GoPuff to Acquire Liquor Barn
E-commerce convenience store delivery platform GoPuff has struck another deal to acquire a brick-and-mortar alcohol retailer, Louisville, Kentucky-based Liquor Barn, which operates 23 stores throughout the state.
“This acquisition brings two customer-focused brands together to introduce new products and experiences while rapidly accelerating GoPuff’s geographic footprint in the region as we continue our expansion,” GoPuff senior vice president of business Daniel Folkman said in a press release. “We look forward to welcoming Liquor Barn to the team, becoming more deeply entrenched in the Bluegrass State and serving as a go-to solution for new customers to fulfill their most sought-after instant needs.”
The deal, which will give goPuff access to 80% of residents of Louisville and Lexington, is goPuff’s second acquisition of a liquor store chain in the U.S. In December, goPuff acquired 161 BevMo stores in California, Arizona and Washington in a deal valued at $350 million. Last month, the Philadelphia-based convenience platform acquired Fancy, a last-mile delivery provider based in the United Kingdom.
Liquor Barn’s 23 stores will be integrated into goPuff’s network of fulfillment centers. The company currently operates seven stores in Louisville, six stores in Lexington, and stores in Bowling Green, Covington, Danville, Elizabethtown, Ft. Thomas and Owensboro.
GoPuff is valued at $8.9 billion and recently closed a fundraising round of $1.15 billion, according to CNBC, which also reported that all GoPuff markets older than 18 months are profitable, according to Folkman.
The e-commerce alcohol delivery channel heated up during the pandemic, when bars and restaurants were shut down and Americans were forced to stay home to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Uber acquired alcohol e-commerce marketplace Drizly in February in a $1.1 billion deal. Unlike goPuff, Drizly focuses solely on alcohol and alcohol-adjacent products and partners with existing retailers. GoPuff operates its own network of 450-plus sites, which sell alcohol “in most, but not all cities,” according to the company’s website.
GoPuff To Launch Own Ad Network
In other GoPuff news, the company is launching its own ad network, according to Axios.
The Philadelphia-based company has created an in-house advertising team to build ad products and onboard marketers, sources told Axios.
The business plan will mirror those of Amazon, Alibaba and Walmart, using customized advertising to target consumers based on local inventory, hoping to increase consumer spend and retailer engagement on the e-commerce platform. The company is pitching brands that GoPuff will be able to deliver to consumers within half an hour of them seeing and engaging with an ad, according to Axios.
GoPuff rival Instacart is currently building a $1 billion ad business, according to Business Insider.
Flying Dog Co-Founder George Stranahan Dies, Age 89
George Stranahan, the co-founder of Flying Dog Brewpub and co-founder of Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, died May 20 at 89, according to The New York Times (NYT).
A self-proclaimed “pilgrimosopher,” Stranahan worked in a plethora of industries, including co-founding the Aspen Center for Physics, running the Woody Creek Tavern in Aspen, and running a 1,500-acre cattle ranch for more than 20 years.
He co-founded Flying Dog Brewpub in Aspen with Richard McIntyre in 1990, before company operations shifted to Fredericksburg, Maryland, in the mid-2000s. In 2020, it was the 15th-biggest craft brewing company in the U.S., according to the Brewers Association (BA).
Stranahan spent many years in legal battles over a mission to “challenge authority,” he told the Rocky Mountain News. In 1995, the Colorado Liquor Board said Flying Dog’s labels were too obscene, and forced the removal of said labels from $250,000 worth of beer, according to the Charles Koch Institute. In 2015, the brewery defeated a legal challenge from the state of Michigan after it attempted to remove an “expletive-heavy” beer name.
Stranahan was close friends with famed journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who was a regular at Woody Creek, according to the NYT. In a 2008 interview with The Denver Post, Stranahan detailed the duo’s exploits, which included a lot of whiskey drinking and playing with dynamite.
Stranahan died in a hospital in Denver following a stroke as well as other health problems, which emerged after heart surgery, according to his wife, Patti.
