Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/97133
You���ve got to take notice of a California food and beverage purveyor personally selected by the notoriously persnickety William Randolph Hearst to deliver wine, spirits and gourmet groceries to Hearst Castle. And the bright red Young���s Market Company trucks, hand-painted with colorful advertising for brands such as Old Forester, L&G Sour Mash and Early Times, were as distinctive throughout Los Angeles as they were making their weekly trips to San Simeon. But the Young���s story starts well before that, for this is the eve of their 125th anniversary, which makes Young���s Market one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the United States. It began in 1888, when John C. Young ventured west from Missouri, with the financial backing of his father, Peter Young (first generation), and established a modest meat market in downtown Los Angeles. As the city grew, so did his business and he soon sent for for his three brothers to help. In 1906 they incorporated as Young���s Market PHOTO: COURTESY OF YOUNG���S MARKET CO. The Underwood Family: Janet Underwood Smith, Chris and Vern Underwood. A collection of old branded bottles are on display at the company���s Tustin, CA headquarters. Company, opening their ���rst store at 9th and Main. In 1925 they built a luxurious Italian Renaissance of���ce and gourmet market at 7th and Union that became a Los Angeles landmark. That same year Young���s established a chain of cash-and-carry grocery stores throughout Southern California, stretching from San Diego to Santa Maria. The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 jump-started both the liquor industry and Young���s future success. ���When Prohibition ended, Young���s was in an enviable position,��� says Vern Underwood, Jr., Young���s Market Company���s Chairman of the Board, ���as the family had 88 retail stores that were now able to sell spirits and wine. At that point Young���s also decided to go into the wholesale liquor business. But a law was passed stating that companies couldn���t be in both the retail and the wholesale businesses. Young���s saw a much bigger future in the wine and spirits side, so december 2012 / the tasting panel / 7