Southern Wine & Spirits exec to retire

Southern Wine and Spirits of America has announced the retirement of Will Conniff, executive vice president, general manager of Illinois, Kentucky and Minnesota.

Southern Wine and Spirits of America has announced the retirement of Will Conniff, executive vice president, general manager of Illinois, Kentucky and Minnesota.

Conniff will retire from his role from 1 March 2016 after 38 years with Southern Wine and Spirits, starting out in the firm’s Florida division in 1978 as a sales assistant in the Orlando market.

He was then promoted to restaurant supervisor, before becoming restaurant division manager in 1983. He continued his ascent through the company to take up the position of vice president and general manager of Southern Wine and Spirits of Florida’s South Florida sales region in 1993.

By 1998 Conniff had earned the position of executive vice president, general manager of Southern Wine and Spirits of Kentucky, and in 2005 Illinois also fell under his market leadership, followed by the addition of Minnesota in 2012.

“On behalf of the senior leadership team and Will’s many colleagues across Southern, I want to personally express our thanks for his many years of unwavering service,” said Wayne E. Chaplin, Southern’s president and CEO.

“We applaud all his professional accomplishments over the years and want to wish Will a great new chapter in life as he begins his retirement.

“We wish Will and his family all good things for the future.”

Conniff’s replacement has not yet been named.

NASWB appointment 

Elsewhere, North American Spirits and Wine Brokerage (NASWB), a division of Southern Wine and Spirits of America, has promoted Nick Grieder to vice president, general sales manager, NASWB, Virginia and West Virginia.

“I’m extremely pleased to have Nick join the NASWB-East Control division in the critical role of vice president, general sales manager for Virginia and West Virginia,” commented Kirt Clemens, senior vice president-East Control, NASWB.

“On behalf of the entire Southern organisation, I would like to congratulate Nick on his new role.

“I am confident that his appointment will bring added strength, focus and experience to the Virginia and West Virginia teams.”

Grieder previously worked as director of sales for NASWB. In his new role he will be tasked with leading the NASWB Virginia and West Virginia teams to drive key priorities from supplier partners and develop strategic initiative s to increase both volume and value growth in both markets.

He boasts more than 16 years’ experience in the drinks industry, including posts such as sales director, Iowa, for NASWB in which he oversaw the Diageo and Moët Hennessy USA portfolios.