When Barry Andrews started Andrews Distributing Co. at the age of 29 in his hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1976, the company had seven employees and operated out of a 12,000-foot warehouse. That first year, the company sold 276,000 cases of beer, with Miller Brewing as its only supplier.
Fast forward through several acquisitions and an expansion of markets, and today the company serves 26 Texas counties with 1,100 employees and is the eighth-largest distributor in the country by volume — distributing 26 million cases a year — and the sixth-largest by revenue, says Joe Jernigan, chief financial officer of Andrews Distributing.
“We have great employees, great leadership and Barry is the hardest-working individual I’ve ever met,” says Jernigan. “He’s in the office early, he knows every employee by name and he spends time in the warehouse talking to the drivers, checking on the business. We have been very fortunate over the course of the last 16 years and 15 acquisitions to be able to precipitate a large volume growth – although a lot of it was organic, as well – at the right time and with the right people.
Smart Business spoke with Jernigan and with Andrews Distributing President Mike McGuire about how the business has grown and how its new warehouse in Allen, Texas, has aided that growth.
Why is the North Texas market a good place to do business?
We feel like North Texas, and the Dallas/Fort Worth complex are the best market in the country from a growth standpoint. It is projected that in 10 years, it will overtake Chicago as the third-largest metropolitan market in the country. We are well positioned to take advantage of that growth.
From a demographic perspective, the area is adding 160,000 people per year, or about a million every six years. As one of the top growth areas in the U.S., this is the right perfect place for us to be.
How did you settle on Allen, Texas, as the location for your new warehouse?
Our Allen location is a very robust satellite of our business. Before we opened the Allen location last year, we had nine warehouses in North Texas. The No. 1 thing that opening the Allen facility accomplished was that it drastically simplified our warehouse operations, allowing us to go from nine locations to three. That consolidation was 100 percent driven by the Allen facility and the location made it the perfect opportunity to consolidate a number of our northern, very small warehouses.
We had determined that we needed to be on the Highway 75 corridor. Our territory goes out to the Oklahoma line and 125 miles east of I-75. We started looking at a number of locations that were very interested in having us locate our satellite warehouse there. Then the gentleman assisting us in our land search introduced us to the people at the Allen Economic Development Corporation, as well as the mayor, and we established a great relationship with them.
As a result, we ended up making a deal with them and we couldn’t be happier; everything they’ve committed to they’ve followed through on, and we’ve followed through on everything we committed to. Allen is a great business community, a great community in general, and we couldn’t be more delighted with our decision. And as the population continues to spread further north, this is the perfect location for our warehouse.
The North Texas Counsel of Government has said that the junction of I-75 and I-380, three miles north of us, is going to be the epicenter of North Texas in about 15 years, which continues to validate our reason for being in Allen and which we expect will continue to contribute to our growth.
Today, we have well over 300 employees in Allen and expect to quickly grow that to 500 employees. By next year, half of our North Texas volume will be distributed out of that warehouse.
What is your ongoing relationship with the Allen Economic Development Corporation?
We continue to interact with them on an ongoing basis. Along with the land for the warehouse, we bought three tracts of land that were part of the package that we purchased from the city. People are continuing to make unsolicited offers to us on that land, we are working with the city, the mayor and the AEDC to make sure that when we sell, it is to the type of business that Allen wants as part of the community.
How is your new location working out?
We are really passionate about the company and we love the beer business. We love being a part of the community that we serve. North Texas is the best market for us to be in and when you look at what is going on in Allen, it’s an exciting time to be here.
Joe Jernigan is chief financial officer of Andrews Distributing Inc. and Mike McGuire is its president. Reach them at (214) 525-9400.
For more information about relocating to Allen, Texas, visit the Allen Economic Development Corporation at www.allentx.com or call (972) 727-0250.
Insights Economic Development is brought to you by the Allen Economic Development Corporation.