Joe LaMantia, Founder of L&F Distributors, Dies at 88
Joe LaMantia Jr., the founder of Texas-based L&F Distributors, died last week at the age of 88.
LaMantia joined the beer distribution industry in 1977, becoming a wholesaler of Anheuser-Busch (A-B) products. The venture became L&F Distributors, which grew from 11 employees in McAllen, Texas, to 1,091 employees across seven locations serving 53 Texas counties, according to LaMantia’s obituary.
In 1994, he partnered with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, raising $5 million and awarding more than 2,600 scholarships over the course of eight years to students in south Texas. In 2002, he established the Stars Scholarship Fund, in which as chairman LaMantia oversaw the disbursement of around $35.1 million in scholarships, assisting more than 17,074 students across south and west Texas.
In 2017, LaMantia was awarded the Life Service Award from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).
In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to be made to the Stars Scholarship Fund.
Lucky Luke Brewing to Acquire Wolf Creek Brewery
Lucky Luke Brewing is in the process of purchasing Wolf Creek Brewery in Valencia, California, according to a release over the weekend.
Rob and Laina McFerren opened Wolf Creek in 1997. They began talks with Lucky Luke in early 2020 to discuss the co-owners’ retirement plans and the idea of Luke Luke purchasing their brewery in a few years, according to the release. Plans escalated after the death of Rob McFerren in December.
“We’ve given the craft beer community over 24 years of our wonderful life and it is finally time to pass the torch,” Laina McFerren said in a statement. “I know that Rob would like to see Lucky Luke in this space to carry on a legacy of delicious craft beer and giving back to the community that have supported us all these years.”
The acquisition will allow Lucky Luke to produce 10 times more beer than it is currently producing at its two current locations in Palmdale and Lancaster, according to the release. The brewery anticipates the transition of licenses to take two months.
“We are honored to grow into this third location with the help of Laina and Rob,” Brian Schmitz, who co-owns Lucky Luke with his wife Samantha, said in a release. “They have been wonderful role models throughout the years and we are excited to help carry on their legacy.”
The Wolf Creek restaurant is not part of the acquisition and the McFerren family will continue to operate it.
Oyster City Brewing to Take Over Serda Brewing Location
Oyster City Brewing Company announced it will be taking over the former Serda Brewing location in Mobile, Alabama.
The Apalachicola, Florida-based brewery took to Facebook this month to announce the purchase of the location, one week after Serda announced that it had sold the brewery to “another great out of state brewery.”
“Yes, the rumors are true,” Oyster City said in its post. “We couldn’t be more excited to join the great beer scene and community in one of our favorite places.”
Oyster City did not announce when it would be opening the location. Serda’s bartenders and brewing staff, except for its head brewer, will stay on at the new brewery.
Serda’s beer will continue to be distributed to restaurants and stores throughout Mobile and Baldwin counties while the brewery looks at possibly opening a new location in the area, according to WKRG.
Golden Brands Limited Delivery Schedule Causing Issues for San Francisco Bars
More than 80 San Francisco bars have signed a letter to Golden Brands after cuts in the distributor’s delivery schedule have forced many establishments to cut back on their draft offerings, according to KPIX
The bars hit hardest by the recent change are smaller and older locations, which have limited storage space. Golden Brands, which distributes popular beers including Molson Coors, Constellation Brands, Mark Anthony Brands, Pabst and Heineken, have significantly cut back beer deliveries, according to Shea Shawson, general manager of Elixir, the city’s second-oldest bar. Golden Brands used to deliver to Elixir once a week, then cut back to once every two weeks, according to Shawson.
“That two weeks recently went to every month. … So that’s four weeks worth of beer that I have to store,” Shawson told KPIX. “It feels like a pinch on small business.”
Local breweries are also feeling the effect, including Anchor Brewing, which is seeing its beer removed from taps in the city.
“We don’t have [Anchor products],” St. Mary’s Pub owner Maria Davis told KPIX. “We don’t have any Golden Brands products. I would love to. People ask for it.”
“I’ll go down to Anchor Steam and pick up the kegs myself if I have to,” Shawson said.