A Brief History of Southern Wine & Spirits of New Jersey
In February 2005, Mr. Wayne E. Chaplin, President and Chief Operating Officer of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., Miami, Florida, the country, announced that it had acquired Lauber Imports, Inc., a leading Somerville, New Jersey-based fine wine importer and distributor operating in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Since its founding in 1968, Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern), is the leading nationally recognized wine and spirits distributor in the United States known for its historic commitment to delivering the highest standards of customer service, creative marketing programs and partnerships. The Company is also known for its best-in-industry professional and well-trained sales, operational and support staff, its ongoing investments in and contributions to hospitality and beverage education for its staff, its customers and to many national educational institutions. In addition, Southern is justly respected for its deeply held belief in the importance of giving back, for being a socially responsible corporate citizen and for making generous contributions to national, state and local charitable organizations.
Today, Southern operates in 30 states, including its original Florida market, where its corporate headquarters is located in Miami. Over the past 40 years, pursuing a determined strategy to expand through internal growth as well as through the acquisition of established wholesalers, Southern Wine and Spirits of America expanded its Florida operations into California in 1969, Nevada in 1976, Arizona in 1992, South Carolina in 1993, Pennsylvania in 1995, Hawaii in 1996, Kentucky in 1998, New Mexico in 2000, Colorado in 2001, Illinois in 2002, New York in 2004, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia in 2005. In 2006, the Company began operations in Alabama; and, in a partnership arrangement, now operates in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming as well. In 2007, the Company entered Ohio, the country's third largest Control jurisdiction. In early 2008, Southern began operations in Delaware, and also entered the state of Texas, making Southern the only major wine and spirits distributor licensed in each of the top five wine and spirits markets in the United States. On a national basis, the Company employs more than 10,000 team members.
At the time of this announcement, Mr. Chaplin said: “The acquisition of Lauber Imports will be a perfect fit for our overall Northeast Strategy, where our goal is to bring a new level of service and professionalism to our on- and off-premise customers and our supplier partners. With this acquisition, we will join together our fine organizations with that of Ed and Mark Lauber of Lauber Imports, both of whom are held in the highest esteem in the wine trade across the Northeast. This new tri-state fine wine division [consisting of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania] will be independent, with Mark as President.”
According to Mr. Chaplin, “Mark and Ed will work hand in hand with Larry Goodrich, Executive Vice President, General Manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of New York and Jim Allen, Executive Vice President, General Manager-Wines of Southern Wine & Spirits of New York to ensure we keep growing this great portfolio of brands.”
This acquisition has since formed the strong foundation for the creation of Southern Wine & Spirits of New Jersey. Mr. Mark Lauber, who serves as President of the independent Lauber division, says: “I am extremely excited to be part of the Southern Wine & Spirits Family as President of its Lauber Division. My father, Ed, and I look forward to being able to combine Lauber’s strengths and experience with the resources of Southern Wine & Spirits. We are confident that together we will add value to not only our on- and off-premise customers, but to our current and prospective supplier partners.”
During this period since the acquisition, Southern Wine & Spirits of New Jersey has emerged as one of the state’s most innovative wine and spirits distributors. Overall, Southern Wine & Spirits of New Jersey is growing rapidly and is poised to post still stronger gains during the next few years, according to Mr. Lauber.
With approximately 130 sales and support staff now working for the Company and operating chiefly from its headquarters in Somerville, New Jersey, Southern Wine & Spirits of New Jersey is able to field a state-of-the-art distribution, marketing and merchandising network. The Company’s modern 25,000 square-foot Somerville facility is home to its various statewide sales, executive, administrative, information management, educational, transportation and business operations.
In addition, the Company also owns SWSNJ Warehousing, Inc., a public warehouse and trucking company, which does all of the warehousing and trucking for Lauber Imports. Operating out of two New Jersey-based facilities, the combined warehousing capacity totals over 400,000 square feet. This enables Lauber Imports to guarantee that all its wines are stored properly and shipped on-time. To further insure the safety of its fine wines, the entire fleet of delivery trucks is specially insulated to protect wine in any weather. Overall, the Company’s complex is dedicated to providing first-class customer service for on- and off-premise accounts as well as for brand owners and suppliers.
Supported by this impressive operational and personnel infrastructure, Southern Wine & Spirits of New Jersey is able to offer rapid delivery services to the state’s chain and independent retail and restaurant accounts, hotels and resorts from Atlantic City in the south to Newark in the north and west to the Delaware River and east to the Jersey Shore.
Noting the strong leadership of Wayne Chaplin and Harvey Chaplin, respectively Southern Wine & Spirits of America’s President and Chief Operating Officer and its Chairman and CEO, Mr. Lauber says: “To me it is very simple; Wayne and Harvey Chaplin have the unique ability to find passionate, motivated people dedicated to this business.”
Lauber Imports was originally founded in 1979 by Ed Lauber and his son Mark, who today serve as the Lauber Division’s CEO Emeritus and President, respectively. Together they have built Lauber Imports into one of the most highly regarded companies in the industry.
Looking to the future, Mark Lauber predicts: “We believe that we are the market leader in the eyes of customers, not because of our size but because of our passion for the business and the focus on the marketplace in which we work and live. At the end of the day, we know that there’s nobody who knows the state’s market like we do”