The ‘Lord of the Grill’ 2015 Sweepstakes was a big success, with a total of 417,897 sweepstakes entries! More than 1,000 instant prizes were awarded, including 590 BBQ sauce sets, 105 BBQ grilling utensil sets, 105 Igloo coolers, 210 folding camp chairs and 90 Weber grills. The grand prize, estimated at $3,500 was 350+ lbs of meat (an entire cow) and a 21 cubic foot freezer for storage.
Don Doran was born in Kansas City, Kansas and grew up in Wisconsin before moving to Florida to work in the wine and spirit business. He joined Luxco September 1st, 1989 as the Southeast Divisional Manager. “My job title stayed the same, but the company has changed drastically in the past twenty-six years,” he notes.
In August, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division recognized Luxco as their #1 performing vendor among the top 14 largest vendors doing business in the state. Those 14 vendors represent 92% of the Iowa ABD’s annual volume of almost 2 million cases.
This past October, Luxco teamed up with Pedal the Cause (PTC) to participate in the annual PTC bike ride benefiting the Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. PTC was founded by my friends, Bill & Amy Komen, after Bill fought and beat lymphoma not once, but twice.
Luxco recently restructured its sales department, which has meant a reshuffling of roles within the team. The department has been divided into three units – East, West and Control States – led by Brian McEnany, Jason Maxwell and Rick Przebieda, respectively. Ryan Earey has been promoted to National Sales Manager and Dan Streepy, Executive Vice President– Sales, will now focus on International and National Accounts.
Congratulations to Lori W. of Lexington, Kentucky; Suzanne Z. of Arden, North Carolina; Frank D. of Abbeville, Louisiana; Lawanda B. of Los Angeles, California; and Brent M. of Grand Rapids, Michigan! They were all grand prize winners in the Pearl
Bar Cart Sweepstakes!
On September 16, 2015, Yellowstone Whiskey – a combination of hand-selected 12-year rye, 7-year rye and 7-year wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskeys – was introduced to an enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 people at the Oscar Getz Bourbon Museum during the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, KY.
What a year it has been for Luxco! Here are some by-the-numbers highlights:
In 2008, the Paul A. Lux Award was created to recognize individuals for outstanding achievement, dedication, integrity, commitment to the company and doing the right thing. The award carries with it a deep and profound respect and admiration that honors its namesake, Paul A. Lux, founder of Luxco/DSC.
From July 15-19, New Orleans, Louisiana was the site of Tales of the Cocktail®, the world’s premier cocktail festival. The international spirit community came together to discover what’s now, what’s new and what’s next in bartending … and more than 500 of them discovered how they could make it their own with Everclear.
Theresa Koester has “grown up” at Luxco. She started at the company on August 12, 1985, at the age of 25, after working as an airplane mechanic in the U.S. Air Force. She has spent the last thirty years working in the bottle shop, on the lines, in shipping and in the warehouse. A typical
Greg Mefford was a consultant for Luxco for about a year before joining the team on March 1, 2015 as International Sales Director. “I consulted my way into a job, although that wasn’t the intent,” he says with a laugh.
