From the Farm to the Forklift - A Family Business Started in 1939

Maybe it is in the water, after all.

Coors products are best-selling beers today at Stickney Distributing Inc. and owner Tom Stickney recalls a time when a Virginia man was willing to do about anything to get his hands on them.

“He was persistent,” Stickney recalled. “But I turned him down because my license would have been gone.

Through it All- Tom Stickney, owner of Stickney Distributing, in Great Bend, is pictured in 1978 with one of his first customers at her retirement party. The establishment pictured is known today as Lumpy's Homefield.

“This was before Coors was exported to the eastern part of the country,” he noted. “This Virginia man wanted me to sell him semi-loads of beer for his grocery store. He even said he would pick it up.”

Currently, the Stickney best sellers are Coors Light and Keystone Light, which is the less expensive baby brother. The distributor’s other brands include Miller, Pabst, Boulevard, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff’s 3.2 selections.

Stickney’s also carries Red Bull, a non-alcoholic beverage often used as a mixer in cocktails.

“Our customers include anyone who has a retail license,” Stickney said. “This includes bars, restaurants, liquor stores, convenience stores and grocery stores.”

The wholesale distributor has 167 customers on its routes in Barton, Pawnee, Rush and Stafford counties.

The Back Room- In a hidden corner of Stickney's Great Bend office is an old tap room that is far less used than it once was. "We used to bring clients back here to taste all the beers," Stickney says. "We now just use it for private gatherings," In the photo, Stickney points out a picture of his father, John Stickney, in The Savoy Club - the business Stickney owned that opened the door to distributing.

Stickney noted that four of his original customers are still on his route. They are Betty Chlumsky of Great Bend, Edgar Jacobs of Odin, Effie Crowell of Rush Center and Tony Lemuz of Larned.

These and other customers helped Stickney get the distributorship off the ground in 1974 at its current location, 503 Williams.

“We keep them stocked,” Stickney said, noting the business has to pick up the pace for holiday weekends and other special occasions.

Since the opening, there have been seven building additions, with six of those directly related to the business’s growth.

The first addition came for a different reason, however.

Smiling Staff - Pictured are the numerous faces that keep the Stickney Distributing operation up and running in Great Bend.

“This was back when steel was hard to find and the country was booming,” Stickney recalled. “Someone else had ordered the building but had to cancel the order. The price was good so I bought it, even though we knew we would have to add on right away. But all the other additions were because of our growth.”

Stickney came to the beer business naturally. His dad, John, was a distributor in Dodge City but sold out in 1974.

“Coors then said it wanted a distributor in Great Bend,” Stickney said. “The Great Bend area had the most population of any of our four counties. We knew there would be growth here.

Phase 1: Receiving - The first time the staff at Stickney Distributing lays eyes on the goods they distribute is when they are deliverd to their warehouse on South Williams in Great Bend. When Stickney's first started in 1939, it was located in Dodge City, Kansas and operated by Tom Stickney's father, John Stickney.

“So, I wasn’t doing anything at the time,” he continued, noting he was 28 years old when his dad sold the company. “I had been working in the business in Dodge City on and off since I was 12.”

Stickney’s dad also owned a feedlot “but I knew the beer business a lot better than the feedlot business.”

He noted that his dad started the business in 1939 as “kind of a side note. He had a tavern in Hoisington; he was born in Hoisington.”

The tavern was called The Savoy Club and John’s connections there led to his Dodge City venture. Before it opened, a Junction City distributor who stopped at The Savoy would have to make a trek to Golden, Co., for his supply.

Phase 2: Storage- The second stop that Stickney's products make on its journey to the end of consumer involves this huge, drive-in cooler that stays between 40 and 45 degrees. Pictured here in mid-January, the cooler is less that half full. "We move twice the amount of beer each week during the summer months than we do this time of year," Stickney says. "in July, it'll be packed to the rafters.

Stickney’s in Great Bend started with three drivers and the owner. The first local employee hired was Mike Napolitano, currently Great Bend’s fire chief, the first three trucks were bought at Marmie’s and Norman Keller was the real estate agent.

Now it has four semi-trucks and nine employees, including the boss. Three make deliveries, two are clerical workers, one takes care of the warehouse, one is a draft-line cleaner and the other is sales manager.

“All of us are proud to be in the business we’re in,” Stickney said. “Several of our employees have been here 25-plus years. We are real proud of this.

“Two of the guys from Dodge City moved with me. That was great and I have always appreciated it.”

Phase 3: Delivery - Before the product can be sold to the end consumer, one of the Stickney staff members has to load up the delivery trailer with that day's customer orders.

In addition to the wholesale beverages, Stickney’s also sells products such as t-shirts, sweatshirts and baseball caps with a variety of company logos.

When asked if the national economy had affected his business, Stickney said all he knows is that sales “have been up the last three years. But we have noticed we’ve sold a lot more Keystone. Our biggest gains have been in the cheaper beer – and it’s a good beer.”

While Stickney products are visible on store shelves every day, the time, money and effort the business donates to non-profits and other worthy causes may not be as obvious.

Phase 4: End Consumption - After all the delervies ahve been made to local liquor stores, bars, restaurants, and gas stations, it is then marked for retail sale to the end consumer.

“We have sponsored a lot of charity golf tournaments over 25 years,” Stickney said. “We do this here and in Claflin, and Stafford County. And we still sponsor softball teams. We usually have one or two teams and last year we had four or five softball teams.”

Stickney and his “sainted” wife, Kathy, have two children – a son, Aaron, and a daughter, Colleen; both live in the Kansas City area.

When Kathy’s name first came up during the Outlook’s conversation at Stickney’s, Tom said, “God bless her; she has put up with me the most.”