SOUTHERN WINE &SPIRITS OF AMERICA, INC. AND THE ODOM CORPORATION ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP ACROSS 7 PACIFIC NORTHWEST STATES
OPEN AND CONTROL STATES JOINT VENTURE TO CREATE LEADING SALES AND OPERATIONS CAPABILITIES FOR BOTH SPIRITS AND WINE IN ALASKA, IDAHO, OREGON,MONTANA, UTAH,WASHINGTON AND WYOMING
ADAM HILPERT NAMED EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, SALES OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST JOINT VENTURE TO OVERSEE WINE WHOLESALING IN WASHINGTON, OREGON, ALASKA AND NORTHERN IDAHO
JAMES ALLEN NAMED EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,MANAGING DIRECTOR, FINE WINE, FOR SOUTHERN-ODOM PARTNERSHIP
MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN APPOINTED VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MANAGER OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST JOINT VENTURE’S BROKERAGE OPERATIONS AND ALASKA’S SPIRITS DIVISION
History of the Southern-Odom
Partnership
On July 18, 2008, Southern Wine
& Spirits of America, Inc., the nation’s leading wine and spirits
distributor and control state broker based in Miami, Florida, with operations
in 33 states, and The Odom Corporation, a leading multi-state beverage
distributor serving the Northwest since 1934 and based in Bellevue, Washington,
announced the formation of a new wine and spirits joint venture to wholesale
operations in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska. According to
the Southern-Odom agreement, the new company also incorporated the Southern
Wine Spirits West existing six-state Control States operation in Idaho,
Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. In addition, the new seven-state
partnership encompassed a strategic partnership for the distribution of wine
throughout the State of Washington and Northern Idaho; wine and spirits within
the State of Alaska; and the immediate establishment of a fully operational
wine distributorship in the State of Oregon.
In a related senior management move,
Adam Hilpert was named Executive Vice President, General Manager to oversee the
wine wholesaling division in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Mr. Hilpert
formerly served as Vice President, Sales at the Odom Corporation.
At the time of the historic
announcement, Wayne E. Chaplin, President and Chief Operating Officer of
Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., said, “We are excited about our
expansion into the Pacific Northwest and joining with John Odom and his team at
The Odom Corporation. Their established operations, experience and reputation
in the Pacific Northwest marketplace are all well recognized within our
industry and will serve as a foundation for our joint venture’s future growth
and expansion.” Mr. Chaplin added, “Establishing a more optimized Pacific
Northwest distribution system is a critical part of our overall supplier- and
customer-centric growth strategy; John and his professional team are a perfect
complement to our company’s capabilities.”
John Odom, President and CEO of The
Odom Corporation said, “We are thrilled to work with the Southern family. Over
the past ten years we have invested heavily to expand our territory and market
share in the Northwest, which adds value for our suppliers and customer
partners. Our agreement accelerates our strategic initiatives, as well as those
of Southern Wine and Spirits.”
Mr. Odom added, “Across our Pacific
Northwest markets, we look forward to expanding our industry-leading wine
capabilities; for example, our announced entry into the Oregon wine market
exemplifies the commitment and resources that Southern and Odom combined will
bring together to benefit both our retail customers and suppliers alike. Moving
forward, we will not only rely on Southern Wine & Spirits of America’s
unrivalled regional and national supply chain expertise, but also Odom’s local
market knowledge in order to build a world-class supply chain, sales and
distribution organization.” Further describing the Southern/Odom vision, Mr. Chaplin
emphasized: “Southern has been in the spirits brokerage business since early
2006 in the Pacific Northwest, setting the stage for this next phase of
establishing a leading wine business with the Odom Corporation. Based upon
Odom’s current portfolio, together we plan on adding to it with other strategic
suppliers many of whom we already service in various key markets elsewhere
around the country.”
Commenting on Mr. Hilpert’s new
position of responsibility, Mr. Odom said, “Adam is an outstanding executive
with more than 20 years of experience in our industry; his past service has
prepared him to oversee the day-to-day Sales, Marketing and Management
responsibilities of all alcoholic beverages of our expanded Pacific Northwest
operations. Since joining The Odom Corporation in 2003, Adam has made many
important contributions to our growing presence throughout the Pacific
Northwest markets we serve. According to Mr. Odom, Mr. Hilpert has previously
worked in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.
Referring to the experience and
talent present in the combined entity today, Brad Vassar, Executive Vice
President and General Manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc.,
stated: “We have a strong bench of experienced executives from both organizations,
which provides our partnership with an extremely effective sales and
distribution operation. We will be drawing upon and looking to promote
individuals from the Southern Wine/Spirits West group, the Odom Corporation as
well as the Southern Wine & Spirits of America team to fill many of the new
positions of responsibility throughout our Pacific Northwest venture.”
Reflecting on Wayne and John’s
vision to draw upon the best of both organizations in building the leadership
team, Mr. Vassar further noted that “Adam is a respected and highly motivated
executives. Adam knows the entire region as well as anybody in this business,
so we are extremely excited about the potential of our new venture.”
In a related 2008 transaction, The
Odom Corporation has agreed to purchase the beer distribution rights of Alaska
Distributors in the state of Alaska and certain non-alcohol beverages in
Washington. The ‘greenfield’ division in Oregon has been completely operational
since September 2008.
The Pacific Northwest partnership between
the two Companies is now known as Southern-Odom Spirits West.
About Southern Wine & Spirits of America:
Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc.(Southern) is the nation’s largest wine and spirits distributor with operations in 33 markets. The multi-state distributor currently operates in: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia—as well as the additional seven states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah through the Southern-Odom/Spirits West partnership. In addition, Southern has a presence in Maryland and the District of Columbia through a joint venture with F.P. Winner Wine & Spirits as well as a joint venture operation in Minnesota with J.J. Taylor Distributing Company. Southern also holds operating licenses and permits in Nebraska and Texas. On a national basis, Southern employs more than 11,000 team members. For more information, please visit www.southernwine.com.
The Odom Corporation
The Odom Corporation (Odom) is one of the Northwest’s leading beverage distributors of foreign and domestic beers, wines, spirits and soft drinks, including Coca-Cola of Alaska. Odom is a second generation family business founded in 1934—equally owned by John, Bill and Jim Odom and proudly celebrating its 75th year anniversary in 2009. The Company employs over 1,000 associates who sell and distribute more than 17 million cases annually. For more information about Odom, please visit www.odomcorp.com .