When walking through the beer aisle of a grocery store or local business, the arrangement of colorful boxes and different styles of the beverage might seem random.
However, there is a method to the madness.
Finley Distributing is a locally owned business that specializes in giving companies an opportunity to get their brand into stores across Pinal, Pima and Santa Cruz counties. With over 1,700 licensed retailers in Southern Arizona, they provide big-name brands like Coors Light, Modelo and Tecate, but also pave a way for smaller businesses to join the large chain stores like Fry’s and Safeway.
“We are locally owned and operated. We’re very much paying attention to our employees and making sure that it’s a good place to work — and that extends from our employees to our customers,” said Amber Crowe, vice president of marketing for Finley Distributing, “We don’t have to go through a big corporate process, we don’t have a whole bunch of red tape. We’re able to adapt and we’re able to make decisions quickly.”
Founded in 1948 by Harold and Dorothy Finley, Finley Distributing has now celebrated 75 years of serving the Tucson area. The company has built a reputation of providing high-quality beverages to their retailers, while maintaining “impeccable” service to the customers and being a positive member of the community.
“Dorothy Finley was a pillar in the community,” Crowe said, “She was involved in a number of charitable causes and community organizations. She has a building named after her on the Air Force Base, she helped found the Tucson Children’s Museum, so giving back to the community was super important to her.”
In the time before the recent milestone, the company had to weather the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic — a time that rocked the food and beverage world. The staff at Finley, however, remained dedicated to its customer base, and came out on top of the tough time.
“We definitely had to pivot a lot because what happened when the bars and restaurants shut down is that we had people that were dedicated to servicing that area of the industry,” Crowe said, “That business just wasn’t there at all. A lot of beer that’s done on-premise — in bars and restaurants — is done on draft. You can’t just take kegs and magically change them into bottles and cans so that you could buy them at the grocery store.
“We were really lucky, because we were able to keep our entire staff. We never had to lay anyone off and we just sort of put different people in kind of different roles.”
Being a locally owned and operated business has allowed for Finley to serve as a place for smaller businesses to navigate the hoops and hurdles of distributing their product. With multiple different ways to sell the product, their team is equipped with sales, marketing, and a variety of other ways to accomplish their client’s goals.
“Some people have a beer in mind, and they’re going straight towards that, but for a lot of people, it’s an impulse purchase,” Crowe said, “So that’s looking at it on the shelf and if it’s something new, you probably don’t want to buy a whole 12-pack, you might just want to buy a six pack.
“There is a lot of science and engineering and math that goes into what those shelves look like at the end of the day to maximize it. So, it’s easy for the consumer to roll in and find what you want and get in and get out.”
One of the companies that has benefited from Finley’s services is Dragoon Brewing Company. The Tucson-based business had a goal to make a splash in the proverbial beer game — and went to Finley to help accomplish their objective.
“We’re happy because now you can get Dragoon in Phoenix. You can get them in other parts of the state,” Crowe said, “They’re a local brewery, and it’s fun to be able to see them succeed and continue to grow and expand and do what they love to do.”
Looking forward, Finley is preparing to be active in community events, landing numerous sponsorships with the University of Arizona’s athletic department, the Tucson Rodeo and Arizona Craft Beer week, further providing opportunities for more businesses to get exposure.
“What’s fantastic is that a lot of these people that are in the beer industry, they really have a passion for it and there’s such a science behind brewing,” Crowe said, “So, to be able to bring that straight to people’s shelves, it’s really fun. It’s a fun business.”
This article appears in Feb 1-8, 2024.
