All-American Distributing, an Arizona liquor, wine, and beer distributor founded in 1941, was the parent company of Golden Eagle Distributors. Dudley Clements was hired shortly after All-American was founded and they incorporated in 1947 with Gene Autry as a major partner. All-American began its relationship with Anheuser-Busch in 1956 at the request of Gussie Busch. At the time All-American’s beer brands were Acme and Bulldog; Budweiser had a less than three percent of market in Tucson. Dudley and Gussie were friends and quail and dove hunted together in the Buckeye area. Dudley was reluctant to take on Budweiser but did so for his friend.

In the summer of 1956 All-American assumed the responsibility for distribution of Anheuser-Busch products in Tucson. That area included the Casa Grande Valley to the west, south to Green Valley, east to Benson and north to Globe including Payson, Roosevelt, and Apache Junction.

The first month as an Anheuser-Busch distributor was a busy one of cleaning up the market and initiating quality control.

In the first month the salespeople of All American replaced 1200 cases of beer. They had sold 300 cases and 60 half barrels of Budweiser. Volume was slow at first, but over time Budweiser, was poised for growth.

It wasn’t long before All-American acquired the Anheuser-Busch wholesalership in the Nogales area, formerly held by the Escalda brothers. 1957 also saw the separation of beer sales from wine and liquor sales, and beer sales became a route-sell operation under the management of George B. “Brackie” Hyde.

Also in 1957, Jim Hensley, the Phoenix Anheuser-Busch distributor, asked company founder, Dudley Clements, to take over several marketing areas that Hensley was unable to service profitably. Dudley Clements agreed to sell and deliver to Buckeye, Ajo, Gila Bend and Wickenburg.

...In 1968, Dudley Clements purchased controlling interest in Klick Distributing Company of Flagstaff, distributors of Anheuser-Busch products in Coconino County. Jim Klick was retiring and had no one to pass the business to, so he asked Dudley, a long time friend, if he was interested. The marketing area covered the county from Seligman in the west, to Page and Fredonia in the north, Holbrook in the east, to Sedonia in the south. The Holbrook market received its own warehouse and branch status in 1969, to service the White Mountains, including Show Low, Pinetop, Lakeside, McNary, and Springerville, all formerly in the Globe territory. The Casa Grande branch was opened in 1969.

Also in the late 60’s, Anheuser-Busch began to inquire about Bill Clements status. Anheuser-Busch is a family run organization from one generation to the next and they want their distributors to be family oriented. Dudley would have to have a successor plan or sell the Budweiser part of the business. The business was finally growing and Dudley convinced his son, Bill, to return to the business.

Bill Clements was raised in Phoenix and educated at the University of Washington, Princeton and Berkley where he received a doctorate in Environmental Engineering. Bill married Ginny while working in San Francisco, but decided to return to Phoenix in 1968 when defense contracts began to dry up. LBJ was President and he had moved many government contracts move the Bay Area to his home state of Texas.

Budweiser began to grow and the volume dictated a more centralized location and Anheuser-Busch insisted on separate liquor and beer houses. By 1974, Anheuser-Busch beer sales volume permitted the formation of Golden Eagle Distributors (Tucson, Globe, Buckeye and Casa Grande) and Golden Eagle Sales (Flagstaff and Holbrook) as exclusive Anheuser-Busch distributors with Bill Clements as President and CEO.

Tucson’s location was already cramped in 1974 so the Ajo site was purchased in the beginning of the year and the new 24,000 square foot warehouse opened in the fall of 1975. In 1980 Golden Eagle opened a new warehouse in Buckeye, serving the area from Wickenburg south through Buckeye to Ajo, effectively transferring all Phoenix beer functions to Buckeye. New facilities from the ground up were also constructed in Casa Grande, Globe and Holbrook. Flagstaff went through major remodeling. All Golden Eagle Distributor warehouses are Controlled Environment Warehouses to assure beer freshness.

In 1978 Golden Eagle Distributors began the transformation of its beer marketing from a driver-sell to a pre-sell operation. No small job, it took one and a half years. Most of our markets are now served using a hybrid selling system combining pre-sell with driver-sell. Because of the increase sales Golden Eagle in Tucson added 88,000 square feet to the warehouse in 1982 and 45,000 square foot office building addition in 1987.

Product proliferation started with Natural Light in 1977 and has included Michelob Light (1978), Budweiser Light (1981), King Cobra and LA (1984), Michelob Classic Dark draught (1985), Carlsburg, Elephant Malt and A’Sante Mineral Water (1986), Zeltzer Seltzer (1987). Most recently, in conjunction with the brewery Golden Eagle has been distributing Michelob Dry (1988), O’Doul’s and Bud Dry (1990), Natural Pilsner (1991), Bud Ice (1993), Bud Ice Light (1994), Busch and Busch Light (1994), Elk Mountain Red and Elk Mountain Ale (1994), Red Hook Ales (1995), Michelob Specialties and Widmer Brothers Brewing beers (1997), Tequiza (1999), Doc Otis Hard Lemonade (2000), Bacardi Silver (2002) and Michelob Ultra (2002). New brands and packages are always on the horizon.

1981 was a very gratifying year in the history of Golden Eagle. We were chosen as a test market for Budweiser Light. Our sales force completed the test market with the highest percentage of both on-premise and off-premise distribution in our region. Bud Light has been the number one selling light beer in Arizona since 1987.

New departments have been established to meet the challenges of our continued growth. They are: Marketing (1978), Data Processing (1979), Merchandising (1981), Chain Store (1982), Community Relations (1982), Training (1983), Maintenance (1984) and Human Resources and Development (1985).

In 1994, restructuring occurred in Tucson that expanded the Merchandising Department, plus created four new driver-sell routes, three van-sell routes, and four bulk-delivery teams in order to improve customer service. The Commitment To Excellence (CTE) program was also introduced in 1994.

In 1995 Golden Eagle Distributors CEO Bill Clements passed away after successfully leading the company for 21 years. He was survived by his wife Ginny Clements and his son and daughter, Chris and Kimberly Clements. The Clements family decided to retain ownership of Golden Eagle Distributors and look to the future. Ginny Clements would be CEO and Chris and Kimberly Clements would work in different areas of the company to learn the business from the ground up. 

Also in 1995, IMPACT selling was introduced and the Sales Dept. was restructured with an independent and chain store split. 1998 saw route changes and specialization in all branches in order to gain IMPACT certification from Anheuser-Busch. The Tucson office was remodeled taking advantage of space that was set aside for future growth. And in 1999, we looked to the future in the field of technology and converted our route accounting system in order to be compatible with new advances in the computer industry.

The new millennium has brought several new accomplishments and changes to Golden Eagle Distributors. The Holbrook Branch surpassed 1 million cases sold in 2001 and the Casa Grande Branch accomplished this in 2002. In 2002 the Tucson Branch sold over 6 million cases. These accomplishments helped Golden Eagle Distributors to surpass a goal of selling over 10 million cases corporately in 2001 and 2002. Also we saw the introduction of Bacardi Silver and the Tucson Branch was a test market for the new product, Michelob Ultra with great success.

The Wings Like Eagles Foundation is established in 2003, so that Golden Eagle Distributors and its employees could better give back to the communities that we live in and serve. The foundation allows Golden Eagle Distributors and its employees to give financially to charitable organizations in our communities.   

In 2003 Golden Eagle Distributors saw a change in leadership for the future. Ginny Clements officially retires after successfully leading Golden Eagle Distributors since 1995. The future of Golden Eagle Distributors is entrusted to Chris Clements and Kimberly Clements to lead Golden Eagle Distributors into the next millennium.