Southern Wine & Spirits

Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits of America is the largest wine and spirits distributor in the United States with operations in 35 states. Southern's portfolio is 45% wine and 55% spirits.

Southern Wine and Spirits was founded in 1968 in Florida by Jay W. Weiss, Harvey R. Chaplin, and Howard Preuss, and is headquartered in Miami. The company expanded from Florida to California in 1969. In 1977 Howard Preuss died due to cancer. His widow, Celia Preuss, sold her part of the company to the remaining owners. Southern was one of the first companies to have statewide distribution in California, which is the company's largest market; prior to Southern's presence, California had dozens of small distributors.

The company spread to Nevada in 1976, Arizona in 1992, South Carolina in 1993, Pennsylvania in 1995, Hawaii in 1996, Kentucky in 1998, New Mexico in 2000, Colorado in 2001, Illinois in 2002, New York in 2004, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia in 2005. In 2006, the company began operations in Alabama and in 2008 entered Delaware. In July 2008, Southern Wine and Spirits merged with the Odom Corporation which added Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska to its distribution areas. Southern entered the Indiana market in 2010.