Pierce Cartwright came to Alaska in 1948 after spending four years in the Navy during World War II and having graduated from the University of Washington business school. He started Pierce Cartwright Company in 1950. In the early years the company was a “retail only” broker and Pierce was a one-man show working out of his home. The company expanded into Foodservice and Confections in the 1970’s and started to grow as Alaska added population and the oil boom started. Sadly, Pierce passed away in 2005, but his pioneering spirit lives on in our company!
One of Pierce’s sons, Gary, joined the company in 1978 after graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in marketing. Gary has been President of the company since 1984 and guided the company through the rapid growth period following the oil boom and throughout the 1990’s as we continued to expand and add people. The company’s Foodservice division grew rapidly during that time. Currently the company has two operating divisions, Retail and Foodservice. Each is headed by a department manager and operating team. Pam Christy joined the company in 1992 and is Executive Vice President and leads the Foodservice team. Vicky Kelley joined us in 1990 and is Vice President of retail sales, leading the retail team. Both of these individuals are experts in their fields and will give the company continuity and leadership well into the future.
As the Alaskan market leader in both Foodservice and Retail sales, Pierce Cartwright Company is committed to excellence based on an overall company philosophy of hard work, ethical business practices and superior service to our customers and manufacturers. We have assembled a very talented group of sales professionals who are motivated and results oriented. We provide our people with a great environment in which to work and a strong administrative and executive team to support them. We continue to grow and invest back into the business and remain committed to be the very best brokerage choice in Alaska!
Our Facilities
The Pierce Cartwright Company owns and operates out of our conveniently located office in midtown Anchorage at 1205 E International Airport Rd. Our offices include meeting/conference rooms, dry sample warehouse, walk in freezer, and a large fully equipped test kitchen. Our test kitchen is an 800 sq. foot facility which includes everything needed for professional training, product cuttings, and meetings. Our on-site kitchen allows us to present our products to the trade in the most professional manner and gives our sales team and manufacturer partners the facility needed for menu planning, distributor & broker product training, operator presentations and sample/food show preparation.