Politics & Government

Last Call for Miller Lite in Lakeville? MillerCoors Becomes Casualty of Shutdown

MillerCoors has been directed by the State of Minnesota to come up with a plan to pull all of its 39 beer brands, including Miller Lite, Coors Light and Blue Moon, from store shelves and restaurants in the next few days.

Thanks to the state shutdown, in a matter of days, the Silver Bullet may not be allowed to make any more beer runs to Lakeville’s bars, restaurants and liquor stores.

Doug Neville, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety which over sees state liquor regulation, told the Star Tribune that MillerCoors, the company that brews and distributes products like Coors Light, Miller Lite and Blue Moon, failed to properly renew their brand label registration with the state before the shutdown began on July 1.

Brenda Visnovec, the director of operations says she received word yesterday that the company will have to remove all of its 39 beer products from shelves and bars within a matter of days, including Lakeville’s liquor stores.

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Visnovec added she hasn’t been told when exactly the MillerCoors products would have to be taken off shelves.

“This problem was kept very quiet,” said Visnovec, who said she was told MillerCoors’ brand registration expired June 15. “It’s kind of astonishing.”

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Visnovec said she was told the problem arose when MillerCoors gave the state a check for too much money. The company was supposed to pay $30 per brand registration on 39 different products. Since the check was for a larger amount than the $1,170 needed, the state returned the check.

“It’s amazing that this huge issue could have been avoided if someone hadn’t forgot a post it note saying keep the change,” Visnovec said. “Just a small little thing like a check being for too much and now employees in the state for MillerCoors, not to mention the sellers… the impacts could be astronomical.”

Visnovec said 25-30 percent of Lakeville’s beer sales are from MillerCoors products, but it’s too early to speculate on possible impacts on sales.

“I don’t think people are going to stop drinking beer, they’ll just go to something different,” she said. “But it will amount to something, I’m sure.”

Tyler Bonine, the general manager at said he doesn’t foresee real large problems on his restaurant.

“I mean, there will be some impacts—we’ll have to bring in Bud Light for happy hour, but it shouldn’t be a huge issue overall,” he said.

According to the Star Tribune report, a MillerCoors spokesman said they are working with state officials to fix the problem.

“Right now we are exploring all options that are available to us," MillerCoors spokesman Julian Green said in the report. "We are currently in discussions and hoping that we can get a resolution with the state, with the agency that enforces the sale ... of alcohol.

Green acknowledged that Minnesota is one of MillerCoors largest markets in the country.

Green said the company even sent in a new check, which he told the Star Tribune that the state received on June 27. But the company received a letter a few days later saying their brand licenses had expired.

The report also said Anheuser-Busch will face a similar problem if the shutdown extends to October.

The brands affected:

Blue Moon Pale Moon Belgian Style Pale Ale, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Coors Light 3.2, Foster’s Lager Beer, Foster’s Premium Ale, Grolsch Amber Ale, Grolsch Blonde Lager, Grolsch Light Lager, Grolsch Premium Lager, Hamm’s, Hamm’s Genuine Draft Style, Hamm’s Special Light, Henry Weinhard’s Dark, Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen, Henry Weinhard’s Pale Ale, Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Icehouse Beer, Keystone Light Beer 3.2, Killians Irish Red 3.2, MGD Light 64, Mickey’s Ice Ale, Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life 12/16 oz can, Miller High Life Ice, Miller High Life Light 12 oz can, Miller Lite 3.2%, Miller Lite Beer, Milwaukee’s Best #1 , Milwaukee’s Best Ice, Milwaukee’s Best Light #1 3.2, Molson Canadian, Molson Canadian Light, Molson Golden, Molson Ice, Molson XXX, Olde English 800 Malt Liquor, Sparks Light


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