Towne Club
Towne Club is a local brand of pop, produced and sold primarily in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan. It also sold in Grand Rapids, Michigan at one time.
[edit] History
It was owned and operated by Harold Samhat. The company first started selling its soda in the mid-1960s in its own retail outlets in Detroit, known as "pop centers". It was an affordable alternative to bigger brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and often sold well in Detroit's poorer neighborhoods. The pop centers offered many different flavors of soda pop than was typically seen in grocery stores and was bought by the case which was wooden and held 24 glass bottles. People would enter the store grab a wooden crate and walk around to the various stacks of "pop" around the warehouse looking store. Customers would also bring back the empty bottles and cases and start all over again.
However, this company carved out its niche by offering multiple flavors in both regular and diet varieties, in an attempt to rival its more powerful regional competitor, Faygo. The attempt proved successful, as Towne Club was able to expand its reach further North in Michigan, South into Central Indiana, parts of Northwestern Ohio, Upstate New York and Florida.
Samhat sold the company in 1978 to Pop Shoppes of Toronto, Canada (controlled by Venturetech of Toronto, Canada). He remained with the company until 1982.
The company began falling on hard times in the mid- to late-1980s, after the decision was made to close its retail pop centers, though Towne Club was still available. Sales continued to slide, not out of disloyalty, but buyers of the products were left wondering what outlets still sold it.
[edit] Comeback
Towne Club Bottling announced a comeback in the mid-1990s (though they had never really "left"), in an effort to make diehard fans of the soft drinks aware of where to purchase the products.
Returning in 1997, Towne Club had changed little of its product in terms of the product or its packaging. Unlike many of its mass-produced, multinational competitors, Towne Club pops were still sold in 12 ounce returnable crowned glass bottles, which, in keeping with Michigan's deposit law, are worth ten cents each when returned to the retailer. The bottles required a standard bottle opener to be used in order to consume the product.
The Towne Club brand is now controlled by Intrastate Distributors, Inc., known as IDI, Inc. Within a couple of years, the Towne Club brands switched to plastic re-sealable bottles and new labeling. IDI also bottles other beverages such as Orange Crush, Frostie Root Beer and Stewart's Root Beer. As of 2011, Towne Club products are available in glass bottles with screw-top caps. Current flavor offerings include Vanilla Carmel Cream, Orange, Cola, Grape, City Rush, Strawberry and Peach along with 2 recently introduced flavors of Honolulu Blue Cream and Michigan Cherry.
