RNDC CEO Nick Mehall Steps Down Following Loss of Major Suppliers in California
On Wednesday, U.S. wine and spirits distributor Republic National Distributing Co. (RNDC) announced that CEO Nick Mehall is leaving the company. According to Shanken News Daily, RNDC’s COO and executive vice president Bob Hendrickson will serve as interim CEO while the company assesses its plans for the future.
The news comes on the heels of RNDC’s recent loss of two heavyweight suppliers in the California market, Tito’s Vodka and Brown-Forman, both of which have since pivoted to work with Reyes Beverage Group. In the coming months, the beer distributor will begin handling all Tito’s and Brown-Forman distribution in California.
Mehall, who assumed the role of CEO at RNDC in early 2022, had a tenure marked by intense supply chain disruptions, industry slowdowns, and post-pandemic market normalization. In the past two years, RNDC lost multiple accounts, including longtime partner Sazerac, which cut ties to pursue other distribution routes. That said, 2024 saw the distributor secure deals with various other suppliers, including Duckhorn, Palm Bay, Riboli Family Wines, Bronco Wine Co., and more. According to Shanken News Daily, the RNDC released a statement crediting Mehall with leading “key investments in portfolio expansion, e-commerce, and operational efficiency” while serving as CEO.
“As a board, we are committed to further accelerating RNDC’s growth in 2025 and as a respected leader with a deep understanding of RNDC’s business, culture, and the evolving marketplace, we are pleased to have Bob transition from Commercial Advisor to the Board to this interim role,” RNDC board member Marc Sachs expressed in a statement. “While the industry continues to face headwinds and unprecedented change, we are confident that his experience, operational expertise, and strong industry relationships will provide steady leadership and the stability our supplier partners and customers seek as we move forward.”
According to an email sent to RNDC associates, Hendrickson will assume the role of interim CEO on March 3.
VP Pro Take
“In hindsight, it’s easy to see that Nick Mehall was not long for RNDC’s top spot. But for industry insiders, it was also easy to see before it actually happened. The country’s second-largest wine and spirits wholesaler has been in a bad way for many a day, and the Two Buck Chuck was stopping everywhere but the chief executive’s desk. Now it has.
Wholesaling wine and liquor is a nasty business, what with the lack of broad franchise protection enjoyed by beer’s middle-tier operators. As I wrote just last month when Tito’s said ta-ta to RNDC in favor of RBG’s service in the Golden State, there are structural differences to these nominally peer distributors that put the former at a disadvantage to the latter. But the game didn’t change overnight, and RNDC’s direct competitors in wine and spirits — No. 1 Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, and No. 3 Breakthru Beverage Group — have managed their respective “total beverage” pivots, while Mehall’s firm has struggled. Whether this die was cast back in 2019 when the first Trump administration’s Department of Justice blocked RNDC’s merger with Breakthru, or when the bottom dropping out of the wine market post-pandemic, or when The Sazerac Company shifted a bunch of its volume off the wholesaler’s trucks in 2022, one thing is for sure: Mehall’s tenure was troubled long before Tito’s and Brown-Forman pulled their California business.
So now what? Hendrickson is an old hand, and he should know the old warship like the back of his hand, having been on the job in 1997 for the formation of Republic and the 2006 merger with National to form the company now known as RNDC. He can offer some continuity to the operation while the company’s board searches for a permanent replacement for Mehall. Whoever takes the job off Hendrickson’s plate will have their work cut out for them. I see two silver linings for that to-be-named exec.
First, the current Trump administration’s Federal Trade Commission and DOJ, to the extent that they have doctrines, appear to be much more amenable to consolidation than their predecessors in the Biden and Trump 1.0 administrations, so RNDC may have an opportunity to merge/acquire itself back into fighting form. Second, more existentially, whatever Mehall was doing just wasn’t working — so if RNDC’s board should be willing to let his replacement shake things up. That’s if they can convince the right person to take the job, of course.” —Dave Infante, VinePair columnist and contributing editor
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