Bennett Glazer
Both of Bennett Glazer's parents were born in Dallas, though their families came from Europe. His father's side, the Glazer family, came from Lithuania, while his mother's family came from Russia. Bennett is one of three children of Nolan Glazer, who passed away in 1991, and his mother, who at the time of the interview had just turned 95. Bennett was raised in Dallas, living in Preston Hollow and attending public schools including Benjamin Franklin Junior High and Hillcrest High School before going on to the University of Texas, where he was part of a Jewish fraternity and served as a Texas Cowboy honorary service member.
The Glazer family business traces its roots to a soda water company started in 1909, with the beverage distribution firm founded by brothers Max and Nolan Glazer in 1934 when Prohibition was repealed. Bennett graduated from the University of Texas in 1967 and joined the company in 1968, learning the business through a training territory in Houston as a salesman. When he took over leadership in 1996 the company operated in four states; through the acquisition of more than 42 companies it grew to operate in 14 states and rank among the country's top beer distributors. Bennett emphasized that the family relies on top professional management, noting that family members must earn their positions rather than assume entitlement.
Bennett was raised with a strong belief in giving back to the community, a value passed down from his father and uncle, who were among the original founders of Golden Acres, the Dallas home for the Jewish aged, and the Dallas Hebrew Free Loan Association. He remains an active member and supporter of Temple Emanu-El, where both of his children were bar mitzvahed, and has helped with its capital campaign. Married for 23 years, Bennett became a father later in life, with a son and a daughter both attending the University of Texas. He supports numerous Jewish and civic charitable causes throughout Dallas and Texas, believing the community has been good to his family and that giving back is the right thing to do.
Full Transcript
a chairman president and CEO thank you and a long time Dallas died and this is April 19th 2012 and a Bennett you have lived in Dallas all your life and your parents have come here and your grandparents tell us very quickly a an abbreviated version of this family history would you okay both my mom and my dad were actually born in Dallas and their families won both of them came from Europe and my dad my dad's side the Glazer side of the family they came from Lithuania and my mom's side of the family she came from Russia and so the both of them were actually
born in Dallas and they both have lived lived in Dallas their whole lives and therefore their children were all born here in Dallas and I'm one of three children that I'm Francis and my dad Nolan Glazer I had my dad passed away in 1991 and my mom believe it or not she'll be she's 95 just turned 95 and is still with us so we're very fortunate that that I still have a parent you know Olympian and here in Dallas I was I was raised in Dallas I was brought up in the Jewish community my dad was a big believer in supporting all of the Jewish
organizations and therefore he he supported all three of the congregation's the the fareth Israel the the Orthodox you know and the shared Israel which was the conservative and the temple Emmanuel which was the Reform and believe it or not we used to go and attend certain services and all three of those things over the years but I was raised at the temple Emmanuel and bar Mitzvahed and temple Emmanuel I'm still a big member and supporter of temple Emmanuel both my kids were bar Mitzvahed at temple Emmanuel and very active in helping them with their capital campaign that is currently running as we speak it is
indeed that's great I know that you have always been very philanthropic glaziers itself is philanthropic when did that particular area of glaciers start to grow I read in when I google you that your grandfather and his brothers used to sell soda pop from the back of a horse-drawn carriage so where they philanthropic then do they or do you know yes it's interesting the family the the Glazer family have always felt like that it was in their best interest to give back to the community they always believed in that and that was something that I was raised you know with my dad and my uncle they
were very big into giving back to the community and they were responsible my uncle I know they were on the original board of the Dow's home for the Jewish ages which was golden acres they were one of the original founders they were also an original founder of the Dow's he blew free Loan Association and various other organizations they were always involved in the in the nucleus that that that started a lot of these things that that we see today in the Jewish community and you're in a business that I think has a lot of Jewish customers clientele people and is that a wrong assumption there
is quite a bit in our industry the alcoholic beverage industry believe it or not there's three tiers worth of distributor which is the middle tier but the manufacturers are our suppliers a lot of the the the original families that started in the alcohol industry were Jewish families the the big the big giant was a guy named Sam Bronfman from the Seagram family and in Canada but then they brought it over to the US and and he was you know very involved that his son Edgar Bronfman was very involved in different Jewish organizations and and there was other icons in our industry that were just accounting
the owl rosensteil it was started Shin Li and there was various other Jewish guys so there was quite a few Jewish families that were part of the start of the alcohol business when it became legal in 1934 also the same holds true for the distributors all of the distributors that that started pretty much their own family businesses throughout the country when Prohibition was repealed in 1934 and it's interesting and in Dallas the the julius chefs was a big liquor distributor and one of our competitors who eventually you know they phased out but there was various Jewish families throughout the state that were very integral in
the alcohol distribution in the state of Texas so the the Glazer family there was the block family out of San Antonio that was Jewish the go ring family out of out of New Orleans the the the Goldman family in Fort Worth the chef's family in Dallas and in the Strauss family in Houston they were all Jewish families that were ran very successful businesses in our industry well then the next question is obvious did you find as you yourself started out because it was interesting you were sent to Houston to grow up a little bit and get your maturity and be a Salesman where you had
