and his brothers in 1859. They came to America from Ireland with little more than a few pieces of silver, but through hard work and ingenuity they steadily built a viable dry goods business on what is today 2nd Avenue in Downtown Nashville. In the 1920's, Robert Orr, Jr. sold the business to 'Boss" Cunningham and the company continued its steady growth. Eventually, Robert Orr & Company outgrew the
2nd Avenue warehouse and was relocated to a larger facility off Charlotte Avenue. After the death of Mr. Cunningham, Glen Nelson was elected president, and along with John and Bud Cunningham, Robert Orr & Company became one of the largest food distributors in Tennessee. In the 1960's, plans were drawn to begin construction of a state-of-the-art distribution facility located off of Centennial Blvd. in West Nashville. In 1972, Robert Orr & Company merged with Houston, Texas based SYSCO Corporation to become Robert Orr-SYSCO. Under Mr. Nelson's leadership, Robert Orr-SYSCO added innovative products and wares such frozen foods and perishables. Famous Hermitage Brand coffee continued to be roasted at the West Nashville location utilizing the same recipe that was purchased from the Cheek Family in the 1920's when they sold the "Maxwell House" name to the forerunner of General Foods. In 1980, Burton H. Hummell was named president after the sudden passing of Mr. For the next 16 years, Mr. Hummell guided the company's growth to include a full-line of products and services which were unmatched by any competitor in the region. Sales eventually topped $500 million annually, and shipping volume often exceeded more than 100,000 cases per night. Robert Orr-SYSCO could take orders from customers until 5 PM located hundreds of miles away from Nashville and deliver to them before 7 AM the following morning. Its customers included restaurants, schools, churches, and eat-away-from-home organizations throughout Middle and East Tennessee, Southern Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. Upon Hummell's retirement in 1996, Nick Taras was named President and Chief Executive Officer. THIS PAGE IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH SYSCO NASHVILLE OR SYSCO CORPORATION.
