I saw this on today’s calendar and couldn’t help but think about our “backyard” here in Northwest Arkansas. On March 12, 1894, Coca-Cola was sold in glass bottles for the first time in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Before that day, if you wanted a Coke, you had to stand at a soda fountain. People in the rural areas surrounding Vicksburg wanted Coke, but they couldn’t get it because they weren’t in town. A candy merchant named Joseph Biedenharn fixed that by putting the product in a bottle.
I wonder what Biedenharn would think if you told him that 132 years later, the world’s largest company would be headquartered in Bentonville, and that The Coca-Cola Company would have a massive footprint right next door in Rogers to support them.
I ran their relationship through gemini: • Volume Dominance: For Coca-Cola Consolidated—the brand’s largest U.S. bottler—Walmart alone accounts for 17% of total net sales and 21% of all bottle and can volume. • Growth Velocity: The operational synergy is so tight that during the “Share-a-Coke” campaign, sales growth at Walmart was double the growth of all other large retailers combined.
It’s a cool reminder of the impact customer obsession coupled with seemingly inconsequential moves can turn into absolute behemoths of industry.