Adolph Coors, Sr. opened his brewery in 1973 in Golden, Colorado. By the 1930s, Coors started selling beer in eight different states. These states included Nevada, California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Idaho, Kansas and Wyoming. By 1948, Coors expanded its territory and started selling beer in Texas. These states were the only states Coors sold out of until 1975. By 1985, Coors’s distribution network consisted of 569 independent wholesales and five which were company owned (Ghemawat 6).
Coors’s beer was a growing success in the 70s. In the 1960s, Coors sold 1.9 barrels of beer. The numbers jumped to 7.3 million barrels in 1970. By 1974, Coors was up to 12.3 million barrels. However, Coors took a downturn in 1975. That year Coors sells dropped 4 percent to 11.9 barrels. Furthermore, Coors was known to can more of its beer than any other U.S. brewery. Coors canned 69 percent of its beer versus 57 percent for the rest of the industry (statistic from 1985) (Ghemawat 6).
Coors also has some differences when it comes to packaging and production of their product. First, Coors made most of its labels and packaging. Secondly, Coors aged its beer for a significantly more amount of time than any other brewer. Coors beer was aged for approximately 70 days, whereas other brewers only aged their beer for 20-30 days. This leads to higher capital. In 1984, Coors assets per barrel were 57 dollars. Whereas Busch and Miller were $45 and $43 respectively. Thirdly, Coors did not pasteurize the beer that it bottled or canned (Ghemawat 6).
Coors marketing was also different than the rest of the industry. Their containers were different than other brewers are making them stand out from the others in the industry. In 1975, Coors had a volume decline in production, however, still managed to sell more beer than any other brewer in 10 of the 11 states that it had targeted. After 1975, Coors sells started to decline and by the late 70s Coors decided it was time to change their marketing techniques. They began to hire marketers to help increase their consumer numbers. As they increased their advertising techniques, they also increased their prices to cover the expense (Ghemawat 6).
