Business Tribute

Coca-Cola:

Quenching the Star City’s thirst for more than 75 years

By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer

    PRESQUE ISLE — Coca-Cola has been quenching peoples’ thirsts locally for more than 75 years.
    According to Cheryl DeMerchant, operations manager, ownership has changed hands more than once since the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. first opened in 1939 in Presque Isle.

 Voscar photos courtesy of Dick Graves

    THIS 1940 PHOTO shows how the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. looked shortly after it opened at 725 Main St. in Presque Isle in 1939. When operating at full capacity, the plant turned out 500 cases or 12,000 bottles of Coca-Cola a day. The building was destroyed by fire on Dec. 17, 1968, and later moved to its current location at 1005 Airport Drive.

     COCA-COLA BOTTLING CO. first opened in the Star City in 1939. It was located at 725 Main St., next to Bonanza Restaurant today. This 1954 photo looks down Main Street. Coca-Cola opened locally thanks to Robert A. Whatley, proprietor and manager, who moved to the area from Atlanta after spending 13 years with the Coca-Cola Co. and its subsidiaries.

 Staff photo/Mark Putnam

    A 1968 FIRE destroyed the former Coca-Cola Bottling Co. building on Main Street in Presque Isle. To keep the business in the community, the Presque Isle Industrial Council negotiated a lease for Coca-Cola to relocate on Skyway Industrial Park. They relocated in 1969 to a former aircraft hangar, which is where the company is located today.

     “John Tiernan purchased the business in the early 1950s, and then sold the company in the fall of 1984 to Coca-Cola of New York,” she said. “It was then sold again in 1989 to Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Northern New England, Inc.”
    Coca-Cola of Presque Isle was the number-one highest per capita Coca-Cola facility in New England in the 1980s and ’90s. Their legacies were carried forward in general managers John Fitzpatrick, Alton Hartt and now, Tony Phillips.
    “We not only sell the entire Coca-Cola beverage line, but also Dasani water, Gold Peak Tea, Moxie, Dr Pepper, Vitamin Water, Honest Tea, PowerAde, Minute Maid juices and, our newest upcoming addition, Monster energy drinks,” said DeMerchant.
    The following bit of local Coca-Cola history is from the 1939 and ’40 bound volumes of The Star-Herald.
    “Aroostook County’s newest industry, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Aroostook, will hold a formal opening of its new plant on North Main Street (located next to Bonanza Restaurant today) in Presque Isle next Thursday and Friday.
    The building and equipment, devoted exclusively to the bottling of Coca-Cola for distribution throughout Aroostook County and in Patten, Penobscot County, will be open to the public from 3-6:30 p.m. and from 7-9:30 p.m. on both days.
    All citizens of this section are invited by the management to attend the formal opening. All parts of the plant will be open for public inspection.
    The equipment which will be in operation includes complete apparatus for filtering and purifying water which goes into the Coca-Cola, washing and sterilizing equipment for the bottles, and the actual bottling machinery.
    All this machinery, as well as the plant in which it is located is designed and constructed in such a way as to safeguard the cleanliness and purity of the beverage.
    The bottling machinery is automatic, no human hands touching the bottles, except to place them in the cleaning and sterilizing machine and to remove the finished product after it has been bottled and hermetically sealed.
    The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Aroostook is Aroostook County-owned and operated. The proprietor and manager, Robert A. Whatley, moved to this county from Atlanta last June after 13 years’ service with The Coca-Cola Company and its subsidiaries. Immediately prior to the establishment of his own firm here, Mr. Whatley was vice-president of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, a parent concern covering eight Southeastern states.
    Ground was broken for the Aroostook bottling plant June 15 and the first Coca-Cola was bottled June 29. Since that time the plant has been completed while bottling was in progress.
    When operating at full capacity, the plant turns out 500 cases or 12,000 bottles of Coca-Cola a day. At several times during recent months, this capacity has been taxed by demand for the beverage throughout Aroostook County.
    The plant is operating as a year-round industry with a distribution organization designed to make Coca-Cola available in any month of the year, to satisfy winter thirsts as well as summer.
    Also on exhibit at the formal opening will be coolers designed to keep Coca-Cola at the ice-cold temperature at which it should be served to bring out its full flavor regardless of season.
    Associated with Mr. Whatley in the bottling and distribution of Coca-Cola in Aroostook are seven full-time employees.
    They include Kenneth Gardiner of Houlton, cashier; Olin Holmes of Caribou, production superintendent; Charles E. Mills of Presque Isle, assistant to the production superintendent; Jack O’Donnell of Presque Isle, salesman for Fort Fairfield, Mars Hill, Houlton, and surrounding territories; Delbert Britton of Presque Isle, salesman for Presque Isle, Caribou, Washburn, Ashland and surrounding territories; John Dow of Presque Isle, salesman for Fort Kent, Madawaska, Limestone, Van Buren and surrounding territories; and Vaughn Gallagher of Caribou, advertising man.”
    The Coca-Cola Bottling Co. was destroyed by fire on Dec. 17, 1968. According to a Dec. 18, 1968 article in The Star-Herald, Presque Isle firemen, aided by crews from Indian Head Plywood Co. and Loring Air Force Base, battled the blaze for almost nine hours in near-zero weather and steady snow before distinguishing it at about 3 p.m.
    According to Fire Chief Cecil McCready, over 80 percent of the two-story frame building was demolished. His crew was able to save part of a warehouse behind the building and about 70 percent of a new steel-frame garage. Three trucks were lost in the fire, but employees rescued two partly damaged vehicles.
    The 725 Main St. fire caused more than $100,000 damage.
    Larry Clark, executive director of the Presque Isle Industrial Council, was instrumental in bringing Coca-Cola Bottling Co. to the former Presque Isle Air Force Base.
    “After the fire, we made contact,” said Clark “John Tiernan was the owner at the time, and after some meetings and discussions, we negotiated a lease for them to relocate here on the industrial park and to keep them in Presque Isle.
    “They relocated in 1969 to a former aircraft hangar — Hangar No. 3,” he said, noting that the building was constructed in 1941. “They have been a tenant here for many years, and we’re very proud to have them as a tenant, and as a part of Skyway Industrial Park.”
    Today, Coca-Cola services all of Aroostook County, the largest county east of the Mississippi. DeMerchant said the business is “always making strides to reduce our environmental impact through recycling efforts and reducing energy consumption.”
    “We continue our community and local support programs. Our goal is to be part of the memories made in the local communities and bring about the positive messages that the company truly believes,” she said. “Coca-Cola believes that a successful business environment requires investment back into the people and community that allow us to thrive.”
    Coca-Cola employs 21 full-time people and four part-time workers with an annual payroll of over $900,000. Key managers include Phillips, DeMerchant, Lloyd Archer and Steven Hanning. The business, now located at 1005 Airport Drive in Presque Isle, stopped bottling in May 1985 and is now a sales and distribution center.