Member Spotlight: J. Rieger Co.

When your family name is on your product, the pressure is definitely on for your small business to do well. J. Rieger Co. has certainly succeeded and made a name for itself – for the second time -- in Greater KC. The first time was a distillery that Jacob Rieger founded in 1887. It became the largest mail order whiskey house in the United States – until the onset of Prohibition meant the distillery had to close its doors. Fast forward nearly a century, and J. Rieger is back open and serving KC -- and still in the family.

This distillery, located in the East Bottoms in the former Heim Brewery, truly is a family business. Jacob Rieger’s great-great-great grandson, Andy, joined forces with bartender and restaurateur Ryan Maybee to resurrect the historic brand. They started resurrecting the business in 2010 but didn’t officially open until 2014. Then in 2019 Rieger opened their flagship distillery in the East Bottoms. The distillery includes the Hey! Hey! Club for live music, the Monogram Lounge for brunch and beverages currently by reservation only, and the famous slide in the middle of the tasting room. The need to move to that larger space wasn’t just for aesthetics. After 4 years of being open and distilling and a growing demand the business purchased the historic Heim Brewery’s bottling house because they needed a bigger space.

With craft distilling growing more and more, J. Rieger could’ve easily become a casualty of a trendy and saturated market. But Rieger and Maybee made the decision to focus on long-term success by sticking to their core lineup of quality products. They were in no rush. As a bartender once said, “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” They also invest in their team, by training and compensating their staff above the industry average and offering full benefits.

The success hasn’t been without its challenges though. When the first J. Rieger opened, years of success were wiped out because of Prohibition. Not wanting history to repeat itself, management at the modern day Rieger knew they had to make a new plan when COVID hit. So, they turned their main asset – whiskey and other distilled spirits – into hand sanitizer. At a time when Kansas Citians had a hard time finding hand sanitizer in stores, the Rieger was able to produce batches.  Not only is the sanitizer available at the distillery, but people can also buy it at several area liquor stores, restaurants, and grocery stores.

You can learn more about J. Rieger at the KC Chamber’s Top 10 CEO Panel, October 1, 9:00 am – 10:30 am. The Small Business of the Year will be announced October 15, at the Small Business Celebration Virtual Awards event. The Presenting Sponsor for the CEO Panel is Bank Midwest, and the Presenting Sponsor for the Awards is the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Our 2020 Small Business Programming is presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and Evergy.