A History of the JN Weigel Company

JN Weigel Company began in Marshfield, Wisconsin in 1943 as the Weigel Beverage Company and was a distributor for the G. Heileman Brewing Company. Weigel Beverage was founded by Jacob N.Weigel and his wife Viola Widmann Weigel and had only 4 employees when the company first began.

The first warehouse was located at 1200 North Central Avenue in Marshfield on the former Charles Gruber property at the corner of Central Avenue and Kalsched Street. (The current location of Perkins restaurant)

The company started with just 1 driver, Leo Tritz. The 1935 Ford 1 ½ ton delivery truck served the majority of Wood County and portions of Marathon and Clark counties and delivered on 5 routes. The original brands delivered were Old Style and Special Export from the G. Heileman Brewing Company, and Foxhead 400 from the Fox Head Brewing Company.

In 1952, business partners JN Weigel and Viola Weigel were granted approval from the city of Marshfield to begin business as the Weigel Transfer Company operating out of the existing warehouse at 1200 N Central Avenue.

A new branch of the distributorship was started in in Stevens Point in 1958. That warehouse was destroyed by fire in 1961.

The company soon outgrew the original location in the city of Marshfield and was relocated to a new property on Route 4 a few miles north of the city in 1969. A new 60’x 150’ warehouse was constructed with an expansion of an additional 80’ in 1975.

The Weigel family moved their home from 1200 N Central Avenue to the property adjoining the new location of the business in 1971. The old lot and empty warehouse were purchased by Tico Crab company.

In 1979, an additional warehouse was added measuring 60’x80’ and another 80’ were added to that building in 1983. The loading dock was enclosed and the office also saw an expansion.

Over the years, the distributorship saw many brands come and go. Some of the labels that were carried on the trucks were:  Miller, Gettlemens Milwaukee Beer, Kingsbury Beer, Peerless Amber Beer, Rhinelander Beer, Schmidt Beer, Grain Belt, Meister Brau, Blatz, Old Style, Export, Colt 45, Champale, Black Label, Lowenbrau, and Driebeck.

In 1986, the JN Weigel Company had 7 delivery trucks that ran 28 routes and employed 25 people.

JN Weigel Company was sold in 1986 to JH Weigel, son of JN Weigel and Viola Widmann Weigel, who operated the business until its closure in the mid 1990’s.