Our
History
The American Dream came true for John Horecky, born January 3, 1868, in Bytca, Slovakia, when at the age of eighteen he came to America. John traveled from St. Louis to Church Point as a foot peddler buying and selling goods along the way. Here he met and married Church Point native, Julia McBride, in January of 1892.
As his trade grew he acquired a hack and two horses, and was able to broaden his territory. Shortly after 1900, he established a retail store on Church Point’s main street, where the liquor division of Church Point was situated.
Within a decade or two
Within a decade or two, the wholesale liquor and grocery business had mushroomed into one of the largest family-owned and operated firms in the south. The Horecky family owned the company up until 2001, when convenience store magnate John Dan Gielen purchased the company. The new ownership brought continued expansion: a new state-of-the-art Single Pick section, Cigarette/Tobacco room, and Candy/Snack section were added. By the end of 2002, the Food Service Division was formed furthering the expansion, and a new 20,000-square foot cooler was constructed for shipping and receiving perishable products.
John Dan Gielen kept the company on the path to prosperity up until his passing on Ferburary 14, 2018. His grandson, Cody Gielen, who is also the CEO of Acadia Tobacco, has now taken the reins of the company. Today Cody, along with John Dan’s daughters, continue to steer Church Point Wholesale into the 21st century and beyond.
