Coastal & Pacific Wine & Spirits Announces the Appointments of Lewis Kenrick and Fred Fox to its California Leadership Team

Southern’s California Division Announces the Appointment of Aki Toumasis to its Newly-Established Inside Sales and Direct Marketing Leadership Role

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pacific Wine & Spirits (PWS) of California, a division of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern)—the nation’s largest wine and spirits distributor with current operations in 35 states—is proud to announce two new appointments to its California leadership team. Coastal & Pacific Wine & Spirits Executive Vice President, General Manager Gerry Rivero announces the PWS appointments of Lewis Kenrick to the role of Vice President, General Manager and Fred Fox to the role of Vice President, General Sales Manager Southern California. Concurrently, Southern Wine & Spirits of California’s Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing Patrick Daul announces the appointment of Aki Toumasis as Vice President, Inside Sales & Direct Marketing for Southern across the State of California.

“Aki’s extensive industry experience along with his outstanding knowledge of the California marketplace will be a tremendous asset to our supplier partners in his leadership of the new Inside Sales and Direct Marketing Division.”

Lewis Kenrick & Fred Fox

Kenrick—who previously held the position of PWS Vice President, Chains—will assume the role of PWS Vice President, General Manager for the State of California. Commenting on his appointment, Rivero said, “Lewis has delivered strong commercial results and demonstrated exemplary leadership with his team, his customers and with our supplier partners in his previous chain leadership role. I am confident he will bring that same level of passion and focus to his new role as the PWS General Manager for California.” Prior to joining Pacific Wine & Spirits five years ago, Kenrick spent eight years with a major supplier partner in various roles of increasing responsibility.

Regarding Fox’ appointment, Rivero added, “Fred started with Southern Wine & Spirits in 1989 as a Sales Rep in Fort Lauderdale, and, throughout his 24-year career, has excelled in a variety of high-profile roles in South Florida. In 2003, Fred became a founding member of the Coastal Wine & Spirits (CWS) of Florida team, and has spent the past 10 years leading the on-premise division for CWS in South Florida. We are excited to have Fred join the PWS team as the leader in Southern California.”

In announcing these new appointments, Rivero concluded, “The proven track record of strategic leadership, supplier collaboration and strong business results of these two individuals will accelerate PWS’ transformation to the next level of world-class selling.”

Aki Toumasis

As Aki Toumasis assumes his role as Vice President, Inside Sales & Direct Marketing, Daul commented, “Aki started his career at Southern in 1996, and, for the past five years, he has been the Vice President, General Sales Manager for PWS of Southern California.” Daul continued, “Aki’s extensive industry experience along with his outstanding knowledge of the California marketplace will be a tremendous asset to our supplier partners in his leadership of the new Inside Sales and Direct Marketing Division.”

These appointments are all effective March 1, 2013.

About Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc.

Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. is the nation’s largest wine and spirits distributor and broker with operations in 35 markets. The multi-state distributor currently operates in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. In addition, Southern operates in Minnesota through a joint venture with J.J. Taylor Distributing Company. Southern also holds operating licenses and permits in Nebraska and Texas. On a national basis, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. employs nearly 14,000 team members. Southern urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information about Southern and its responsible consumption program, see: http://www.southernwine.com.