Longtime Las Vegas Distributor Files Suit Against MillerCoors

Bonanza Beverage Co. today announced their filing of a lawsuit against brewing company MillerCoors LLC.

Filed in the Eighth District Court in Clark County, the suit alleges that MillerCoors violated Nevada state law, and is using their power and influence to interfere with the sale of Bonanza to another local Las Vegas beverage staple, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits. Their acts put the livelihood of longtime Bonanza employees in jeopardy, the suit claims.

“This action against MillerCoors is about a violation of Nevada law, and interfering in the right of a sixty year family business to sell to a partner the owners trust,” says Leif Reid, the attorney representing Bonanza Beverage Co. in their suit against MillerCoors.

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The Gialketsis family has owned and operated Bonanza Beverage Co. since 1957. They have acted as a Las Vegas distributor for MillerCoors since the 1960’s, when the company began distributing products made by the original Miller Brewing Company.

When the Gialketsis family sought to exit the beverage business, their “first priority was to seek a mutually agreeable sale of Bonanza to another longtime Nevada business who shared their family values and commitment to the community, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits,” the company says. The purchaser also agreed to retain many longtime, loyal Bonanza employees while using the company’s assets to expand their own beer distributing business supplying Las Vegas resorts, restaurants, taverns and stores.

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The lawsuit details the alleged efforts of MillerCoors to force the Gialketsis family to sell their business not to their preferred, qualified local successor Southern Glazer’s, but to a competitor inconsistent with their brand values.

The plaintiff in this suit considers this a violation of Nevada law governing franchises and contracts.

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