Lane Family History

                                                      

Ross Lane arrived in Colorado Springs in March of 1932 from his humble beginnings as a Nebraska farm boy and his days as a car salesman at the Service Motor Company in Redfield, South Dakota. He had little more than ambition and faith in himself. His first two jobs in Colorado Springs did not work out for him, but his third job sent him on the way to success.

Frank Vorhis had started a small, nationally advertised candy business. With the help of a former employer, a 1929 Essex automobile, and all of that ambition, Ross went to work for Vorhis. He established routes throughout El Paso and Teller Counties. Soon Vorhis went broke, leaving Ross Lane with an established following and a desire to succeed. He convinced two Colorado Springs wholesalers to supply him with inventory so that he could carry on the Vorhis business. They agreed to do so but insisted on payment at the end of every sales trip that Ross made. In 1933, a Denver company, Flaks Wholesale Candy & Tobacco Co., pulled out of Colorado Springs and Ross was able to make a deal with Charley Flaks to pick up the merchandise in Denver and continue to run the established route that ended when they pulled out of Colorado Springs.

In 1934, Ross Lane married Elsie Marshall in Hitchcock, South Dakota. They moved back to Colorado Springs where Ross' business had grown and would now take an important turn. A Denver bottler had began producing Pepsi-Cola and Ross made a deal in which he would purchase 100 cases at a time and haul them to Colorado Springs to sell on his routes with his candy and tobacco. This move sparked his father in law to put some money into his business and become a working partner. Pepsi-Cola, seeing Ross' hard work and dedication, awarded him the right to bottle and sell the drink in El Paso and Teller counties. Ross established a plant in 1936 and within a very short time, a larger location had to be found. The candy and tobacco part of the business also grew and moved to this second location as well. After WWII, as Colorado Springs began to grow and the demand for Pepsi-Cola grew also, the present day location of Pepsi-Cola of Colorado Springs was purchased. Upon completion of the new plant, the candy and tobacco portions of Lane's business were sold.

By 1953 the Lane business had flourished so much that the Stone Avenue location had to be expanded. The plant now occupies six acres of space. John Lane, the son of Ross Lane, took over the operation of the Colorado Springs plant in 1979 and then in 1980, Ross passed away.

In 1984 the Lanes acquired another Pepsi Bottling franchise in Tucson, Arizona and in 1987 John built a new production facility in Tucson to replace the old one. By 1994, two distribution warehouses for Pepsi-Cola products were added to Lane Affiliated Companies (LAC) in Yuma, Arizona and Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Lane companies now employee some 450 people in their four locations. In 1994, Tucson Pepsi was a finalist of the most prestigious award a Pepsi Bottler can attain... the Donald M. Kendall Pepsi-Cola Bottler of the year award; Colorado Springs took the honor in 1997. John was President of the Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Association in 1993-1994 and was elected to the Beverage World Soft Drink Hall of Fame in 2004. The Las Cruces branch of LAC, Southwestern Bottling, moved into a new building in May 2004. Also in 2004, David Lane, the son of John and Margot Lane, under the direction of John, expanded the Tucson plant by some 50,000 square feet in order to accommodate upgraded bottling capacities. John passed away in August of 2005, leaving the leadership of Lane Affiliated Companies in the capable hands of his sons, David and Philip.                                                                                                                                      

In 2006 the Yuma location of LAC, was not only a finalist, but took home the award for Bottler of the Year for 2005, beating out over 100 Pepsi-Cola bottlers. In 2007, Lane Operating Company opened a new facility to facilitate the growing Pepsi-Cola distribution in Yuma. In 2008, Tucson Pepsi will build and open a new distribution center located in Casa Grande.

 

 

David and Philip, along with their mother Margot, will continue to carry on the proud tradition             of service that has come to be known and respected throughout the industry from the                   Lane Family.