Anderson: Why Glazer’s had to move quickly from McAllen to Weslaco

2 weeks ago 45

WESLACO, Texas – Formal remarks were made outside at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony for Glazer’s Beer & Beverage’s huge new distribution facility in Weslaco.

The remarks came from Weslaco Mayor Adrian Gonzalez, Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes, Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez, and state Rep. Armando ‘Mando’ Martinez.

The welcome remarks came from Matt Swilling, Glazer’s vice present of operations, Phil Meacham, Glazer’s president and COO, and Bennett Glazer, the owner of the company.

Barbara Garza, CEO of Weslaco Areas Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, organized the ribbon cutting.

Then, there were more speeches inside the building during a buffet lunch. One of these came from Orman Anderson, chief financial officer for Glazer’s.

As he did during the groundbreaking ceremony in May 2023, Anderson explained why Glazer’s moved from cramped conditions in McAllen to a 253,200 square foot facility in Weslaco’s new Mid Valley International Industrial Park.

“So, I just want to tell you a little story about how this building came to be,” Anderson said. “And it’s really the same story that I shared at the groundbreaking. Which is, in late 2018, early 2019, things are getting kind of tight in our McAllen warehouse and we decided we needed to do some analysis to see… when we should build a new building.”

At the time, Anderson explained, Glazer’s business by volume was growing at about one percent a year.

“Some years were more, some years a little bit less. But it kind of averaged one percent a year.”

So, Anderson said, Glazer’s leadership decided to do some math.

“It said that for every year we postpone building a new facility we would save a million dollars. So, we were like okay… what do we have left? We have a runway of ten years. We figured this building (in McAllen) will last us 10 years.”

At the end of 2019, Glazer’s volume grew three percent.

“So, we thought okay, well now we’re in year three of a ten-year plan instead of in year two, but everything’s fine,” Anderson said.

Then came COVID.

“Get to 2020, COVID hits and after we realize that our business isn’t going to go in the tank, but people are actually going to drink more than less during COVID, our business grew 13 percent in 2020,” Anderson recalled.

“So, at the end of 2020, we find ourselves in year 16 of a ten-year plan. And we’re thinking oh no, we’ve got a pandemic. We’ve got to move quickly.”

Anderson said that is when Glazer’s turned the task of building a new distribution facility in Weslaco to Swilling, Glazer’s vice president of operations.

“And Matt did a phenomenal job pulling this together and helping us,” Anderson said.

Anderson finished his remarks by talking about current growth.

“Phil (Meacham) made a comment in his remarks that this building is set for eight percent growth over ten years. I hope that’s eight percent a year because we grew eight percent just last year here this in this market,” Anderson reported. “So, I’m sure, like Phil said, we’ll be adding on to this (building) before we know it.”

About Glazer’s Beer & Beverage

Glazer’s Beer & Beverage is a family owned and operated Texas-based company has been involved in the beer distribution business since 1933. It has expanded to 12 warehouse distribution centers located throughout Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. It serves over 10,000 retail locations. Glazer’s represents more than 60 brewing partners and numerous nonalcoholic brands and energy drinks, selling over 30 million cases annually. Around 200 employees will work at the Weslaco distribution center.