North American wine and spirits distribution firm Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits has unveiled a new structure and appointments within the Control Region, effective 1 December 2016.
The new organizational structure allows Southern Glazer’s to strategically approach the business across all Control States in the United States, placing the Company in an optimal position to manage respective supplier needs in each control market.
Additionally, the structure will increase efficiencies and streamline processes for all suppliers and liquor boards.
As a result of this new structure, Brad Waxman, Robinson Cooper and Kirt Clemens have been appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager. Each of their roles will report directly to Scott Oppenheimer, Regional President, Control States and Canada.
Brad M. Waxman, Executive Vice President and General Manager, will be responsible for performance within the state of Pennsylvania. He brings 39 years of experience to his position at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Pennsylvania. Waxman began his career with Superior Wine & Spirits in 1977 where he rose from Warehouse Manager to President.
In 1995, when Superior Wine & Spirits was acquired by the Sunbelt Corporation, Waxman became Marketing Manager for the new Sunbelt organization. Waxman arrived at Southern Wine and Spirits in 1999, where he took on the responsibility of General Manager of the Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits Division. In March 2003, he was promoted to General Sales Manager. In January 2008, Waxman was promoted to General Manager of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Pennsylvania.
Robinson Cooper, Executive Vice President and General Manager, West Control Region, will be responsible for Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Cooper brings more than three decades in the beverage alcohol industry to his new role. He began his career with Margolis Wines and Spirits in Pennsylvania as a merchandiser. Cooper would eventually take additional merchandiser roles with Bacardi and Brown-Forman in New Jersey.
In 1995, he was promoted to District Manager with Bacardi where he spent five years in numerous roles with increasing responsibility, ultimately becoming Distributor Manager, Key Market. In 2000, Cooper joined Seagram’s as State Manager, New Jersey. Cooper took the Regional Marketing Director with Allied in Connecticut in 2005, until they sold part of their business to Pernod-Ricard and Fortune Brands. Cooper then assumed the role of the Eastern Control Regional Marketing Director with Beam’s Fortune Brands Spirits Division.
He joined Southern Wine and Spirits in 2008 as General Manager, Ohio. His most recent role was Vice President, Great Lakes Division, where he was responsible for Ohio, Michigan and Iowa. Cooper earned his bachelor’s from Moravian College. Cooper also currently serves as Vice President of the Ohio Spirits Association, a non-profit organization created to help promote the advancement of spirits legislation in Ohio.
Kirt Clemens, Executive Vice President and General Manager, East Control Region, will be responsible for Alabama, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. Clemens brings almost 30 years of experience and has spent half of that time in the beverage alcohol industry.
He began his career with Pepsi Cola in Florida. Holding various sales roles of increasing responsibility such as District Manager and Territory Development Manager. In 1993, he accepted a sales management role with Perrier Group of America’s home and office division in Orlando and eventually took the role of Southeast Regional Sales Director, Direct Store Delivery division.
In 1999, Kirt began his career in beverage alcohol as a Distributor Manager with Guinness UDV. He was then promoted to Market Manager, Chains, where he was responsible for leading headquarter calls and managing the business at Publix, Albertsons, Winn Dixie, Costco, and BJ’s.
Clemens joined Southern Wine and Spirits in 2006 as Vice President and General Sales Manager, Diageo and Moët Hennessy division in North Carolina. In his most recent role, Clemens served as Senior Vice President, where he was responsible for nine Control States in the Eastern Region. Clemens earned his bachelor’s from Florida State University.
Scott Oppenheimer also noted, “As a result of the implementation of this new structure within the Control States, Paul Criscuolo and Bret Rupert will be leaving the company to pursue other interests. We would like to thank both Paul and Bret, two dedicated professionals, for their nearly decade long service to the Company. We wish them well in their future endeavors.”
Additionally, each EVP for each region within the Control States will have a Vice President of Finance and a Vice President of Business Intelligence. These newly created roles will support their respective functions within each Control State division. A separate announcement for these appointments will come at a later date.
