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Matilda Bay wine coolers to his list of products. In 1989, he
obtained permission to purchase the distribution rights to Coors
Beer. After negotiations with Coors, however, Mr. Langdon
withdrew because he viewed Coors' sales quotas as impossible to
achieve in his region. The minutes of the April 24, 1989, annual
directors' meeting state that "Bemidji Distributing Company will
persue [sic] other brand acquisitions."
The minutes also reflect other plans for expansion:
The President also advised that an addition to the
warehouse will be necessary in the immediate future
because of the increasing number of brands and packages
introduced by brewery suppliers, and the fact that the
storage area for company owned vehicles has been beyond
capacity for a number of years. The demand by Miller
for a 45-day inventory from spring through summer also
presents a storage space problem.
At the time of the sale, the Anheuser Busch (the largest
brewery in the nation) distributorship and Skaar Distributing
(Skaar), who sold Pabst, were BDC's competitors. The owner of
Skaar had died, and his son sent out feelers to see whether Mr.
Langdon wanted to buy it.
However, Mr. Langdon had no sons and did not want to pass on
the business to his two daughters. More importantly, he also
dreaded having to renegotiate a Teamsters' contract that was set
to expire in May 1994, because past negotiations had been bitter.
No other distributor north of the Twin Cities had a union
contract.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011