to in sales you had to call on restaurants and and liquor stores and so on and so forth but did you find that being Jewish was an advantage for you or a disadvantage the young kid another Jewish guy in there well let me give you a little bit about the history a bit of me started because that really begins my story of this of this industry because it's interesting I graduated the University of Texas in 1967 and actually went to work for glaciers in 1968 and they created a little territory in Houston a training territory for me and at the time in 1968 there was
there was there was seven distributors in Houston alone and there was about seventeen distributors in the state of Texas well and in to give you an idea now there's for all practical purposes there's two distributors for the whole state now so all of those distributors that that were in business and when I started in 1968 which was seventeen only two survived and we were one of the two and so the fact and that's the way it's happened all over the country all of the all of the major markets whether it's California Florida Illinois New York they all basically it's come down to there's just two
and possibly three in some markets but but for the most part there are just two distributors every major market and the reason being is is because of the consolidation that's happened at every tier and the big guys keep getting bigger and they they gobble up the little guys where the little guys can't compete and therefore they don't have a chance and and there you know so therefore they usually sell out to the bigger guys and we have acquired in the last I guess in the last 15 years we requirement over 42 companies 42 companies amended and we've grown from when I started when I took
over in 1996 we were doing we were in four states and we were in four states for a number of years because when I started in 1968 we were only in four states and so but now we're in 14 states and and when in 1968 we weren't even doing 200 million the total revenue for our four states and now we're doing we're in 14 states and we do 3.5 billion any plans to expand more ever again we yeah and we're proactive and we're on on a mission to get even bigger we've expanded our mall side which is the beer side and we're we're right now
we're ranked as one of the top five beer distributors in the country and we're doing we ten years ago we were doing 30 million in beer and this year we're doing five hundred and thirty be well and we and we're and we're looking to grow even bigger and and so that's just one leg of the three-legged you know the the alcoholic beverage industry is like a three-legged stool and there's the spirit side the wine side and the beer side and we felt like we want to participate in all three and and that's what we've done and and we're going to continue to grow in all
three then it doesn't seem like you've got too much competition there is a lot of competition the competition are the other big guys because the other big guys they're wanting to get bigger too and so those that's who you're really competing against you're really not competing against the the other distributor in Texas your industry there's a bigger player out of Miami whose we're three and a half million he's ten billion and is that the person you just that's the person that we actually visited about not possibly doing one but as it turned out it wasn't the right fit and we we chose not to do
it and we've made it very you know we made it very clear that we're going to go this on our own and and we're not and you know interested in doing a you know being acquired by a bigger player or doing a joint venture now we might we do have some in certain markets we do have a partner but it's a 50% partner and it's only for that particular market and it where it makes sense we will bring in a partner whether there's an outfit out of New York or charm charm or some doubt and there they do about four billion and we wear a
joint venture we have a joint venture with them in Arizona and then we also just recently didn't want to Mississippi and Alabama was invented it seems like my original question is moot then being Jewish is neither an advantage or a disadvantage it just is that's exactly right it's not an advantage or a disadvantage we have partners listed we're also doing a joint venture in a little in the little state of Iowa with a with a partner that's not Jewish and he's but he's he's a very successful Catholic family out of Chicago and they're they they're just wonderful people and so the fact that they're not
Jewish doesn't bother us and but if they were Jewish that our partner in Arizona out of the charmer some group New York there you know they're a very successful Jewish family so it you know it varies let me ask you switching just a little bit I see the picture of your executive team in 1950 and that was your father and it was what's that my uncle and your uncle and not two cousins and the two cousins now all those people stayed with the business and now their sons and so on are part of the business this is a I'm sure I don't need to tell
you when you talk about family firms there can be so many problems and you're now third generation correct so your executives are your relatives why do I beat the media that's a good point you're making and what's interesting about the family story is it started there were two brothers Max and Nolan that that that started glaziers in 1934 and they were part of a solar water company that their father had started in 1909 so you know the so the Glazer family as a family has been in business for a hundred and two years you know actually 100 third year and so and the fact that
that then the fact that our family is still in business and still successful in honking cane can't and still targeting is remarkable that's just very because there's just we've gone we've taken courses at Harvard and family and business courses and we've learned so much about why a tenant's in its sole the percentage of a third and fourth generation family business succeeding the percentages are less than 10% I mean it's literally I'm surprised that's much yeah and for every amount every the reasons that you can imagine that's why they don't you know they don't survive and because you're always going to read there's always going to
