A FAMILY’S LEGACY OF INTEGRITY, QUALITY, AND EXCELLENCE

THE BLUE RIDGE BEVERAGE COMPANY STORY

CHEERS TO THE JOURNEY

Blue Ridge Beverage Company, Inc., founded in 1938, is a full-service distributor of beer, wine, cider, flavored malt beverages, hard seltzers, canned cocktails, and non-alcohol beverages in Southwest and Central Virginia. Blue Ridge Beverage employs more than 500 people and services more than 4,300 retail customers, including grocery and other large-format stores, convenience and other small-format stores, and restaurants. The company is headquartered in the Roanoke Valley and has four community-based facilities servicing 49 counties and 16 independent cities, representing more than 60% of the state’s geography. Blue Ridge Beverage offers beverage suppliers the most experienced, sophisticated route-to-market in the region.

1938

The company is founded as a post-Prohibition beer distributorship in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley.

1959

James M. Archer, Jr., and his wife Regine N. Archer purchase Blue Ridge Beverage, the beginning of more than six decades under continuous Archer family leadership.

1960s

Blue Ridge Beverage diversifies its beer and soft drink portfolio in the Roanoke and New River Valleys and acquires its first wine distribution rights.

1970s

The company’s growth mirrors the fortunes of Philip Morris’ Miller Brewing Company, which recognizes Blue Ridge Beverage on several occasions as one of Miller’s most effective distributors.

1984

The Archer family purchases the Miller distributor in Charlottesville, VA, and establishes Cavalier Beverage Company. Cavalier also obtains the distribution rights for Heineken, and Boston Beer assigns distribution rights to Cavalier Beverage and Blue Ridge Beverage as it launches the Samuel Adams brand in Virginia.

1985

The Archer family opens its current warehouse and company headquarters in Roanoke County.

1987

Blue Ridge Beverage nearly doubles its wine business by acquiring a competitor in the Roanoke Valley.

1988

Cavalier Beverage expands its territory into the Shenandoah Valley by purchasing a Miller distributorship in Harrisonburg, VA, which it renames Shenandoah Beverage Company.

1989

Blue Ridge Beverage is appointed the distribution rights for the Corona brand, the company’s initial association with the future Mexican brand family powerhouse.

1997

Cavalier Beverage and Shenandoah Beverage are merged into Blue Ridge Beverage. The company also acquires various beer, wine, and non-alcohol franchise rights of the legacy Miller distributor in Southside Virginia.

1998

The Archer family opens a new facility in South Boston, VA, for its Southside Virginia business. Separately, Blue Ridge Beverage purchases the Miller franchise rights and occupies a facility of JRB Corporation, which in combination with other brands it already distributes, establishes the company’s Lynchburg division.

1999

Blue Ridge Beverage is appointed as the distributor for Mike’s Hard Lemonade in its service area.

2001

The company combines its Charlottesville and Harrisonburg operations into a new facility in Waynesboro, VA. With this move, Blue Ridge Beverage operates in four strategically located and efficient facilities in Salem, Waynesboro, South Boston, and Lynchburg, VA.

2003

Blue Ridge Beverage acquires Waynesboro’s competitor Dod Distributing Co., Inc., and with it, the company’s first Coors Brewing Company distribution rights. With this acquisition, Blue Ridge Beverage becomes the “hometown” distributor to Coors’ Elkton, VA, facility, which is now one of MolsonCoors’ most efficient breweries.

2004

The Waynesboro facility is expanded to accommodate the consolidation of Dod’s operations into the Waynesboro division.

2005

The National Beer Wholesalers Association awards Chair Regine Archer with its highest honor, the Life Service Award. Red Bull North America appoints Blue Ridge Beverage as the distributor of its iconic energy drink in a large portion of its territory.

2006

Blue Ridge Beverage receives SABMiller’s prestigious President’s Award, honoring the Waynesboro division as one of its top distributors nationally. The brewery also names Regine Archer a Miller Legend based on her four-decade commitment to Miller and to the beer industry in general.

2008

Blue Ridge Beverage acquires Evans Distributing Company, a legacy Miller and E&J Gallo distributor with facilities in Marion and Norton, VA, and completes the company’s total footprint in Southwest and Central Virginia.

2009

Blue Ridge Beverage celebrates 50 years of operation under Archer family leadership. The company also acquires the beer business of competitor Virginia Distributing Co. in Lynchburg and Roanoke, which adds Coors, Corona/Modelo, Heineken, and Pabst territory.

2011

New Belgium Brewing Company, then the nation’s third largest independent craft brewer, appoints Blue Ridge Beverage as its distributor for Southwest and Central VA.

2012

Company President Bob Archer is elected Chairman of the Board of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

2013

Blue Ridge Beverage moves out of Evans Distributing’s former Marion facility and into a state-of-the-art warehouse the Archer family builds in Abingdon, VA. The company subsequently purchases certain assets of competitor Gwyn Distributing Company and merges the operations.

2014

The company acquires Holston Valley Distributing Company and completes its consolidation of three Southwest VA beer, wine, and non-alcohol distributors into the Abingdon division.

2015

Blue Ridge Beverage enhances its already-strong craft and specialty import beer and cider portfolio by purchasing the distribution rights of a statewide competitor in Blue Ridge Beverage’s existing service area.

2018

The Archer family embarks on a significant expansion and renovation of the Salem facility’s office and warehouse spaces.

2019

Blue Ridge Beverage consolidates the South Boston division’s territory and operations into Lynchburg and Salem and vacates the South Boston facility. The company also trades its Southside VA wine business to Lawrence Distributing Co. in exchange for certain Pabst Brewing and Boston Beer distribution rights.

2021

The Archer family renovates Lynchburg’s warehouse and office facility.

2023

The Archer family significantly expands and renovates its Waynesboro location, thereby maximizing its operating efficiency from four modernized facilities in Salem, Waynesboro, Abingdon, and Lynchburg.

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