Fast-Growing Craft Beer Supplier Acquired By St. Louis Firm
Craft Beverage Warehouse now part of global packaging supply company.
Stacks of empty cans at Good City Brewing’s Century City I space in 2022. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Craft Beverage Warehouse (CBW), a fast-growing supplier to the craft beer industry and a key player in Century City‘s development, was sold to a St. Louis company.
Packaging supplier TricorBraun announced Tuesday that it acquired the Milwaukee-based company, known for its direct-to-can digital printing.
“Our acquisition of Craft Beverage Warehouse —a company known for exceptional quality and customer service—enables us to provide beverage customers across North America with expanded packaging offerings and services,” said Brett Binkowski, TricorBraun’s North America president, in a statement. “We’re excited to welcome the Craft Beverage Warehouse team to the TricorBraun family.”
Privately held Tricor reports having more than 100 locations and 2,000 employees. It was founded in 1902 and has grown through several acquisitions.
CBW was founded in 2020 by Kyle Stephens and Michael DeGrave. By spring 2024, the company was planning a new building in Century City, to complement its leased space in the Century City 1 warehouse. At the time, it reported 11 employees and had plans to hire six to 10 more as part of adding a new printing line in Milwaukee. CBW added a Colorado facility later in 2024 that was expected to create 20 jobs once fully operational.
“At Craft Beverage Warehouse, our commitment to providing a one-stop digital printing and packaging shop for canned beverage companies, coupled with high-quality service, drives everything we do,” said Stephens, the CBW president. “We know TricorBraun shares that same passion. We look forward to continuing to serve our customers with TricorBraun’s support, resources and investment in our growth.”
A press release said all CBW employees will remain with TricorBraun. The company will be merged into TricorBraun’s CanSource subsidiary in early 2026.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Investment bank TKO Miller served as an advisor to CBW on the deal.
Stephens was vice president of finance and administration at Good City Brewing before launching CBW. According to a Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee report, both he and DeGrave are investors in Century City I, the only newly constructed, privately owned building in the Century City business park.
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