![]() He'd sit in the beer cooler when he was very young before being put to work. Johnny Holloway, now 61, says he spent hours inside ABC stores as a kid. Holloway's son from a second marriage, John "Johnny" W. Holloway, whose first son, Jack Jr., died of celebral palsy, brought family members into the business, including his grandchildren, Charles Bailes III and Jess Bailes, who joined the company in the 1970s. Holloway and Bailes built a new headquarters and warehouse for the company in 1975 in a gritty area of south Orlando near the confluence of the turnpike and railroad lines the company is still in the building. Many had attached lounges that ranged from what today would be called dive bars to country-music dance bars and discos. Construction, one of the companies that helped build Florida's Turnpike, to join ABC.ĪBC began building more package stores. Holloway was skilled at numbers and sales and he found a planner and builder in Charles Bailes Jr., who married Holloway's daughter, Jackie, and left Cone Bros. Company lore has it that he wanted a name that consumers would remember and trust - and one that would be listed first in the phone book. In 1950, he changed his company's name to ABC Liquors. He began buying more bars and package stores. Holloway, who opened his first checking account at age 13 and was always frugal, reinvested any extra money into the business. One reason he liked the site: The bus from Pinecastle Air Force Base (which today is Orlando International Airport) stopped out front, dropping thirsty servicemen at his doorstep. Holloway borrowed money from a relative and opened Jack's Friendly Neighborhood Bar in 1936 at the corner of Orange Avenue and Wall Street in downtown Orlando. Why not start selling liquor? He asked his boss. ![]() ![]() Holloway, a Georgia native who dropped out before high school and moved to Florida in 1931, was working in a United Cigar store.
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