more, such as incorporating poison pills and buying back its own shares. It grew to $6 billion in annual sales by the early 1990s.
In the 1970s, a new generation emerged of brothers Mark and Conrad Wetterau, who learned in depth the operations for both wholesale and retail businesses. Conrad at 28 became the youngest general manager to run a distribution division.
Mark, also when he was 28, became leader of one of the company’s retail chains, Shop ‘n Save, successfully turning the unit profitable.
Enter Golden State Foods
In 1991, Wetterau Inc. decided to sell itself to a buyer, citing fiduciary responsibility. The acquisition didn’t work out due to a clash of cultures as the acquirer didn’t follow The Creed.
The new owners even tossed out legacy photos and framed references to The Creed. Mark and Conrad left to form Wetterau Associates, along with longtime partner, Mike Waitukaitis. They bought an Anheuser-Busch distributorship in New England called Quality Beverage.
The Wetteraus came across another company similar in their beliefs—Golden State Foods, which was founded in 1947 and became one of the largest suppliers to McDonald’s and several other restaurant chains.
“The Creed was actually one of the initial key elements (that brought Wetterau) in as a bidder,” says former GSF President Dick Gochnauer, who joined the company in 1994 and continues to serve on the board.
McDonald’s also checked out the Wetteraus and was impressed by their strong values. In 1998, the Wetterau Associates acquired GSF, with Mark as CEO and chairman while Ted and Conrad Wetterau joined the board. Another partner was Yucaipa, led by the famous entrepreneur Ron Burkle, who called the GSF investment “a home run.”
“Not only did we improve the health of the company and create superior returns for all stakeholders, but more importantly we had the good fortune to work with Mark Wetterau and his incredible management team,” Burkle said.
Once installed, Mark added The Creed to GSF’s philosophy. Since then, the company’s grown from $1.4 billion to more than $7 billion in 2018. It now services more than 200 iconic brands with 125,000 restaurants. Over the years, GSF also implemented The Creed at companies that it’s acquired.
Nowadays, Conrad Wetterau is the chairman while Mike Waitukaitis is vice chairman.
The book (available on Amazon) is dedicated to Mark Wetterau—who in 2023 left this life too soon—passing away just before this book went to print. Mark embodied the power of The Creed in word and deed.
The Wetterau Creed
We believe in God and the dignity of man.
We believe that people should be treated as we would like to be treated and this applies to the welfare of our employees and their families, to our suppliers and all with whom we do business.
We believe that successful, independent business is the backbone of our country, that our success is closely related to the success of our retail customers, and that only by working tougher can the ultimate success of both partners be assured.
We therefore dedicate ourselves to our mutual success and we pledge our best efforts toward the attainment of our common goal.
