Spokane-based grocery distributor launches first exclusive brand

Spokane-based URM Stores Inc. hopes to quench your thirst with a new twist.

The grocery distributor has launched its first exclusive product brand in Merchant’s Craft, a line of beverage products it says will replace Western Family brand sodas, sparkling water and mixers at locally owned, independent grocery stores in the Northwest.

The brand offers 13 “traditional” flavors of pop, but also features a “Signature Collection” that includes Wild Huckleberry, Doc Merchant, Mountain Splash and Fizzle Berry. A lineup of sparkling water flavors and mixers will hit the market in coming months, the company said in a news release.

Merchant Craft products began appearing on store shelves before Memorial Day Weekend.