Last Call: Fire at South Park Brewing; Nine Band Brewing Owner Accused of Homicide, Fraud Scheme

South Park Brewing Catches Fire

An early morning fire Wednesday at San Diego-based South Park Brewing Company and Hamilton’s Tavern caused around $1 million in damage to the businesses, according to CBS 8 News.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 25 minutes. No one was injured in the fire.

South Park Brewing owner Scot Blair told the news station that it’s unclear what started the fire and he declined to speculate.

Hamilton’s has been shuttered since July, while South Park had been able to operate at 25% occupancy. Blair called the COVID-19 pandemic “a nightmare for our business” and noted that further restrictions that would rollback indoor dining would further “cripple” the business.

“It’s been hard to survive as it is,” he said.

Blair added that he’s unsure of what the future holds.

“We know that we’re definitely going to be down for a while and can we come back? Can we survive? Or is this the final nail in the coffin?” he said.

Blair attempted to stay positive, mentioning several times that no one was hurt in the fire. He added that he would tell his employees to also “stay positive.”

Osage Casinos Severs Ties with Nine Band Brewing After Founder Accused of Murder

Tulsa-based Osage Casinos is cutting ties with Allen, Texas-based Nine Band Brewing Company after the brewery’s founder was arrested on homicide and federal fraud charges that he ran a million-dollar Ponzi scheme, according to the Tulsa World and Dallas Morning News.

Nine Band Brewing owner Keith Ashley is accused of killing Jim Seegan on February 19 in an effort to take charge of his finances and of attempting to cover up the killing as a suicide. Ashley had served as a financial advisor to Seegan.

Authorities initially ruled Seegan’s death a suicide after finding a typed note near his body. However, investigators say they later found evidence showing Allen staged the suicide scene and wired $20,000 from Seegan’s bank account to himself.

Allen is accused of bilking investors out of more than $1.1 million via his financial services firm, North Texas Money Management, which he allegedly used for personal matters, including brewery expenses, mortgage payments, casino spending and student loans, the Morning News reported.

The tribe that runs the casino said Thursday that it notified Nine Band, which operates a satellite location inside the Tulsa hotel-casino, that it was severing its three-year relationship effective December 31.

“After three years of determining the best use of our in-house brewery, we made the decision earlier this year to sever our relationship with our current partner,” Osage Casinos CEO Byron Bighorse said in a statement. “At Osage Casinos, we have very high standards for customer service and satisfaction. We realized upon receiving feedback that in order for the brewery to match our standards, it was critical for Osage Casinos to be the full operator.”

Following the allegations against Ashley, references to Nine Band are now being removed from the casino.

Nine Band’s website and Facebook page are no longer online.

Drizly Expands in Houston and Austin with Spec’s

Drizly, the Boston-headquartered alcohol e-commerce and delivery platform, is expanding its partnership with Spec’s stores in Texas.

The expansion will see 25 Houston area and nine Austin area Spec’s stores join Drizly’s network. Drizly’s services are now offered by 161 Spec’s stores in the Lone Star State.

The expansion makes Drizly’s 60-minute-or-less delivery service available to 570,000 additional Texans of legal drinking age.

Drizly sales in Houston and Austin are up 620% and 350% year-over-year, respectively, since COVID-19’s onset in March.

Nationwide, sales on Drizly have increased 350% since March. Drizly head of consumer insights Liz Paquette recently discussed e-commerce trends on the debut episode of Brewbound’s Data Club video series. Watch it here.

Lakeshore Beverage Announces Portfolio Additions

In the wake of the Breakthru Beverage Group selling its beer and cider portfolio to Lakeshore Beverage in Illinois, the Chicagoland beverage wholesaler welcomed the new brands to its portfolio in its latest newsletter.

Those brands include:

  • 4 Hands Brewing Company (St. Louis, Missouri),
  • 18th Street Brewery (Hammond, Indiana),
  • Ale Asylum (Madison, Wisconsin),
  • Buckledown Brewing Company (Lyons, Illinois),
  • Citizen Cider (Burlington, Vermont),
  • Collective Arts Brewing (Hamilton, Ontario),
  • Coronado Brewing (San Diego, California),
  • Deschutes Brewery (Bend, Oregon),
  • Greenbush Brewing (Sawyer, Michigan),
  • Haymarket Brewing (Chicago),
  • Odd Side Ales (Grand Haven, Michigan),
  • Spiteful Brewing (Chicago),
  • Stem Ciders (Denver),
  • Toppling Goliath Brewing Company (Decorah, Iowa).

