Anheuser-Busch's roots run deep
By Matthew Hathaway and Jeremiah McWilliams
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Sunday, Jun. 01 2008
On any given weekend, St. Louisans can catch a baseball game at Busch; see beer
of the same name being brewed and bottled; and quaff more complimentary cups of
the brew in the courtyard of the Grant's Farm's "Bauernhof."
They can brunch at Bevo Mill, the South Side whimsy built by Anheuser-Busch on
the eve of Prohibition to make saloon-going seem more respectable. Then they
can work off that feast on a hike through the 7,000-acre August A. Busch
Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles County.
"The Busches built an empire here, and they did it their way," said Sue
Luepker, who with her husband, Marty, owns Al Smith's Feasting Fox, originally
called Busch's Inn when it was built by the brewer. Part restaurant and part
museum of St. Louis brewing history, the place takes part of its name from the
jovial gargoyles that guard the company's Soulard brewery.
But those comical foxes can't scare off the pigeons, let alone a hungry rival
that's reportedly circling One Busch Place. InBev of Belgium, the world's
biggest brewer, is said to be preparing a takeover that would end
Anheuser-Busch Cos.' 156-year run of independence and shake one of St. Louis'
oldest pillars of stability.
"Here we go again," said Clarence Harmon, who was St. Louis mayor in 2001 when
American Airlines gobbled Trans World Airlines.
Losing the brewer's headquarters wouldn't be economically devastating for the
region as long as a new owner kept the local brewery open, Harmon said. But it
would be a massive blow to the city's prestige, he said. "Having the company
here, it's like bragging rights."
PAYROLL AND BASEBALL
The company's sheer brawn conveys bragging rights. Anheuser-Busch has about
6,000 area employees, a Missouri payroll of $518 million and pays more than $37
million in state and local taxes and fees.
Anheuser-Busch's sales rank third-highest among area public companies; its
profits are fatter than all but one other area company: Emerson.
Losing that economic heft would set St. Louis back dramatically, said Stuart
Greenbaum, former dean of Washington University's Olin Business School.
"It's economic power, it's jobs, it's the ability to support amenities, it's
the ability to stage national and international events," said Greenbaum. "The
ability to be a Chicago instead of a Dubuque is what's at stake here."
But dry data can't trace Anheuser-Busch's deep imprint on St. Louis'
personality and identity. Budweiser radio commercials end with an announcer
sounding off "St. Louis, Missouri" — a reminder that the city is the home of
the world's best-selling beer. Anheuser-Busch has made its Clydesdales, such as
those lodged in the brewery's stables, into advertising icons. The brewery's
guided tours draw about 350,000 visitors each year.
"It's a whole bunch of symbolism that's important to the community," said Don
Phares, professor emeritus of economics and public policy at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis. "If that were to change, I think it would be a substantial
loss to the community."
Other than beer, sports is the brewer's broadest link to the community.
In 1953, then-Cardinals owner Fred Saigh Jr., convicted of tax evasion and
engulfed in legal problems, was forced to sell the team. After rejecting more
lucrative offers from groups in Houston and Milwaukee, Saigh sold the club to
August A. "Gussie" Busch Jr. for $3.75 million in April 1953.
The brewery boss also purchased Sportsman's Park from St. Louis Browns owner
Bill Veeck, who would move his team to Baltimore at the end of the 1953 season.
While renovating the aging edifice at Grand and Dodier, Busch planned to rename
the ballpark "Budweiser Stadium."
But major league baseball commissioner Ford Frick did not appreciate the
concept of naming a ballpark after a beer, and the idea was quashed. No matter,
Busch used the back door. He renamed the old yard "Busch Stadium" and a short
time later, the brewery introduced Busch beer.
Later, the brewer spearheaded the movement to build a new stadium and make it
the hub of a downtown renaissance. Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium opened
in May 1966. The ballpark gave way to the current Busch Stadium in 2006.
As chairman, president and CEO of the Cardinals, Gussie Busch was the executive
face of the franchise from 1953 until his death in 1989. In that time the team
won six National League championships, in 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985 and
1987. It won three World Series titles, in 1964, 1967 and 1982.
The brewer's involvement in other areas of the local sports scene has been less
obvious. As part of a group of 19 area corporate partners called Civic
Progress, A-B had its hand in the building of the Kiel Center (now called
Scottrade Center) in 1994, as well as ownership of the Blues.
ROOTS THAT RUN DEEP
Think of the brewer, and St. Louis buildings and three successive baseball
stadiums come to mind. But there are dozens of edifices and institutions, wings
and galleries named after the company and members of the family that runs it.
In higher education alone, there's the Busch Student Center and Anheuser-Busch
Institute at St. Louis University; 107-year-old Busch Hall at Washington
University; and the Busch School of Business Administration at Harris-Stowe
State University.
Not all of the company's contributions to St. Louis' civic life are that
academic. For instance, there's the brewery's 1955 gift to the St. Louis Zoo of
eight female elephants — named after women of the Busch clan, of course. Clara,
the last of the herd, died in 2007.
High-profile corporate departures or takeovers — GenAmerica, Southwestern Bell,
Boatmen's Bancshares, McDonnell Douglas, Ralston Purina, TWA, May Department
Stores and A.G. Edwards — have rocked St. Louis' confidence and sense of
status.
But Anheuser-Busch prospered and embraced the role as the public face of St.
Louis, a symbol of the city on par with the Gateway Arch and the Cardinals.
