Long before Meridian Restaurant Supply had a warehouse full of restaurant equipment, disposables, smallwares and everything in between, it was a much smaller operation: a family business running out of a garage.
That garage belonged to Eli Miller’s grandparents. His grandfather, Elliot, and his father, Tim, started the company as Meridian Paper, delivering products around St. Louis in Tim’s station wagon. As the business grew, Tim and his wife, Michele, moved the company out of the garage and established Meridian Supply in 1993. After several moves, the family-owned company eventually landed on Page Avenue, where Meridian Restaurant Supply continues to serve restaurants and other foodservice businesses throughout St. Louis.
Today, Eli and his wife, Luci Miller, are carrying that family business into its second generation. Meridian supplies everything from paper products and disposables to kitchen equipment, cookware, tableware, glassware, cleaning supplies and smallwares, serving restaurants, bars, schools, churches and other local businesses. The company also has a retail storefront open to the public.
For Eli, the business has been part of life for as long as he can remember.
“My ‘daycare’ was Meridian,” he said. He grew up in the warehouse alongside his brother and sister, watching his parents build the company through sheer hard work. That work ethic stuck with him, but so did the lessons about what he wanted his own version of the family business to look like.
“My parents worked extremely hard, and I learned a lot of grit and perseverance from them,” Eli said. “However, I also learned what I would do differently.”
Now a father of two young children, with another on the way, Eli wants his own kids to see that same dedication without feeling like work has to come at the expense of family life. He wants them to remember that he showed up for soccer games, family vacations and ordinary weekends at home, too.
That balance is part of what the Millers are building into Meridian as they lead the company forward.
When Eli and Luci first took ownership, Luci was still working as a kidney transplant coordinator and continued in that role for the first six months. Though she had grown up around the restaurant industry, with her own family owning a restaurant and her work experience spanning restaurants and bars, the sales side of the business was new territory.
It quickly became clear that the growing company needed both of them.
Today, Eli oversees day-to-day operations, manages his accounts and takes the lead on larger design and build projects for new kitchens. Luci focuses on sales and her local accounts while also helping manage the office and handling HR responsibilities when needed.
The division of labor may have changed over the years, but the philosophy behind Meridian has remained remarkably simple: listen to customers, be straightforward and transparent with them and make their jobs easier.
Meridian describes itself as a family-owned company built around individualized customer service, and the Millers say that old-school approach is one of the reasons customers continue to stick around.
“We have always kept it real with our customers,” Luci said. “We are transparent with our pricing and policies. There are not a bunch of bells and whistles with us.”
That straightforward approach has helped create relationships that last well beyond a single restaurant opening. Some Meridian customers have been with the company for more than 30 years, following the business through openings, closures and new ventures.
“They become family,” Luci said. “That right there says it all.”
The company’s current customer base reflects that broad, relationship-driven approach. Meridian works with plenty of independent bars and restaurants around St. Louis, along with schools and churches, while increasingly working with larger local hospitality groups and entering the fine dining market as the city’s restaurant scene continues to grow.
Meridian’s inventory has grown with its customers too. The company carries everything from everyday restaurant staples to equipment such as refrigeration, ovens, fryers, prep tables, sinks and walk-in coolers, along with glassware, cookware, catering supplies and more.
And because the restaurant industry is constantly changing, the Millers have learned to change with it.
“Our industry is extremely reactive,” Luci said. “We listen to our customers and stay open-minded.”
When customers started asking for compostable products, Meridian brought them in. When they wanted bamboo, the company added bamboo. The goal is to respond to what local operators actually need while keeping the basics in stock.
That flexibility extends to the way Meridian handles delivery and service. The company offers next-day delivery to local accounts with no minimum order, and its own warehouse and delivery team handle orders locally.
For new restaurant owners, the relationship can go even further.
Meridian offers what the Millers call “white glove” delivery, meaning the company does more than leave a piece of equipment at the door. Its team uncrates and assembles equipment and gets it into place in the kitchen. Meridian also handles warranty issues for equipment purchased through the company, giving customers one person to call rather than forcing them to navigate the manufacturer themselves.
“We help our new restaurant owners with every part of the opening process,” Luci said. “We really love that part of our job. It is such a rewarding and fun part of our job.”
In fact, opening a new restaurant might be the part of the job the Millers enjoy most. There is something fitting about a company that began with a station wagon delivering paper products now helping St. Louis restaurateurs build the kitchens where their own businesses will take shape.
And perhaps that is the clearest thread between Meridian’s first generation and its second. The products may have expanded well beyond paper, the warehouse may be bigger and the restaurant industry may look very different than it did when Elliot and Tim were making deliveries, but the business is still rooted in people.
For the Millers, that means customers who become friends, employees who become part of the family and, eventually, their own children growing up around the business just as Eli did.
“We are so excited to raise our children in this industry,” Luci said. “We are a foodie family. We love the restaurant scene in St. Louis and our kids do too.”
Maybe one day, they’ll want to join the family business too.
