_________________________________________________________________________ Damian ’ s Wholesale Ice Cream
country . It was a brilliantly successful business for over a quarter of a century .
“ While enjoying success as a manufacturer of frozen lemonade , Tony decided to branch out in another direction by providing fullservice merchandising and direct store delivery to small format ice cream providers . He ultimately ended up servicing Walgreens , CVS , and all the major convenience store chains in North Florida for the major manufacturers of ice cream . Soon , all the big national brands and major retailers recognized Damian ’ s ’ distribution strength and prowess . Fast forward 25 years and we ’ ve expanded our offering from ice cream to include frozen food , chilled beverages , and even milk for our strategic partners .”
Profitable partnership
Meanwhile , ATL launched operations in Pensacola in a brand-new facility located at the Ellyson Industrial Park in 1990 and , similar to Damian ’ s , its journey is also a tale of transformation and resilience . “ The history of ATL is connected with its parent transportation company called Alterman Transport Lines based out of Miami , Florida and founded in 1938 . The Company ran 18 terminals nationwide , from California to New York to Miami and points in between as a refrigerated LTL and TL carrier ,” Bill begins . “ I began my career with Alterman as the Operations General Manager for the facility located here in Pensacola which not only encompassed the transportation segment but also the cold storage operations . One of our first cold storage customers in this area was Tony Jacobs with Damian ’ s Wholesale Ice Cream . We established both a friendship and a great customer relationship .
“ Some years later , the family decided to sell , divest and liquidate the entire company ’ s operations . My relationship with the ownership at that time allowed me to absorb ATL Cold Storage at Pensacola into one of my existing companies and as a result
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