The largest U.S. distributor of wine and spirits had a growth spurt this week. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits said it was forming a joint venture distributorship with Jarboe Sales Company to form an integrated wine, spirits and beer wholesaling operation in Oklahoma.
The venture, which will operate as Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Oklahoma, is expected to close on October 1, 2018. This is when new provisions take effect and allow both grocery and convenience stores to sell wine and cold, full-strength beer in Oklahoma. Currently grocery stores can only sell beer with an alcohol by weight between 0.5% and 3.2%. Places that have beer with any higher alcohol levels must sell it at room temperature.
It will operate a sales division under the Jarboe name and expand the customer base across the state by more than 3,700 accounts.
Port Elizabeth Facility Up And Running
In the Northeast, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of New York says its upgraded, Port Elizabeth, New Jersey facility is open to support growing demand throughout the New York Metro market.
The New Jersey facility, originally a company a storage center, was repurposed and updated this year to augment existing distribution operations in Syosset, New York. It will enable Southern Glazer’s to expand its production capability in the market by millions of cases.
“It was an important and much-needed investment” to align with increasing demand, Martin Crane, EVP and general manager of Southern Glazer’s New York, said in a statement.
The 286,000-square-foot Port Elizabeth facility increases capacity 25%, Crane said and has the latest distribution automation technology and state-of-the-art storage, conveyor and sorting systems. The facility will coordinate with the 350,000-square-foot Syosset distribution center, the company said.
Published: December 14, 2017