The former president of Nantucket Nectars has bought the brand and hopes to revive sales on its home turf.

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 23, 2005

BY NEIL DOWNING
Journal Staff Writer

PORTSMOUTH -- An entrepreneur is in the process of reviving Narragansett Lager Beer, one of the most venerable brands in Rhode Island history.

Mark D. Hellendrung, 37, of Middletown, the former president of Nantucket Nectars, was part of a small group of New England investors who last month bought the rights to the Narragansett beer brand from the Pabst brewing organization.

The group, which operates under the name Narragansett Brewing Co., of Middletown, now plans to boost sales in part by reinvigorating the brand, which once dominated the regional beer market, slaking thirsts throughout New England.

Narragansett Beer was especially popular in the 1960s, with such well-known slogans and jingles as "Hi neighbor, have a 'Gansett," and its sponsorship of Boston Red Sox broadcasts.

Sales waned as the brand changed hands, the legendary brewery in Cranston closed in the early 1980s and production was moved to Indiana. The brand never disappeared, but was long ago eclipsed by others.

"Somebody said to me once, 'What ever happened to Narragansett Beer?' " Hellendrung recalled in an interview yesterday at the Portsmouth Oyster Bar and Grill.

"So many Rhode Islanders and New Englanders have incredible memories of Narragansett Beer. . . . I said, 'This never should have happened to this brand. . . .' I just wanted to bring it back to Rhode Island and do it right," he said.

Hellendrung has Rhode Island roots. Raised in the Rumford section of East Providence, he was an all-state placekicker on the football team at East Providence High School, from which he graduated in 1986.

He was captain of the baseball team at Brown University, where he studied business economics and graduated in 1990. He later received a master's degree in accounting from Bentley College, and was licensed as a certified public accountant.

After working for an accounting firm in Boston, Hellendrung joined Nantucket Nectars, the beverage company that was founded by two of his friends from Brown: Tom Scott and Tom First. Hellendrung eventually became president and left shortly after the company was sold to the Snapple beverage group in 2002.

Since then, he said, he has worked as a consultant in the beer industry and worked to obtain the Narragansett Beer trademark from Falstaff, a unit of Pabst. Negotiations took about two years, he said, and the all-cash deal was completed in mid-June.

Hellendrung would not disclose how much his firm paid and declined to identify his four investment partners, whom he said are all from New England.

Edward M. Mazze, dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Rhode Island, said that reviving the brand will not be easy. "It's very, very expensive to establish -- and even to re-establish -- a brand name, because of all the advertising and promotional [efforts] that are needed," said Mazze, who has written or co-authored 11 books on marketing, management and international business.

"There are so many brands on the market that are well-established that to get even a small piece of the action is very expensive," Mazze said in a telephone interview.

It can be done, he said, citing the success of the Samuel Adams beer brand. "Nothing is impossible if you have enough money and talent," Mazze said. But to make it work "takes a lot of dollars, time and creative thinking," he said.

Although the formal re-launch of Narragansett Beer is not scheduled until October, Hellendrung's company has already made changes and has others in the works. For example:

Narragansett beer is now available in about 250 bars, restaurants and liquor stores in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, up from about 125 before Hellendrung's company acquired the brand, he said. Sales, which were running at about $150,000 a year, have increased to about $200,000 on an annualized basis, he said.

Under Pabst, the Narragansett beer can was gold and carried the image of a ship -- a clipper, Hellendrung said. New cans that have already entered circulation have his company's design -- they are green and carry the familiar Narragansett Lager Beer logo.

The beer is currently brewed in La Crosse, Wisc., as it was most recently under the Pabst ownership, and is available only in 16-ounce "king size" cans. (A six-pack generally retails for between $3.99 and $4.75.) Hellendrung plans to shift production to the High Falls Brewery in Rochester, N.Y., next month, and in September make Narragansett Beer available once again in 12-ounce "long-necked" bottles, on draft and in 12-ounce cans. (His company chose the Rochester brewery because of water quality and reputation, he said.) Hellendrung also said that the company plans to eventually locate an office and a small brewery operation in Providence.

The company, which has three employees including Hellendrung (as president), has hired Duffy & Shanley of Providence to handle advertising, liquor store promotions and other efforts, focusing its marketing campaign in New England.

"We're just getting started," Hellendrung said. But he can already sense success. "A lot of Rhode Islanders are on my side," he said. The company seeks to tap the wellspring of memories that many regional consumers have for Narragansett Beer. "You go in to any bar in Rhode Island and there's a guy who will tell you a story about Narragansett Beer," he said.

More information about the company is available at its Web site:

www.narragansettbeer.net