Mol-Son history

In 1816 John Molson signed a partnership agreement with his three sons, John Jr., William and Thomas, ensuring that the brewery would remain under family control.

The Molson’s established the first industrial-scale distillery in Montreal in 1820.

In 1824 he moved to Kingston, Ontario, where he established an independent brewing and distilling operation.

Thomas Molson returned to Montreal in 1834 and was readmitted to the family enterprise.

In 1844 the Molson brewery, now called Thos. & Wm.

The first in the third generation to enter the family business was John H.R. Molson, who joined the partnership in 1848.

The steam line led to Molson’s operation of small-scale financial services between Montreal and Quebec City; in turn, the services became Molson’s Bank, chartered in 1855.

In 1859 Molson started to advertise in Montreal newspapers, while also setting up a retail sales network and introducing pint bottles.

Established in 1876, Molson is the oldest brewery in North America.

1880 Coors buys out Schueler.

In 1887 the brewery sold 7,049 barrels of beer (31 gallons per barrel). Three years later that figure more than doubled, reaching 17,600 barrels.

Before electrical refrigeration became available in 1900, Molson was confined to a 20-week operating season because it had to rely on ice from the St Lawrence River.

1913 Coors's firm is incorporated as Adolph Coors Brewing and Manufacturing Company.

The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 did not result in as dramatic a sales increase for Coors as it did for many other producers of alcoholic beverages.

1945 Molson's Brewery Limited becomes a public joint-stock company.

In the mid-1950’s Molson management recognized a need to expand operations significantly.

Additional Breweries Built and Acquired Starting in 1955

Even so, Molson leaders recognized that expansion potential within the mature brewing industry was limited, and further, that growth rates in the industry would always be slow. Thus Molson began an accelerated diversification program in the mid-1960’s which heralded in Canada the era of the corporate takeover.

In 1962 the company name was changed to Molson Breweries Limited, reflecting the firm's expansion into multi-brewery operation.

Diversification Began in 1968

Although Beaver’s sales climbed steadily throughout the 1970’s, profits lagged behind what Molson had anticipated, and initially the company considered the Beaver purchase only a modest success.

The last of these was rooted in Molson's 1971 purchase of the Ontario-based Aikenhead's Home Improvement Warehouse chain.

But when sales dropped 10 percent in California in 1975 (at the time that state accounted for 49 percent of total sales), the family changed its tactics.

Expansion into Chemicals, Sports, and Entertainment in 1978

By the late 1980’s Molson had nine breweries in Canada.

1981 Coors's distribution area expands across the Mississippi for the first time.

They settled the lawsuits, agreed to a minority hiring plan, and launched advertising campaigns aimed at showing the company's "good side." Television advertisements showed that minorities were happily employed in the brewery. As a result, Coors's 1982 sales volume declined to less than 12 million barrels for the first time in ten years, and the company relinquished its third-place ranking to Stroh Brewing Company.

In 1986 the brewing group accounted for more than half of the Molson’s sales and a third of its profits.

1988 Merger of Molson Breweries and Carling O'Keefe

1989 Merger of Molson Breweries and Carling O'Keefe

With Coors running up against its lone brewery's 20-million-barrel annual capacity, Peter floated the company's first long-term debt offering in 1990.

Some analysts surmised that the CEO would use the funds to further supplement the multinational beer business, but he surprised many with the $284 million acquisition of DuBois Chemicals Inc., the United States' second largest distributor of cleaning chemicals, in 1991.

1992 Coors introduces Zima, a clear, foam-free malted brew.

A significant cost-cutting move came in the form of a 1993 workforce reduction of 700, which was accompanied by a $70 million charge that led to the company's first full-year loss in ten years.

While Diversey's sales increased to $1.4 billion in fiscal 1994 (ended March 1994), its profits declined to $72.6 million and the subsidiary's president jumped ship.

John Barnett had been named president of Molson Breweries in November 1995, and he used his 25-plus years of brewing experience to aggressively attempt to reverse the decline.

Nonetheless, charges related to the sale and for restructuring both Molson Breweries and Beaver Lumber resulted in a net loss of C$305.5 million (US$225 million) for fiscal 1996.

In 1997 the company reported net income of $82.3 million on sales of $1.82 billion, which translated into a net profit margin of 4.5 percent, a significant increase over the previous year's figure of 2.5 percent.

In April 1998 Molson's stake in Home Depot Canada was sold to Home Depot Inc. for CAD 370 million ($260 million). Two months later Molson announced that it would sell Beaver Lumber as well, and it placed Beaver within its area of discontinued operations.

In 1999 Zima Citrus was introduced, offering a blend of natural citrus flavors.

The Barrie brewery was shuttered in August 2000, putting more than 400 people out of work, and Molson took a CAD 188 million charge to cover the costs of the restructuring.

One of the few growth areas in the United States market was import beers, and Coors filled that gap in its lineup by entering into a new partnership with Molson in early 2001.

In March 2002 Molson took an even greater leap into the Brazilian market, the fourth largest beer market in the world, when it acquired Cervejaria Kaiser for $765 million.

The brand was in fact losing market share at a time when sales of premium light beers in the United States were rising by 4 to 5 percent per year, and in 2004 it fell from third to fourth place in the United States market, surpassed by a resurgent Miller Lite.

In January 2006 the company announced it had sold a 68 percent stake in Kaiser to FEMSA Cerveza S.A. de C.V. for just $68 million.