Profile of Ted Simpkins, Senior Vice President, Managing Director of Southern Wine & Spirits of California

Notwithstanding an accent that signals his Boston-area upbringing, Ted Simpkins is a real Californian. Indeed, in recognition of his generous charitable contributions in the state and for his leadership qualities in the California beverage and hospitality industries, Patterson's Beverage Journal, the state's leading beverage publication, recently bestowed on Simpkins its Lifetime Achievement Award.

A native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Mr. Simpkins entered the beverage industry right out of the U.S. Army. C. Pappas Distributing, formerly a Boston-based wine and spirits distributor, Mr. Simpkins joined as a wine and spirits salesman. In an interview published in the May 2001 issue of Patterson's Beverage Journal, Mr. Simpkins recalled, "I will never forget the man who hired me, John Hickson. I think he saw the value in hiring someone with no experience and being able to shape and mold me the way he wanted to. I have taken that lesson to Southern Wine and Spirits and place value in giving opportunities to anyone who is willing to work hard, experienced or not."   

After nearly a decade at C. Pappas, Mr. Simpkins joined Southern Wine and Spirits of Florida on January 1, 1971, as a wine salesman in Miami. Later that year, Mr. Simpkins was promoted to general manager of Southern's new division in Orlando; then, in 1977, he was promoted to General Manager of Pensacola, where he worked until he was promoted again to General Manager of the company's Tampa division, the second largest market in the state after Miami. Mr. Simpkins worked there from late 1977 until 1983, when he was promoted and moved to take over Southern's California operation.

As noted previously, Mr. Simpkins spearheaded the company's move north, when it acquired a small wine distributor called Grape Empire in 1984. In all his subsequent work, Simpkins says he remains inspired by the example set by Harvey Chaplin, Jay Weiss - a senior executive of Southern Wine and Spirits of America - and Mel Dick, Senior Vice President of Southern Wine and Spirits of America. Of these executives, Mr. Simpkins says: "The example they set, their work ethic, their loyalty to one another and to their employees was the role model that I took every place I went."

Southern Wine and Spirits of California has a firm belief in hiring people who are closely connected to the customers and markets they serve. In this regard, Mr. Simpkins is intensely proud of his company's commitment to that core value; the people who work for Southern Wine and Spirits of California know their customers and the market because that is what they live and breathe every working day.

Just as in every other state market where Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Inc., is present, senior executives like Mr. Simpkins reward those employees who exemplify the company's core values. Indeed, both Brad Vassar and Jack Brennan are veterans of the company, and both executives worked their way up (just as Simpkins has) from the street. As Mr. Simpkins is fond of saying in one of the company's frequent sales meetings, "The person you're sitting next to right now could be up here one day speaking to you all as a General Manager, or higher." 

Mr. Simpkins is bullish about the California market. Says Mr. Simpkins, "It's the largest wine and spirits market in the country. Its challenge is its diversity and size." Not one to rest for a moment on the division's past achievement, Mr. Simpkins says the company is poised for more growth in the years ahead, and is totally committed to serving Southern's customers, both its suppliers and its retail and restaurant partners - with the quality service that is a hallmark of the entire company's operations, from the back office and the street to the customer service department all the way up to the executive suite.

Looking ahead, Mr. Simpkins says of Southern Wine and Spirits of California, "We have to be on the cutting edge, from capitalizing on the latest drinking trends to utilizing the best technology available in order to service the company's diverse customer base ever more efficiently." Commenting on the Internet and new innovations occurring in the online customer ordering arena, Mr. Simpkins states: "We have to be the best at it, as we are in every other sector. It all boils down to a matter of convenience for all our on-and off- premise customers."