FEATURED AFFILIATES ROCKETDSD
FIRST CHOICE MERCHANT SERVICES
Based in Sister Bay, a village in Door County, RocketDSD has made a national name for itself since 2002, growing from an ice cream distributor to a nationwide distributor of snack and frozen foods. When the Marriott Corporation approached founder and CEO Stephen Sauter to help fill its hotel guest pantries, the business expanded and a niche was found that has been very successful, he says.
Deb Hoeft-Christopherson says that First Choice Merchant Services is fair, provides rates unheard of by other processing companies and values its relationships with customers more than even making money.
Because of all of the Tavern League members in Door County, Sauter was able to connect with bar owners who were having difficulty finding distributors that carried RocketDSD preferred snacks and in smaller quantities. The fit was natural and Sauter’s team, managed by Bruce Bass, became a proud affiliate member of the TLW. The website, rocketdsd.com, is open to anyone who wants to choose from thousands of products, ranging from chips and candy to frozen pizzas and coffees. Products are shipped directly to your location from Wisconsin and, for most people, arrive the next day. A bonus is that the cases can be mixed and matched. Sauter says a small establishment may not want 64 bags of one kind of chips, so RocketDSD allows customers to mix and match. “We care about making the things you want and maybe have become difficult to find in sensible quantities,” he adds. Jack’s Pizzas are big sellers, as are the specialty chips, candies and ice cream treats. Sauter says that RocketDSD is a great service for those in the north who can’t get the larger route trucks up there in the off season, but still want to have snacks and treats on hand in their establishments. RocketDSD has been an affiliate member for about three years and has enjoyed meeting members throughout Wisconsin. Bass encourages members to let him know if there is something they’d like to purchase, but cannot find on the site. “We’re willing to look into finding it and sourcing it for you,” he adds. The duo says that individuals can buy from the website, but businesses can also set up an account with a 1099 form to be able to sell without collecting sales tax. “We felt this was an organization we should belong to and support,” Sauter concludes. “We are proud to be a member of the Tavern League family and an organization that advocates for our industry.”
She started as a contractor for the company in 2016, but brings many additional years of merchant services experience to the role. According to Christopherson, First Choice is a full-service company, providing terminals and other equipment, as well as short-term loans, card processing, ATM machines and more. The first questions she asks all potential clients are: “Do you know your merchant service person? When’s the last time you spoke with them? Are they available to you?” Customer service is of the utmost importance to Christopherson, who adds that she sees firsthand the struggles small business owners have with credit card fees, and is happy to be able to save them thousands of dollars every month with a plan and manageable fee scales. “At the end of the day, when people are paying with credit cards and using reward cards, the people paying for that are the merchants,” she explains. “I’ve talked to so many local small businesses and they just can’t afford it.” One message she believes is important for TLW members to hear is the fees they are adding onto credit card transactions (on their own) is not always legitimate and that they need to be aware that there are proper ways of doing this without getting into trouble. She’s a new member of the TLW this year and says good friends who are tavern owners encouraged her to join as an affiliate. “I really respect what I see all these people doing, putting their heart and soul into their businesses,” Christopherson adds. “And when they call me, I answer the phone and it doesn’t matter what time of day or day of the week — I answer.” She says she understands that TLW members work every day of the week and that if she can help them fix a problem, she will. First Choice Merchant Services is based out of Minneapolis, but Christopherson works from Chippewa Falls. She says the industry knowledge in this small firm is incredible and the customer service matters tremendously. “We’re learning all the time, on the cutting edge, and we want to make sure we’re always doing the right thing for those we serve,” she says.
ROCKETDSD
P.O. Box 759, Ephraim, WI 54211 (866) 651-8729 | rocketdsd.com
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
FIRST CHOICE MERCHANT SERVICES
333 N. Washington Avenue, Suite 322, Minneapolis, MN 55401 (844) 822-3267 | firstchoicepartner.com www.tlw.org
