Stone Distributing Takes Over Former Markstein Warehouse in San Marcos

Stone Distributing Company teased a move to a larger distribution center last week. The distribution arm of San Diego’s Stone Brewing Company today officially announced the move of its operations to the former Markstein Beverage Co. warehouse in San Marcos.

Stone Distributing, one of the largest craft-centric wholesalers in the U.S., will take over the 110,000 sq. ft facility, which features 100,000 sq. ft. of cold storage space, in the second quarter of 2021, pending construction at the building, a Stone spokesperson told Brewbound.

In addition to Stone products, Stone Distributing distributes offerings in Southern California from Modern Times, Oskar Blues, Pizza Port, The Lost Abbey, Russian River, JuneShine, Victory, AleSmith, Cigar City, Societe Brewing and Duvel among others.

“SDC has proven to be a powerhouse for the SoCal craft market,” Stone CEO Maria Stipp said in a press release. “We’re doubling down our focus on this part of the business, which has given so much to Stone and the craft beer community.”

Stone Distributing’s existing warehouse in Escondido will transition into storage for the company’s raw materials and packaging. Meanwhile, the company’s brewery and packaging hall will continue operations in Escondido.

Stone floated the idea of a move to a larger distribution center last week when the company announced the sale of its distribution rights in Santa Clara County to Matagrano, which will begin distribution of the San Diego-based craft brewery’s portfolio starting March 1. The sale of its Northern California distribution rights was made to focus on SoCal, the company said.

The move will mark a homecoming of sorts for Stone, which opened a brewery in San Marcos 25 years ago this week. Stone Brewing operated out of that location for about a decade before building its flagship brewery in Escondido. The Lost Abbey now operates out of that original location.

Markstein Beverage, a family-owned wholesaler of Anheuser-Busch products and other offerings, sold its San Marcos operations to A-B in September 2019. A-B folded Markstein’s San Marcos business into its existing wholly owned distributor, Anheuser-Busch Sales of San Diego. That sale came 15 months after Markstein, under threat of termination, was forced to sell the distribution rights to the Constellation Brands portfolio of Mexican import brands (Corona Extra, Modelo Especial, and Pacifico) in northern San Diego County to the Reyes Beverage Group.

The Markstein family continues to operate its distribution business in Sacramento.

As for Stone Distributing, the company holds a 30% share of the San Diego craft beer market and a 15% share in Los Angeles County. Citing Nielsen data, Stone reported that its distribution business increased sales 32% in San Diego and 34% in Los Angeles for the 52 weeks ending December 12, 2020.

This year, Stone Distributing expanded its portfolio of offerings with the additions of Societe Brewing and Jiant hard kombucha. The company said it plans to keep adding to its book this year.