Coors: The tale of a stowaway's vision
February, 1989 

Pioneer Edition
1871

The story of Adolph Coors Co., now the nation's fourth largest brewer employing nearly 9,000 people, is one of vision and success. But Coors is much more than a major tourist attraction or even a legend brewed with Rocky Mount spring water. It is a classic Horatio Alger story, the American dream come true.

The story behind the company begins quite simply. Adolph Coors, the brewery's founder, was a man of enthusiasm, dedication and direction. He was born in 1847 in Barmen, Prussia, which would later become the German city of Wuppertal.

His parents were poor, working people. So it came naturally that young Adolph would begin his own employment at an early age. At 13, he was apprenticed to a stationer in nearby Ruhrfort, where he worked as a printer's assistant. At 14, when the Coors family moved to Dormund, he signed a three-year article of apprenticeship to the Henry Wenker Brewery. But even the excitement of entering what would one day be a family tradition was overshadowed in 1862 for young Coors. Both his mother and father were to die the same year.

Supporting himself, Adolph continued to pay his apprenticeship fees by working as a brewery apprentice at night. Adolph, at 18, successfully completed the apprentice agreement and continued on at the Wenker Brewery as a paid worker.

By 1868, it became clear to Coors that he must either serve King William I of Prussia or leave the country. Like half-million other Germans in the years between 1886 and 1870, he decided to migrate to America.

That same year, the 21-year-old Coors stowed away on a ship bound for the United States. He worked off his passage in Baltimore as a bricklayer, a stone cutter, a fireman and laborer.

By late 1869, he made his way to Naperville, Illinois, where he was hired as a foreman at the Stenger Brewery.

Two years later Coors' restless spirit moved him to resign and head westward. Arriving in Denver, he worked as a gardener and then as a partner in bottling company.

But his ambition was to be a brewer. On his days off he would walk around the town of Golden, enjoying the landscape while perfecting every detail of his now urgent dream. He was particularly attracted to the rich Clear Creek Valley east of Golden where clear, cool springs bubbled in abundance between the willows. He found an abandoned tannery on the banks of the Creek, at the base of Table Mountain, where he would later found his Brewery.

Jacob Schueler, a prosperous Denver businessman, was impressed with the young German's enthusiasm for hard work. He agreed to invest in the "Golden Brewery," raising about 18 thousand dollars toward the venture. In less than a year, the Brewery was turning a profit.

Coor's product, right from the start, was brewed with the finest ingredients available. And profits were always reinvested in the company for expansion and equipment. By 1880, Coors was able to buy out Schueler.

In 1879, Adolph Coors married Lisa Weber of Denver, and by 1893 he was the father of six children -- three sons and three daughters. When prohibition became a reality in 1914, all three sons were fully involved in the family enterprise, searching for ways to keep the brewery open.

The company was sustained by the development of several manufacturing operations during the prohibition years, thanks to Coors' foresight and the help of his sons, Adolph Jr., Herman and Grover.

Those operations included a cement manufacturing facility, a porcelain plant and production of malted milk. When prohibition ended in 1933 Coors was one of the 750 breweries still surviving. Half had gone out of business.

And although Adolph Coors Sr. died in 1929, just a few short years prior to the resurgence of the brewing industry, he lived long enough to see that his company would not only survive but prosper.

Today, Adolph's grandsons and great grandsons run the continually growing company. They carry on many of the family traditions, including the German resolve to make the best use of all resources and the dedication to producing the finest quality products. Bill and Joe Coors, grandsons of Adolph Sr., are chairman and vice chairman of the company. Great-grandson Jeffrey is now president of Coors, while his brother Peter is president of the brewing division.

Coors achieved record sales in fiscal 1988, shipping 16,534,000 barrels of beer, a 5.6 percent increase over 1987. The year was an extremely difficult time for the brewing industry with tremendous competitive pressure as well as severe pricing concerns and minimal growth.

Nevertheless, Coors Brewing Co. had many victories last year in the beer wars including: -- successful expansion into Pennsylvania and Delaware, bringing Coors' total marketing territory to 49 states and the District of Columbia; -- the marketwide rollout of three brands: a Coors Extra Gold Draft, a premium brand extension, Herman Joseph's Original Draft, the industry's only super-premium packaged draft beer, and HJ light, Herman Joseph's low calorie companion.

Additionally, the company continues to diversify and has achieved success in many non-brewing subsidiaries such as Golden Aluminum Company, Graphic Packaging Corp. and Coors Ceramics. Coors beer is also now sold outside the United States through licensing agreements with Japanese and Canadian brewers. In 1987, the first phase of the Coors Shenandoah Brewery in Virginia became operational. The company continues its tradition of hospitality and quality. Nearly 350,000 visitors tour the Coors Golden Brewery each year.

The company's strategy is simple. It builds upon its strengths and heritage. It has a clear vision of the future -- integrating a commitment to the development of superior technologies.

Coors is proud to have Golden for its home town, and the feeling is mutual. For more than 115 years, the two entities have been working together to create a healthy work and business environment for Coors and a prosperous and quality community for the residents.

Dating back to the prohibition days, Coors cared so much about its employees that its policy was not to lay off, but to diversify and create different jobs.

Simply by its size, Coors is sure to have a positive economic impact on the city, and figures provided by the company illustrate this.

The total financial benefit of Adolph Coors Company to the city of Golden each year is estimated to be in excess of $660,000. This estimate includes direct donations, sales and property tax revenue and purchases by Coors and its employees.

The 7,200 Coors employees who work in Golden create a "city within city" atmosphere.

Approximately 540 Coors families live within the corporate limits of the city of Golden. At the same time, about 140 families of Coors' employees live in the Golden area but not within corporate city limits.

Coors employees spend an estimated 7.3 million in Golden businesses during an average year, which boosts the city's sales tax revenue and economic vitality. It is estimated that $147,000 in sales tax was collected last year from Coors employees' expenditures, which is nearly nine percent of the city's sales tax collection.

In 1987, Coors and its subsidiaries' payments constituted more than one-quarter of the city's property tax collections. Coors also paid $97,979 in sales and use taxes to the city.

And that does not include money spent in the city by visitors to Coors which number more than 350,000 annually.

Coors' visitors aren't just taught how the company makes beer, but are also bussed down Golden's Main Street where they learn about a community rich in Colorado's history.

Whenever Coors sponsors a major promotion or event such as Schuetzenfest, it pushes Golden into the limelight.

Coors profits in sales make it possible for many donations to go to nonprofit entities, such as the Foothills Art Center, the Colorado School of Mines and the city directly. In 1988, the company made direct charitable contributions of more than $71,000.

Coors also buys more than $4 million in goods and services from Golden businesses each year.

Coors is quick to realize how the city does its part by providing an environment conducive to the efficient operation of a business, and is looking forward to continuing its mutually beneficial relationship with Golden for another 115 years.

Back to Golden Transcript Articles