"There never has been any other company in town that was known just by its type
of business — nothing else like 'the Brewery,'" said Tom Schlafly, a lawyer and
co-founder of St. Louis Brewery Inc. "No one ever called May 'the Department
Store Company.'
"It's almost like they're royalty."
And what royalty wants, royalty often gets. Harmon said that, when he was
mayor, rumors bubbled that Anheuser-Busch was considering moving its
headquarters from Pestalozzi Street to Florida. Harmon rushed to meet with
August A. Busch III, who was upset about the slow pace of development just
south of downtown, especially at the site of the former Darst-Webbe housing
towers.
Converting the abandoned projects into the well-manicured King Louis Square
apartments became a top priority, and Busch III seemed placated. Harmon doesn't
know if there was any kernel of truth to the relocation rumors, but they
subsided, and Anheuser-Busch remained.
Now, you can hear it on the street and sense it in people's questions on blogs:
This city fears the day when the King of Beers may be toppled.
CHARITY AND GOODWILL
In February, the auditorium at Anheuser-Busch headquarters was packed with
brewery employees, executives and top officials of the Department of Homeland
Security. Dave Peacock, vice president of marketing, stepped up to the podium
to tout Anheuser-Busch's good deed: a $250,000 donation to the local Red Cross,
seed money for a new emergency preparedness program.
It was a big show, with Anheuser-Busch in a familiar place: center stage, the
deep pockets behind charity and the unofficial big brother of the area's
businesses.
"Along with the leadership, they provided the support," said Joe White, chief
executive of the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter. "Anheuser-Busch has
been a tremendous assistance in all facets."
But it isn't just the Red Cross. The BackStoppers Police Officers and
Firefighters Fund, Habitat for Humanity ... the list goes on. Last year,
Anheuser-Busch gave approximately $10 million to charities in the St. Louis
region.
"Anheuser-Busch is just phenomenally supportive," said Gary Dollar, chief
executive of United Way of Greater St. Louis. His group received pledges
totaling more than $3 million — the most from any company — from Anheuser-Busch
and its employees in the fall fundraising campaign. "You can really count on
the people of A-B."
PETTING ZOOS, COUNTRY CLUBS
Initially, St. Louis blue bloods wouldn't accept the Busches because of their
new money, strange names and unseemly business. But the family fought its way
into area high society and, ultimately, came to sit atop it.
Consider the family's personal recreation. Denied membership at the premier
area country club, August A. Busch Sr. built what would become the 168-acre
Sunset Country Club in south St. Louis County. In 1927, August A. "Gussie"
Busch Jr. founded the Bridlespur Hunt, a fox-hunting club in Huntleigh. The
club is now in rural Lincoln County. Recent generations of Busches — along with
cousins such as the Orthweins and von Gontards — have taken to polo, the
ultimate game of the leisure class.
To Schlafly, whose 17-year-old company makes beers of the same name, the St.
Louis version of Camelot was on display every time Gussie Busch would wave to
the ballpark masses from his perch on the Clydesdale-pulled beer wagon.
"What was amazing was the reaction in the bleachers, where these guys making
six or seven dollars an hour would rush to buy beer to toast 'Gussie' the
billionaire ... If Diana was the People's Princess, he was the People's King."
With his penchant for yachts, thoroughbreds and private railcars, it's hard to
think of Gussie Busch as a man of the people. He was, however, a big believer
in the company's long-standing motto: "Making friends is our business."
To win new friends among the working class, he did more than buy the Cardinals.
He allowed Joe Six-Pack the chance to bring his own family for free to Grant's
Farm, the 281-acre estate built decades earlier by Adolphus Busch. An immediate
hit, the unusual combination of game preserve, presidential history and
Gemütlichkeit has drawn more than 24 million visitors.
The Busches worked as hard as they played. Gussie's son, August Busch III,
hired a bevy of MBA graduates and waged battle against rival Miller Brewing Co.
of Milwaukee.
The Third demanded excellence and got it, keeping Anheuser-Busch on top of the
U.S. brewing industry every year. His son, August A. Busch IV, who now runs the
company, is pushing the company to grow faster.
"They worked your tail off, let you work to 100 percent of your ability," said
Bill Finnie, a former A-B strategic planner who is now an adjunct professor of
strategy at Washington University. "We kicked butt, and we enjoyed the process."
The question now is whether Anheuser-Busch, long dogged by slow growth in the
United States, will have to bow to the pressure if InBev submits a generous
formal offer.
The city doesn't want shareholders to ignore these contributions if a bid is
made. Jeff Rainford, chief of staff to Mayor Francis Slay, said city officials
planned to send a letter to area shareholders, pointing out the contributions
of an independent Anheuser-Busch — including concerts and more than $12 million
in city taxes. The letter will urge investors to take the local impact — as
well as the company's share price — into account if they vote their shares on a
takeover proposal.
Missouri Historical Society President Robert Archibald said the disappearance
of Anheuser-Busch would be an especially heavy loss for the metropolitan
psyche. Archibald notes the company is the most prominent vestige of 19th
century, German St. Louis. And it's the nexus of "the two things St. Louis
historically has cared about most: beer and baseball," he said.
But the company is even bigger than that, Archibald said.
"Anheuser-Busch seems like the last one standing in a city that already feels
it has lost too many big corporate names," he said. "And the brewery isn't just
a company, or even a family. It's part of our civic identity."
Dan O'Neill of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
mhathaway@post-dispatch.com
314-340-8121
jmcwilliams@post-dispatch.com
314-340-8372
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