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In 1978, I was at Coors Northeast (The Orbit Corp.) in San Antonio.  As VP of Sales, I oversaw the development of the start-up distributorship which was awarded to Charles Duke, Jr., a former astronaut and Air Force General.  We opened in 1975 with great success, and by 1978, Charlie decided that being in the […]

During the late 1980s, I was in Distributor Development for Coors Brewing Co. The department had been charged with overseeing a number of special projects.  In addition to owning and managing Coors operations through Ford Street Management, we also helped our wholesalers on special issues when requested by the wholesaler.  On the rare occasion that […]

With this post, we celebrate the first anniversary of BeerBusinessUnplugged, so I thought I would take the opportunity to comment on just how this endeavor has gone over the past year. Having just entered into my 45th year in the beer industry, I originally wanted to comment on topics which I believed the industry was not properly handling.  I had […]

 Some years ago, as Glazer’s stepped up its aggressive expansion into mid-western states, one of their primary targets was Illinois.  Their opportunity to establish a footprint in Chicago came when they were offered a JV with National’s Union Distributors.  Union, had been struggling for sometime and needed help in building a stronger portfolio, which Glazer’s […]

I’ve been to New York city twice this summer on business.  The first trip I spoke to several investment people on the topic of craft beers verses domestics; the second visit, I met industry lawyers.  During my conversation with the lawyers, we discussed the impact of franchise protection when a wholesaler sells their business.  As I […]

After a long and expensive legal battle during the spring and early summer of 2008, we were able to move Warsteiner from RNDC in Florida, when they violated our contract, to the AB network of distributors on the west side.  We were excited knowing we no longer had to deal with distribution issues or execution problems.  […]

It wasn’t long after the Stroh Brewing Co. bought the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. in 1982, that Stroh decided to roll out their brands nationally using the Schlitz distributor network.  My Schlitz distributorship was located in far South Texas, where, depending on your definition of what “summer” is, can last up to eight months.  Stroh decided […]

Two of the countries greatest golf courses are located in Pennsylvania:  Oakmont, which is just outside of Pittsburgh hosts the US Open in 2016; the other course, located in Philadelphia, hosts this month’s US Open.  While both cities are different in design, both are historic, traditional and highly regarded. Near Pittsburgh, and not far from Philadelphia, are […]

When I introduced Krombacher in 2011, I told the wholesalers that the key to success was to get distribution in all key chains.  While getting the sales number out of this distribution was important, the real key was to quickly find out how the consumer would accept the brand(s).  Assuming there was not an issue with […]

Glazer’s operation in Columbus, Ohio represents a nice portfolio of crafts and imported beers, including Boston Brewing Co. products.  Since Columbus is the home of Ohio State University, this market was chosen a decade ago to be a test for the new Samuel Adams Light beer.  To kick off the new beer, Jim Koch came to […]