Busch page 13

Busch page 13 by ric gustafson


Even though the brewery suffered a strike in 1969, it still sold 18.7 million barrels. The brewery did well in 1970 producing 122 million barrels the highest since Prohibition. Half of all production came from only five companies, Anheuser Busch, Schlitz, Pabst, Coors and Schaefer. Only 157 breweries remained from more than 700. In two years, only 65 will remain.
Anheuser Busch continued it's lead over Schlitz. Not only in barrels produced, but also in production capacity and profits. Changes were occuring at Schlitz including Robert Uihlein becoming it's CEO and replacing barley malt with corn syrup. By the 1970's, the Uihlein family would become one of the richest in the country. His family owned 82 percent of Schlitz stock and held fourteen spots on their Board of Directors.
Problems persisted at Anheuser Busch with Gussie getting tired of August's meddling with company affairs. At their annual shareholders meeting, Gussie went so far as to suggest that a friend Dick Meyer become President of the brewery and that August would become Executive Vice President.
In 1972, Cardinal players started a Major League Players strike which was the first in the history of baseball. The season ended badly for the team and Gussie lost nearly $ 600,000.
Problems for Gussie continued with the news that Busch Gardens in Houston was losing money and the company stock dropped. In 1973, the US economy suffered from inflation and a bear market. The brewery's stock plummeted downward from 55 to 28 dollars a share. By the end of the year, the brewery's profits were down $ 11 million and Schlitz was now more profitable than it's rival.


research help: ' Bitter Brew' by William Knoedelseder


Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric