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​J. Winkler & Sons was founded on November 2, 1911 by John Winkler and his son Elmer Winkler.  Starting our business with just $225.00, John and Elmer first sold produce, poultry and eggs.  They made their deliveries in horse-drawn wagons.  The

business' first location was in the small Bays building in Dale, Indiana with dirt floors and a rental of $2.00 per month.

Several years later our company was moved to a tobacco barn in downtown Dale.  In 1926 a fire burned down this building and a bigger warehouse was built in its place.  It was here that J. Winkler & Sons expanded into sugar, salt, wool and hides.  We purchased special semi-trucks built to haul poultry and eggs to markets in Buffalo, New York, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Baltimore, Cleveland and Philadelphia.  It took a two man team four days to make a run to one of these markets.

As a family owned business that started as a produce, poultry and egg supplier more than 100 years ago, we discovered in 1981 that trips can be rewarding, educational and a way for our vendors and independent retail grocers to fraternize and support each other.

Winkler, Inc. started our trip program in 1981.  With support from our vendors and retailers here is a list of the places traveled:

1992 Cruise  Freeport , St Thomas

1993 Cayman Islands

1994 Maui, Hawaii

1995 Cancun, Mexico

1996 Cruise-St Thomas, Caracas, Guadalupe, Aruba

1997 Kauai, Hawaii (Hyatt Regency)

1998 Ixtapa, Mexico

1999 Cruise-Jamaica, Caymans, Cozumel, Key West

2000 Rome, Italy

2001 Cancun, Mexico Hyatt Cancun Caribe

2002 Alaska Cruise

2003 Costa Rica-Paradisus Playa Conchal

2004 San Francisco-Lake Tahoe

2005 Kona, Hawaii (Waikola Hilton)

2006 Las Vegas-Venetian

2007 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico-RIU Mexico

2008 Ireland

2009 Playa del Carmen, Mexico-RIU Mexico

2010 San Antonio-Drury Plaza Riverwalk

2011 Hawaian Island Cruise

2012 San Diego

2013 Cabo San Lucas-Melia Cabo Real

2014 Punta Cana, Dominician Republic

2015 Jamaica-RIU

2016 New Orleans/5 Day Cruise

2017 Costa Rica Liberia, RIU Guanacaste

2018 Nassau Bahamas, RIU Paradise Island

2019 Costa Mujeres Mexico

2020 COVID

2021 St Lucia 

2022 Maui Hawaii 

2022 Alaska Cruise on the Millenium

2022 Cabo (Make up for 2020)

2024 Italy

2025 Cozumel ..Feb 22-28th..DREAMS COZUMEL RESORT & SPA....SIGN UP TODAY!