Hazard, Ky. company buys Spriggs, Eagle

A long-time bastion of Ironton businesses has been sold.

Spriggs Distributing and Eagle Distributing of Kentucky has been sold to Perry Distributors Inc. of Hazard, Kentucky.

“The purchase was to grow our company and expand our operations,” said Jeff Sandlin, general manager of Perry Distributing Inc.

The company’s nearest location was in Prestonsburg, which is about 70 miles away from Ashland.

“So the operations are contiguous, a flowing market, as they say, from Hazard to Prestonburg and now to Ashland and Ironton,” he said.

Spriggs Distributing will now be known as PDI of Ironton and Eagle Distributing of Kentucky will now be known as PDI of Ashland. Richard Duelley, will be PDI’s general sales manager.

Sandlin said the Ironton company’s longevity did play a factor in the purchase.

Sandlin added there wouldn’t be any changes to the Ironton or Ashland distributors; rather the operations are being absorbed into Perry Distributors.

“We are going to operate them as they are today. We are going to continue with the employees we have,” he said. “And we are going to maintain and operate both warehouse facilities.”

PDI of Ironton covers Lawrence and Scioto Counties. PDI of Ashland covers seven counties, including Boyd.

“We just look forward to being community leaders and continued community involvement,” Sandlin said. “And we will continue to run the business and take care of their loyal customers in those markets.”

Spriggs Distributing Company was founded in 1934 in Ironton to distribute beer in Ohio. They also distributed to 10 counties in Kentucky before the counties went dry.

Spriggs re-entered the Kentucky market in 1981 as Eagle Distributing when Boyd County voted to go wet. The company entered the West Virginia market as Eagle Distributing in 1985.

In 2009, the three distributors consolidated and renamed the companies Triple Crown Beverage Group. In 2013, the company acquired the Mingo Distributing Company and expanded into the southern West Virginia coal country market.

Perry Distributing did not purchase Triple Crown or the West Virginia operations.

Perry Distributors started in 1960 and is owned by Don and Jeanne Fields and family.

The company is an Anheuser Busch product distributor as well as a distributor of beer brands like Yuengling, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, Country Boy Brewing, and Alltech.