"GreenN_Gold" (GreenN_Gold)
10/03/2013 at 17:45 • Filed to: None
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"GreenN_Gold" (GreenN_Gold)
10/03/2013 at 17:45 • Filed to: None | 1
| 6 |
For many years along the I5 corridor in Seattle you could look up and see a big red "R" atop the Rainier brewery. It served as a proud beacon in the Seattle skyline for those spot in the middle of the "cheap beer drinker" and "Seattle native" Venn Diagram. That bright red R had become something of a fixture.
Time brings change, however. Economics change, companies are acquired, jobs are moved, and yes, breweries are closed. Never fear, Tully's is here! And what could be more brainlessly stereotypical than "Seattle loves coffee?" So in a stroke of marketing genius (that's sarcasm) Tully's decides that everyone would just love it if the iconic red "R" was replaced with a fabulous green "T" (not green tea, we're talking coffee here). Look at its glorious clashing brilliance atop the Old Rainier Brewery!
Not shockingly, people liked the R better. So much so that Tully's now wants to (or perhaps more realistically has conceded to) replace their new green T with the old red R. There is one problem. That old red R was so much a fixture that it found a home at MOHAI, Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. (Oh hey look, some planeopnik can be found there too.)
So now Tully's is paying to have a new red R made and installed, or in other words, they are paying to have a different company's logo placed atop their own building, a building which by the way also still looks like the old company resides there. It's a weird set of events, but I applaud Tully's for taking the high road.
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GreenN_Gold
> GreenN_Gold
10/03/2013 at 17:52 |
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Crap, one of the pics was wrong. Hopefully the edit goes through quickly.
In honor of this post, I may have to stop off and grab some vitamin R on the way home.
pdx107
> GreenN_Gold
10/03/2013 at 18:03 |
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I need to pick some up myself. Vitamin R is a staple around my house
Stef Schrader
> GreenN_Gold
10/03/2013 at 18:10 |
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So, if that's Tully's now, where the heck did Rainier move?
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GreenN_Gold
> Stef Schrader
10/03/2013 at 18:39 |
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It's a long drawn out story, even the Wiki entry is confusing. See if these separate entries on the Wiki page are crystal clear to you...
"In the late 1990s, the company was sold to Stroh's, then to Pabst Brewing Company, though Miller contract brews most of Pabst's beers. The brewery was closed by Pabst in 1999 and sold."
"In 1977 the brewery was sold to G. Heileman Brewing Company, and passed through several more hands before finally winding up owned by Pabst, which closed it in 1999. The Rainier brand was sold to General Brewing Company, which moved production to the Olympia brewery in nearby Tumwater, Washington. The Olympia Brewing Company closed in 2003. Rainier Beer is now brewed under contract in Irwindale, California."
lone_liberal
> GreenN_Gold
10/03/2013 at 18:49 |
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Crap beer, but they had great commercials.
TheKingOfBirds
> GreenN_Gold
10/03/2013 at 20:01 |
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Big brewery conglomerates buy up struggling breweries so they can take over and control brands (in this case Rainier). Often part of the reason the brewery (Rainier) is working with outdated or inefficient equipment, which in turn hampers it's ability to keep pace economically with it's competitors. This in turn eventually causes the brewery to either sell or re-fit, which is a huge risk. Especially when it is seen as a 'declining' brand. The purchaser of the brewery often has no intentions of using the outdated, inefficient brewery and just moves the brand to one of its ultra-modern mega-breweries. These cost so much money they need to be producing beer 24/7 to offset the expense. The beer may be the same or it may be 'cheapened' up to further hasten it's demise. While you can still get Olympia in a can, it's not the same experience as the 11oz stubbys with the riddles
http://www.jokelibrary.net/yyDrawings/cap… in the caps (for $3.89/12 pack).
RIP Hamm's, Oly, Rainier and Lucky Lager...