For New York Beer Distributor Clare Rose, Good Weather Is Gold

Sean Rose, chief executive officer of Clare Rose, the exclusive distributor of Budweiser and Heineken on Long Island in New York, worries a lot about the weather. “Like this, I don’t need,” he says, pointing out the window of his headquarters in East Yaphank. It’s a Tuesday afternoon in the middle of June. The sky is overcast. There’s been a lot of rain, discouraging Bud drinkers from venturing out to the local 7-Eleven and loading up on 12-packs.

A loquacious 41-year-old with a deep tan, Rose is particularly climate-sensitive this time of year. The week of July 4 is his biggest “power week,” more lucrative than the weeks before Memorial Day (a close second) and all other holidays. The company, founded in 1936 by Clare Rose, Sean’s grandfather, has 5,000 customers throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. Half are retailers such as Costco and 7-Eleven, the rest are bars and restaurants—and they all watch the skies with as much interest as Rose.