be a time in a family business when there's going to be a family member whether whether it's a wife there's a divorce and there's going to be someone that wants to cash out and then there's going to be it is just going to cause all kinds of issues and therefore it's not even worth and that's why they choose to you know to walk away and cash out so in the case of our family what's interesting is that we recognize the fact that it's that we're at a point where we're a really professionally run I mean we have to hire top guns and really really top
people to you know to run the day-to-day and and so you know that's why we're fortunate to find somebody like Shelley Stein and he's brought in a unbelievable team that that that are that are had the experience in the know-how that our industry has never seen before I mean these are these are people that are from the Wall Street you know from the financial side and that were worked on Wall Street and done things that that our industry has never seen before and so that's why when you bring in these type people and you have the opportunity recognizes that and we're good with that and
we get you know we're there to support think is kind of right yeah and and therefore you've got to be to be a to be involved in and if you want to have a lot of responsibility you have to be qualified and you have to there's just just because your last name is placer you know you're not entitled to anything you know and you're a minority shareholder is what you are and if you're qualified and you can add value then you know we welcome that but but just because you think you know you're entitled to something that doesn't and so we recognize that and we
let these professionals run it the way it's supposed to be running but where there is portable and I've had I've been fortunate enough to have the family support me in the fact that that's the way it's going to be you know we want to let the people that know what they're doing continue to do what they're doing well I think that's remarkable because most people in your position most families would have that eco and now you're going to fourth generation right so howdy this is a little off Jewish subject but since I am a communications coach I'm very interested in how do you tell a
family member maybe a cousin of one kind or another that he or she is not going to work out in that topic position here well that's just that's they have to earn it and what they do if they can start and they prove themselves and they prove it to our team that's already employees and then the next thing you know is they taking on more and more responsibility and you have to earn it and and it's just nothing's gonna be handed to who and and that's what we're looking for I mean I have a sudden he's graduating this year from the University of Texas he's
22 but he loves our industry and he's he's going to go work at one of our big suppliers for two years and he's gonna go back and get an MBA and then and then he will be ready to come and by that time you'll have some credentials and if he can contribute in which I think he can then you you know you know he'll work his way work his way up like anybody else and that's the way it goes for anybody you know so amazing yeah and that's what you have to do you have to you have to prove yourself you have to to realize
that that you're gonna contribute and that you add value and so we're fortunate recognize that everybody recognize their strengths I think and they get in an area where they can help and and they stay out of the way of those you know and though they don't get in the way of the people that are that are making this thing go are you willing to share your techniques with letters you say you've been to Harvard and you've been to some of those courses do you ever have other corporations in other fields calling you and saying we want to come down yeah we listen I've had the
opportunity to meet some really really bright people we you know we've expanded our advisory board now where we brought in Outsiders now that that have the wealth of experience and and so yeah I've become friends with these kind of people and you know I can always rely on them to help us through the thing but but the fact is is that Shelly is very where it wired and very connected and I [Music] am in an interview right now and and I can call you back in about 10 or 15 minutes how's that I'm pissed about I'm just about wrapping up an interview Thanks so you
have two children and then one is in correlation finishing up and I've heard about his plans and here second my daughter is two years younger and she's 20 my son's 22 and she's actually down in Austin she's a sophomore and she's in communications and and you know we're not sure where she wants to go she she does want to work you know she would love to be involved in our some in some capacity in our industry she's talking about maybe working in a restaurant this summer and I told her whatever she wants to do I'll help her but but but anyway she's great she's a
great kid I'm very lucky I have two great kids and you're married not married my wife is we've been together let's see we've been married for 23 years that we've been together 27 years and and she was interesting because I was and given up I thought I was the eternal bachelor and I basically written off ever getting married and they totally had written off being a parent I never thought that would happen and because I had reached the point I was already 39 years old still huffing that well yeah and so I met her when I was 39 we dated for four years I tried
to run her off she wouldn't let me and so then they ended up getting married when I was 43 but he had a son when I was 44 and a daughter at 46 so from a guy that was never gonna be married and never be a parent you know everything just changed you know and that was better things I would I would I would have missed out I really way if it would have been for her I would have missed out on being a parent and so so and you're a parent so you know I got made you know what a great experience that is
absolutely absolutely n were they and and of course I know that you said that your raise them and Temple emanu-el and you have given them a strong Jewish sense and they love being Jewish and they love that my sentence in a Jewish fraternity and my wife is not you it but that doesn't you know anything yeah but but that's what she agreed to do and she goes to all of the functions and in listen she has more Jewish you know most of her friends are Jewish you know and so she fits right in and she's great she's great for that kind of thing and we
