Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/44136
COVER STORY faith in the people who managed and operated the West Coast office, and they continued to invest even back when it seemed like it didn't make sense financially," Vassar explains. "They took all the risk—and their team did not let them down." But, today, the Chaplin's are not complacent. From humble beginnings, the West Coast offices are now a success (i.e., both the Southern California and Northern California divisions of SWS-CA have the scale to be their own state divisions). "We're very fortunate to have an entrepreneurial genius in Harvey Chaplin, and the best second- generation leader in Wayne Chaplin," Vassar insists. "Wayne took all the great programs that Harvey initiated and continues to improve on the company's assets. They're invested and involved; it's an ideal situation." Nationally, Southern Wine & Spirits is fortunate to represent many great supplier portfolios. The company takes its supplier relationships and brand stew- ardship responsibilities to heart—and, consequently, suppliers highly value their relationship with Southern. Vassar offers, "There is nobody more supplier-centric on the wine side of our business than Mel Dick, SWS-A's SVP & President/ Wine Division. Mel launched Southern's wine business—both in California and nationally—and no one demonstrates more passion and leadership for wine supplier relations than Mel." "To cover the market, you have to develop significant scale and capabilities," Vassar notes, pointing to the variety and breadth of brands represented by the company. "It's education and training that allows us to represent more suppliers effectively. It's a tough job, but by segmenting brands into different divisions, we give our suppliers options. In California, we can provide better support by people who are in tune with specific portfolios and brands." Vassar has spent the last seven years focused on unifying the strategies of the company's various states—while also enabling each state to run its business locally. "We utilize the enterprise's scale and knowledge base, and we have made some fine progress with our National Accounts, Strategic Supplier Relations and Category Management & Business Intelligence teams. We've developed regular forums for sharing ideas and best practices, and our General Managers from each state are a big part of the decision making process. This is not a 'run the business from the top down' type of organization." Home-Grown Leaders "Being blessed to represent many great supplier brands, we determined that the California sales efforts would be divided into three selling divisions, with three unique go-to-market teams to manage their brands and portfolios." —Jack Brennan At Southern's modern, sprawling headquarters in Cerritos, suppliers are regular visitors. Faces familiar and new are scattered in conference rooms and offices throughout the building on any given work day. It's probably one of the best places in our industry to network. In the executive offices, Jack Brennan and I share lunch, and I must ask the inevitable question about the supplier relationships: With so many brands to watch over, how does Southern man- age to keep the connections personal and give each brand its due? Brennan points out that a large, successful company has to be able to manage the scale of a wide range of offerings. Managing scale begins with a well-resourced sales force. But wisely, Southern operates as three separate selling companies, in order to properly service accounts and specialize in the specific brands sold. This specialized expertise has led to the formation of American Wines & Spirits and Pacific Wine & Spirits—two distinct companies working alongside their Southern Wine & Spirits selling division colleagues. As on the national level, SWS of California depends on solid leadership to maintain the company's core value of personal dedication to superior sales and service. I spoke with several of the top California leaders to get an idea of how they approach their jobs within the state's largest distributor. Steve Harden "Steve Harden is my oldest, best friend. He brought me—like many before and since—into this industry. Steve is not just a leader—he is also a mentor and a consummate team player." —Brad Vassar "A reputation based on warmth and approachability has been the cornerstone of Steve Harden's career at Southern Wine and Spirits, where he has established himself as one of the company's most effective 'go-to' guys, thanks to his track record of success," says Jack Brennan. "I hired Steve Harden 20 years ago to run the Sacramento Branch," Brennan adds, "and he moved on to become Vice President/General Manager for SWS Northern California. He's a great leader and has all the respect of the people who work with him—including our supplier network." Harden jumped into the industry at the dawn of California's wine business in 1979, thanks to a college booster who was running a wine and spirits company in Stockton, CA, in the heart of the Central Valley. "It wasn't very sophisticated then," Harden admits of his—and the California wine scene's— early days. From there, Harden held his first management position at a wholesaler called Berberian Brothers. "I hired a young man named Brad Vassar—and now I work for him," laughs Harden, who has been lifelong friends with Vassar. When Young's bought Berberian in 1987, Harden stayed for only a few months before leaving to run the Sacramento-based chains at Bay Area wholesaler Julliard Alpha, operated by october 201 1 / the tasting panel / 47