Beer made its way from producers to consumers via wholesalers and retailers. There were
two broad categories of retail outlets for beer: on-premise and off-premise. On-premise outlets
such as bars or restaurants carried a limited number of brands of beer, and averaged margins of
190% in 1985. Bars, in particular, sold more than their share of dark, local draft beers. State and
federal laws prevented brewers from operating on-premise outlets except at their breweries. Off-
premise outlets included supermarkets, and grocery, convenience and liquor stores. They carried
a much broader selection of brands and averaged margins of 21% in 1985. Since 1945, off-
premise outlets' share of beer volume had increased from 42% to 67%.Smaller brewers had traditionally distributed their beer directly in their local markets, with
a particular emphasis on selling kegged draft beer to on-premise outlets. But less than 5% of
major U.S. brewers' volume went direct. They tended to rely, instead, on independent wholesalers
who purchased the beer, stored it at their warehouses, and sold and delivered it to retail accounts.
Wholesalers also worked with brewers to open large accounts, secure prime shelf-space, and fund
local promotions. In 1985, wholesalers averaged a 28% margin on their "laid-in" or landed cost.
There were 4,500 independent wholesalers in the United States in 1985. Each wholesaler
had exclusive rights to sell a specific brand within a market usually no larger than a metropolitan
area. Wholesalers often carried more than one brand, and might represent more than one brewer.
In 1985, a market usually had at least two large wholesalers (one for Anheuser-Busch and one for
Miller), one or two other large ones that might carry another major as their lead brewer, and
several smaller ones who carried brands or retail outlets that the larger ones didn't. Anheuser-
Busch's network was the strongest: its 970 wholesalers usually did not carry other brewers' beer,
simplifying inventory management and delivery. Miller's wholesalers were about as large, but often
carried 5-12 brands besides Miller's. The other competitors had had increasing difficulty finding
large wholesalers to carry them as lead brewers. The average pretax return on sales for
wholesalers had fallen from 3.0% in 1981 to 2.1% by 1984.