McClure's Pickles doubles production space, aims at national market

McClure's Pickles didn't really start out as a business five years ago. More like a profitable hobby for Joe McClure and his family.

It became real when the craft pickle producer hired its first employee in the summer of 2007 to keep up with demand. Today the company has offices in Metro Detroit and New York City, with 15 employees in Troy and another five in Brooklyn.

"We thought it would be fun," says Joe, who co-founded McClure's Pickles with his brother Bob and his parents, Mike and Jenny. "We have been making them for a long time so we thought it would be a fun little venture. We weren't doing it for the money."

Now they are. McClure's Pickles ships about 100 cases of pickles a day, almost double what it was shipping a year ago. It recently doubled its equipment and manufacturing space so it can meet growing demand in 10 states and major metro areas, including Detroit, New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, New Jersey and San Francisco. The next target market is Texas.

McClure's Pickles is aiming to continue its market expansion. Joe wants to enlarge his production space in Michigan to 10,000 square feet and increase his staff in Michigan to 20 people. "Demand keeps going up," Joe says. "We have some great distribution channels and a good food following."

Source: Joe McClure, co-founder of McClure's Pickles
Writer: Jon Zemke