M.S. Walker’s Gary Shaw,
Harvey Allen and Michael Brody
ack to the
bottling lin
story by
kristen bieler
Photographs by
jason grow
M.S. Walker,
the venerable
New England-based
wholesaler and supplier
seizes opportunity on
a grander scale.
T
he bottling line at M.S. Walker’s Somerville, Massachusetts, fa-
cility has been working overtime lately. With upgraded bottle
fillers, the lines now move faster, pushing the facility towards its
maximum capacity of 3 million cases per year.
Last year’s acquisition of 15 brands from Maine-based White Rock
Distilleries put M.S. Walker back in the manufacturing game in a more
significant way, and for the first time in 80 years, the company has nation-
wide ambitions for its brands. “We have a long history and many strong
brands in New England,” says CEO, Harvey Allen. “Now we are getting
into our covered wagon and going out west—
and we are going to see what we can do.”
At a t ime wh e n ma n y h i s t o r i c
manufacturers are closing up shop, M.S.
Walker is an anomaly; a hold-out from
a time when the American landscape was
littered with bottling operations—five in
Massachusetts alone. Even M.S. Walker
diversified its business over the years,
