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Well – it began with a 23-year-old Lebanese immigrant and bananas . In 1911 , Farris Martinous arrived in the Midwest looking for a way to build a life for himself and his new wife . When he found a produce company that was overloaded with bananas , he bought their extra inventory and started going to mining towns , selling bananas from the back of his horse-drawn wagon . Over the ensuing years he was able to add more fruits and vegetables to his deliveries , becoming a fixture in towns throughout southeastern Kansas , southwestern Missouri , and northern Oklahoma and Arkansas .
Over time , the business became a family affair . Farris ’ wife , Stena , opened a small retail store near their home , and his two sons , John and Raymond , got on board . Thanks to these extra resources for collections and deliveries , the company expanded to include partnerships with farmers in several states , and the Martinous family business began selling tomatoes , apples , strawberries , peaches , and other seasonal produce .
It was a simple operation to begin with - John and Raymond would load the goods into wooden crates and sell them at the Joplin city market and to local retail stores . This process helped the business grow , until the combined challenges of an increasing range of stock , and the need to keep produce fresher for longer , drove the business to expand into refrigerated storage . Again , the Martinous team kept the operation close – they converted some storage space behind a family home into three coolers : one for tomatoes , one for potatoes , and one for everything else !
It was 1961 when John and Raymond bought their first commercial refrigerated storage facility at E . 7th and N . Michigan in Pittsburg , KS . This
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