Lakeshore’s deal for Breakthru’s portfolio was expected to close in late October. Lakeshore is an Anheuser-Busch house, which also sells craft brands from Alaskan, Ballast Point, Bell’s, BrewDog, Surly and Sweetwater.

Molson Coors to Hire 377 in Milwaukee

Molson Coors Beverage Company will hire 377 full-time office employees at its Milwaukee campus by the end of 2021, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report.

The new hires are in addition to 225 jobs already added, which will increase Molson Coors’ employee count by 33%. If these jobs are retained, the company would be eligible for as much as $25 million in state tax credits.

In October 2019, Molson Coors announced a sweeping revitalization plan that planned to eliminate as many as 500 jobs and shuttered its Denver headquarters.

Heineken Names New Chief Commercial Officer

Heineken today appointed James Thompson as its next chief commercial officer.

Thompson will supplant Jan Derck van Karnebeek, who has worked with the Dutch beer brand for 27 years, including the last five as chief commercial officer, and is exiting the company in effective March 1, 2021, “to pursue other interests outside of the company.”

Thompson is joining Heineken after serving as head of categories, brand, innovation and stores for Avon. He previously worked for 24 years at Diageo, where he served as chief marketing and innovation officer in North America and Asia Pacific.

“James has an excellent track record and a wealth of experience in premium brand building, consumer centricity, innovation and leading multi-category development,” Heineken N.V. CEO and chairman of the executive board Dolf van den Brink said in a press release. “Our Executive Team very much looks forward to working with James to further evolve our commercial strategy. I would also like to thank Jan Derck for his significant contribution to Heineken. It has been a real pleasure working with Jan Derck over the years.”

Midwestern C-Store Chain Casey’s Strikes Deal for 94 Bucky’s Stores

Ankeny, Iowa-headquartered convenience store chain Casey’s General Stores has struck a deal to acquire Buchanan Energy, the owner of the Bucky’s Convenience Stores chain, in a $580 million all-cash transaction, according to a press release.

The Bucky’s chain of 94 retail stores and 79 dealer locations operates c-stores primarily in Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas. The deal includes those locations as well “multiple parcels of real estate for future new store construction, which will increase Casey’s footprint to over 2,300 stores.”

Casey’s, which is the fourth-largest c-store chain, operating more than 2,200 c-stores in 16 states in the middle of the country, will finance the deal via a combination of cash on hand, revolver capacity and bank financing. The $500 million sale price represents 10.6 times Bucky’s last 12-months EBITDA. Casey’s anticipates achieving $23 million in annual synergies by Year Three.

The deal is expected to close by the end of 2020, pending regulatory and customary closing conditions.

A-B Launches Refillable Glass Bottle Pilot Program

Anheuser-Busch InBev has launched a three-month pilot program with refillable glass bottle marketplace Conscious Container. The company’s goal, in partnership with Eagle Distributing in Santa Rosa, California, is to distribute and collect 16,000 specially labeled bottles of Michelob Ultra Pure Gold and Elysian Space Dust IPA. Those bottles will be collected, washed, inspected, refilled and recirculated if they meet the company’s quality standards.

“At Anheuser-Busch, we are always looking for new ways to reduce our carbon footprint across our value chain to reach our ambitious 2025 sustainability goals,” A-B VP of sustainability Angie Slaughter said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be launching this pilot in partnership with Conscious Container to grow the returnable glass marketplace and enable our consumers and our industry to drive meaningful change for our environment.”

Consumers can return the bottles to one of seven locations in Sonoma and northern Marin counties.

Miller Lite Bids Adieu to Holiday Parties

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions on gatherings means no in-person holiday parties for the majority of us. Molson Coors’ Miller Lite brand pokes fun at the awkwardness of those annual gatherings in its latest TV ad. Watch it above.