Home | About Us | History In 1858, a food distribution firm was founded in Worcester, Massachusetts by Elliott T. Smith. Mr. Smith was a dealer in groceries, flour, provisions, cement, lime, plaster, hair, etc. He was rewarded with customer loyalty and steady expansion. Over the years the company outgrew five facilities and became one of the most successful wholesale grocery distributors in New England. In 1962, the E.T. Smith Company merged with the Foodservice Division of the E.C. Hall Company, which was started by 1895 by Everett C. Hall in Brockton, Massachusetts. Initial distribution for the customers of the Hall Division of the E.T. Smith Co. came from E.T. Smith's warehouse on Millbrook Street in Worcester. The early part of 1963, the Hall Division leased the R.F. Owens 19,000 square foot building in Raynham, Massachusetts, in order to service their institutional customers. On August 1, 1963, Paul F. Kalat became the sole owner of the Hall Division of E.T. Smith Co. and changed it name to Hallsmith Company Inc. The first year's sales were $1.5 million. Also two 5,000 square foot additions, mainly frozen, were added to the Raynham facility. By 1971, business had reached $7.5 million and sales territories were expanding. In April 1972, Hallsmith Company merged with the nation's largest foodservice and distribution company, SYSCO Corporation, which is based in Houston, Texas. It was SYSCO's 20th company. That same year the previous E.C. Hall warehouse of 108,000 square feet was leased to Hallsmith with an option to purchase, and occupied by Hallsmith. By 1978, Hallsmith was doing business in all six New England states and needed more capacity. In June of 1979, Hallsmith purchased the Fernandes facility, which had two modern buildings of 264,000 square feet on 25 acres of land. These building contained warehouses, freezers, refrigerated space, and office areas. A separate maintenance building was used to handle the ever-growing delivery fleet. Business had reached sales of $52 million. On June 30, 1980, Paul F. Kalat became Chairman of the Board and Edward H. Hasty was appointed President and CEO. In 1989 Paul Kalat was named Chairman Emeritus. That same year Hallsmith SYSCO Food Services, which was now the new name, exceeded $320 million in sales and was a complete one-stop distributor with over 14,000 items. In June of 1995, a new company, SYSCO of Connecticut was "folded out" of the Norton facility with a first year volume in excess of $160 million. Today Hallsmith SYSCO sales exceed $650 million with over 18,000 items. On January 1, 1997, Edward H. Hasty retired as Chairman and CEO, with William Holden taking over as President and CEO. In July 2002, SYSCO Corporation announced that William Holden had been appointed Senior Vice President of Operations, Northeast Region and Thaire Bryant had been named the new President and CEO. They both assumed their new responsibilities on January 1, 2003.