About Us

Pike History. Since 1937.

Mervin James Pike was born on September 25, 1913 in Sault St. Marie, Michigan and graduated from Newberry High School in 1933. He was married to Lois Kingsberry on July 23, 1940. They had six children: James, Kenneth, Mervin Jay, Alan, Robert and David.

Mervin started selling beer and became a distributor in 1937 with a beer made in Sault St. Marie called Soo Brew which is only 60 miles from Newberry. In 1938 they gained distribution rights for Schmidt’s and Phieffer's Beer. Mervin started with one pickup with a steak rack on it and bought a large truck a couple of years later to deliver the beer. Mervin would go to Detroit to get a load of beer and peddle the whole load until it was all delivered and then he would return back to Detroit for another load and continue on with this process. In July of 1950, Mervin hired Stan Ketvirtis after he graduated from Northern Michigan University. Mervin passed away on July 26, 1953.

His wife, Lois, designated that Stan Ketvirtis would be the manager after the accident which was already decided by Mervin before the accident occurred as he was related to his wife Lois. The date was June 26, 1953 when this occurred. Stan continued to run and build the business.

Joe Ketvirtis worked in the Newberry warehouse loading trucks and helping on routes in the summers of 1967 and 1968. After graduation from high school he moved to Manistique and worked on the delivery routes in the summer time. In the fall of 1970, he moved to Marquette to attend NMU, worked loading trucks at night and delivered on Saturdays. He also worked summer vacation routes during his four years at NMU. Joe Ketvirtis graduated from Northern Michigan University in 1974 with a Bachelor's degree concentrated in Business Administration. After graduation, he went to work full- time for Pike learning all aspects of the business.

Stan and Lois became partners in Pike Distributors. They became a corporation on June 27, 1974. Pike Distributors, Incorporated adopted a profit sharing plan on December 8, 1975. Joe Ketvirtis bought stock on June 12, 1979. Pike Distributors then changed from Sub Chapter S Corporation to a Real Corporation on March 27, 1980. Joe Ketvirtis was elected to the Board of Directors on August 26, 1987. Then Pike Distributors purchased Miller Beverage Company of Escanaba in the fall of 1987 and finalized the deal in early 1988. Miller Beverage Company was an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler.

By 1990, Lois decided to sell her shares of the business to Stan Ketvirtis. Stan paid Lois off by the end of 1992. Skip Brockman purchased stock and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 1990. To consolidate the company, the Sault St. Marie warehouse was sold to Marchetti Distributing on January 30, 1998. Pike also closed the Manistique and Munising warehouses on June 1, 1998.

Jack Ketvirtis, Stanley’s grandson, started employment in 1999 part-time in the summer working within the warehouse, crushing cans, sweeping floors, and preloading orders. When he turned 18 and was able to get his commercial drivers license he began running his own driving route in the summer during college. In the summer of 2006, he fulfilled an internship at the Escanaba operation where he went through many A.B. training classes and learned the pre-sell routes along with the mobility selling system. Jack graduated in the fall of 2007 from Northern Michigan University with a Bachelor's degree concentrated in Marketing. Jack is a third-generation graduate from NMU, and in the Pike business, and he is also a partner in the business with his father Joe.