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This week in 1999, a leading Miller distrib bought their local Coors competitor in VA. Norfolk Bev (owned by Sampson family, which also sold Miller in Knoxville, TN) was buying Hecht Dist (owned by Hecht family). Norfolk was over 3 mil cases; Hecht over 1.5 mil cases. Upon close, Norfolk would have Miller, Coors, Stroh and all leading imports (except Labatt&#39;s), plus Sam Adams. Prexy Gary Hecht told local newspaper (Virginian-Pilot) that he expected most of his 115 employees to get jobs at Norfolk, which was buying his fleet of trucks too, but not its 47K square foot warehouse. The Sampson family eventually sold its Norfolk biz to Reyes Beverage Group but retained its (larger) Knoxville biz. This week in 2002, in AB's in-house publication Team Talk, prexy/ceo Pat Stokes talked about co's biggest challenges. AB's need to "increase our participation in the high-end" was "first" among short and long-term challenges. Bacardi Silver "is our most focused effort to date to gain share here," he added. AB was also upping support for Michelob and Doc Otis, he added. As for Modelo brands, "we'd like to be the importer," Pat stated flatly, but "it just hasn't happened." In meantime, AB got 50% of Modelo's profits, but "none of the importers' profit." 2d challenge: "We need to make sure that Budweiser and Bud Light remain viable choices for young adults." 3d: "We need to protect our right to do business from attacks by critics of the alcohol beverage industry." Finally, a curveball. "Bottled waters are becoming an increasingly competitive factor," Pat noted, and "will take share throughout the beverage industry."This week in 2005, Mike's Hard Lemonade announced it was moving its US hq from Denver to Seattle in the spring, as co cited need for "fresh resources" in terms of attracting "creative" talent. Parent co Mark Anthony was located in Vancouver (so Seattle was closer). Mike's planned to hire 30-50 people in Seattle. Only 1 person from Denver HQ, evp of sales Doug Goldsby, was moving to Seattle. Around same time, Pyramid announced letter of intent to produce malt bevs for an intl bev co. Seattle papers speculated that it was Mike's, but founder Anthony von Mandl wasn't talking. He did acknowledge Mike's would test "new technologies" with a Washington brewer and had highest respect for Pyramid, adding "we like them very much." Mike's moved to Chicago in 2013.This week in 2006, InBev planned to distribute 2 million glasses each for Bass, Beck's and Stella Artois to US bars to improve beer drinking experience, reported Brandweek. InBev was also adding 20 more salespeople to a team of 200+ as co tried to "romance" customer and restore beer's image. InBev sales team was armed with surveys that showed "glassware enhances the drinking experience," and if glut of glassware didn't sway retailers, co noted they could "pull $100 more per keg" since glasses hold less than a pint, noted BW. Bass was getting new logo, lighter colored bottle and new name-Bass Pale Ale to "change perceptions" that Bass was "heavy and bitter."This week in 2009, new SEC filings revealed that two financial companies owned nearly 20% of Boston Beer. Neuberger Berman owned a 12.4% stake in Boston Beer. Just the week before, Barclay's filed with SEC that it owned almost 7% of Boston thru 2 funds. Boston's stock had fallen by 50% from Sep '08 thru Jan '09 but had since bounced back a bit. Its mkt cap was ~$385 mil or so. Currently, SAM mkt cap is ~$2.5 bil.This week in 2014, in its early days, Miller Fortune, biggest new bet from MC in above premium, was getting plenty of buzz. Brand got good amount of distribution quickly, so key would be pull-through. Fortune was "largest launch of a new product" since MC formed in 2008, cmo Andy England told NY Times. "Significant spending" would exceed what Redd's got in 2013 spend, which was estimated to have been ~$23.1 mil. More about media approach came from ad agency: Fortune aimed to expand oppys for beer beyond typical "beervertising," tailgates, parties and sophomoric humor to spirits occasions/drinkers, as MC had said all along. While Times gave Fortune solid play, coverage elsewhere was a bit spottier. Not everyone made distinction between "bourbon-inspired" (which Fortune kind of was) to target spirits occasions and "bourbon-flavored" (which it wasn't). "But perhaps MC trying to make too fine a distinction," noted INSIGHTS. Also, MC likely wasn't too happy with headlines like "Miller Coors hikes beer alcohol level to entice younger drinkers" or "MillerCoors Releases Miller Fortune, New Highly Alcoholic Dark Beer Designed to Compete with Spirits." Turned out there was little pull-through and Fortune was dropped within two years.

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