have never had an issue you know a religious issue you know since we've been married it doesn't sound like you've had any barriers to overcome you know so many people have grown up and no matter what whether it's professional or social they can think of an issue and in high school or where did you go to high school in I grew up in Dallas I actually attended public school I attended lived in Preston Hollow so when I went to Creston high my elementary school I went to Benjamin Franklin junior high and Hillcrest High School oh well then didn't went to the University of Texas so
a very traditional through Dallas Jewish upbringing and your friends were mostly to that I was in a Jewish fraternity and still varied that my son ended up being in same fraternity that I was in and and he followed him my foot's yeah and then we were fortunate enough to be a Texas cowboy which is an honorary service organization and I happen to have been one and he was wanted so you know it's almost like going back to there's almost like me going back to school through them you know a wonderful I was there my first two years of college and I'll never I wouldn't give
anything that's our graduates of our life you know and my son this year once he graduates he's we got him a job in New York so he'll live in the ER for two years you know and that'll be an incredible experience just just to live in New York and he'll work for one of our biggest suppliers and they're excited about having them and they're in and it's not just a one of these deals were you know he's gonna they're they're gonna put into work of course and so so he'll get a great experience and he's a you know smart kid and he's got a good
head on him so he'll I'm excited do you have any advice I know that we have to close this up but tell me do you have any advice or you know we have a lot of people moving to Dallas lot of non-jewish people a lot of Jewish people some affiliate and some do not and this tape is going to be used by researchers is it's going to be used by all clients of people who are interested in members of the community some successful some maxy successful like you and some who have not been successful and and it's not a business success I'm I'm looking for
it's its business its life it's it's how to make the best of a Dallas Jewish experience do you have any kind of suggestions ideas I think there's so many there's so many people that that I know that have what you just explained a Jewish experience and and I'm enjoying a great Jewish experience all of the friends that I have you know that I not all of my friends but quite a significant number a number of friends are Jewish and have that Jewish experience you know it not really value it I mean being friends with the Aaron family you know my son Carol Aaron's son a
grandson in my son or best friends they they went to the University of Texas together in their best friend so I have renewed a relationship with with Todd Aaron and even though he's 15 years younger than me but it'd be that our sons are the same name so therefore and then then and he's wired to the all of the Jewish connection that he has and all of his friends at that at that age which are 9 to 10 years younger than me but those who are who we hang out with and we love being around that you know that group in support and all the
different judicial functions whether it's the JCC event the Federation event you know all of them all of these events you know we seem to be involved in and from the same circle of friends but you you like to be a part of it and and it's and it's been great for me I mean I I love the fact that that that our sons are growing up with this kind of diagram what about Civic Pacific obligation as we're talking strictly Jewish philanthropy you are involved in six of your things and I try I try to I would like to participate I don't like to tell people
no so I get called for every time there's a you know some type of an organization that's supporting for a good cause whether it's a you know cystic fibrosis charity event or RA you name it you know whatever disease and whatever it is cancer or or whatever it might be we try to help in some capacity and whether if they're serving our products or something like that but we'll make a contribution or we'll try to tie in the fact because most of these yes we'll serve alcohol at some and in some capacity and so if they is so I said well if a thousand people
are going to be gathering and they're gonna be drinking out or Washington just be mine well yeah and so then I try to work with them and and and and so so yeah I end up participating and that was you know whether you name it the cattle Baron's ball the crystal charity ball the diabetes thing the cancer I mean you name it and and we're getting we get it up you know and so we try to work with them in some capacity and I always felt like you know this Dallas community are the the Jewish community or the state of Texas or whatever market where
you know they've been good to us we we like to give back and that's the way and that's the way my dad was as some of my uncle was and which is wonderful to be able to donate in that in that sense to work with them yeah and and how about your mind how about your experience will you have you served on you know Dallas committees Texas I do to the point where I can actually benefit but when it gets to the point where you know what I just don't have the time than now basically I just tell them look I'll support your event and
I'll do what I can but I don't have time to be on the committee well that's what you're killing me is that you could support about 95 percent of anything that and I'm you know I mean you know it's the same people that get invited to the every every time there's an event where they're trying to raise something that there's only a certain amount of people that are gonna actually react well that is very true except when we think about how Dallas is growing and you you look at the communities and farm North Dallas and Frisco and a play I mean unbelievable amount of money
out there and I don't think it's been tapped so well then at Glacier you have been a delight thank you it's soon thank you just great applause all right let me have your cards so I get you been and let me I will let you know I actually have your daughter's card I think I have really and I'll email you know Karen and Lisa and come wonderful wonderful welcome you