Food / Business & brands
Ben and Perry Feigenson
· bakers and soft-drink makers, founders of Faygo
Russian-Jewish immigrant bakers who founded the Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works in 1907, the Detroit soda-pop maker known today as Faygo.
- Also known as
- Feigenson brothers · Faygo founders
- Detroit years
- 1900s–
- Field
- Food, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ben and Perry Feigenson were bakers who emigrated from the Russian Empire to Detroit. In November 1907 they founded Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works, and their first flavors, fruit punch, strawberry and grape, were based on the cake-frosting recipes they had used as bakers. At first they made and bottled the pop at night and sold it by horse-drawn wagon by day. As the business grew they bought houses, hired their first employee and added a second wagon. In 1921 they shortened the name to Faygo, and in 1935 the company opened the Gratiot Avenue bottling plant on Detroit's east side that is still in use. The original strawberry soda became Redpop in the late 1960s, and flavors like Rock & Rye made Faygo a Detroit icon. The family sold the company in 1986; it has belonged to National Beverage Corporation since 1987.
Highlights
- Founded Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works in Detroit, November 1907
- Brand renamed Faygo in 1921
- Gratiot Avenue bottling plant opened in 1935 and still operates
- Family sold the company in 1986
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1935–
Faygo bottling plant
The east-side plant the brothers' company opened in 1935; Faygo is still made and headquartered here.