Paramount Vending history

Cold case detectives ask for help identifying woman found in Palm Beach County canal in 1980

The founder of Glacier Water Services was Robert G. Miller, whose original business, Bottle Water Vending Inc., was established in 1983.

In October 1991, he was replaced as chief executive officer by Jerry Welch, who had previously been the top executive at Stars to Go, a video rental business.

Two months before the IPO took place Miller resigned as chairman of the board, replaced by Welch in January 1992.

In 1993, Glacier Water paid $450,000 to acquire Vend Pure H2O Associates of Lubbock, Texas, adding 75 water vending machines.

In 1994, Glacier Water added 1,945 machines and entered Louisiana and Mississippi.

In 1996, Glacier Water grew beyond the Sunbelt, adding Illinois to its base of operations and overall increasing the number of vending machines systemwide by 646.

By the end of the year it had placed 144 vending machines in Mexico City (adding another 434 machines the following year). Prospects for the company appeared bright in 1998, a fact that was reflected by the price of its stock, which peaked at $32 per share in April 1998.

In September 1999, Welch resigned, replaced as CEO by Chief Operating Officer Jerry Gordon, who had started in the company as a salesman, and as chairman by Richard Kayne.

Under their management in 2000, the company would have to make a tough decision on its Mexican operation, which was not performing up to expectations.

By early 2002, however, Glacier Water Services announced a major acquisition, picking up Pure Fill Corp. and its subsidiaries.