It began with The Young Brothers
In 1888, John G. Young, the eldest of the Young brothers, opened his first retail store at 171 W. Jefferson Street in downtown Los Angeles. By the mid-1920s, Young’s Market Company, their chain of neighborhood retail markets incorporated in 1906, was rapidly expanding throughout Southern California. After Prohibition, Young’s saw a rare opportunity for enormous market growth, and shifted its focus to marketing, sales, and distribution of wines and spirits.
Young’s acquired a wide range of wine and spirits wholesale distributors over the next several decades under the leadership both past of Presidents Vernon O. Underwood Sr. and Jr. The Underwood family bought out the other shareholders, making them the sole owners of Young’s Market Company (and now Young’s Holdings) a century after its founding, and focused the company’s efforts on fine wines and spirits. Under the current leadership of CEO Chris Underwood, Young’s Holdings operates two of the fine wine and spirit industry’s most preeminent companies: Infinium Spirits and Wilson Daniels. Young’s Holdings continues its stewardship of Young’s Market Company, through its partnership with Republic National Distributing Company. In January of 2021, Young’s Market Company, managed by Republic National Distributing Company’s leadership team since August 2019, rebranded as RNDC.
Check out our portfolioFrom second left Bill, Peter and George. John is on the far right.
Our values are what set us apart; they’re the roots upon which our harvest grows.
Meet our Leadership
Team
Board of Directors
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Vern received his B. A. Degree in Business from the University of Southern California in 1962, joined Young’s later that year and has been there ever since! In 1975 he was elected President of Young’s. In 1985 he devised and implemented a plan that resulted in Young’s becoming the first statewide distributor of wine and spirits in California. In 1989, at Vern’ urging, the Underwood family purchased Young’s from the Company’s remaining shareholders. In 1990, with the passing of Vernon Underwood, Sr., Vern was elected CEO and Chairman of the Board. In 1997, Vern led the Company’s expansion into Washington, Oregon and Alaska. In 1997 under Vern’s leadership the Company purchased Wilson Daniels Ltd. and in the early 2000’s, he directed the Company’s expansion into Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Arizona. The Company also invested in a number of spirits brands, including Seagram’s Vodka, Zaya Rum and Templeton Rye Whiskey. During Vern’s tenure, Vern oversaw Young’s expansion from a relatively small regional Southern California and Hawaiian distributor into one of the largest distributors of beverage alcohol in the U.S.
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Like his father, Chris Underwood has dedicated his career working for Young’s Market Company (a subsidiary of Young’s Holdings), one of the largest wine and spirits distributors in the U.S. Starting in the Los Angeles warehouse in 1996, he went on to become the Chief Executive Officer starting in 2011. As the fifth generation to lead Young’s Market Company, Chris oversaw all Young’s Market’s business operations. With the joint venture with RNDC in 2019, the Young’s Market operations were transferred to the RNDC Management team. Chris now serves on Board of Directors of RNDC West, formerly Young’s Market Company. Chris currently serves as the CEO of Young’s Holdings and is a member of the Board of Directors of Young’s Holdings.
Chris is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and won the 1990 NCAA Men’s Volleyball National Championship. Chris is an active member in the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) of San Diego, and serves on Board of Directors for the STEPUP foundation and the OM Foundation.
Director
Director
Jeff spent the initial 20 years of his career at Young’s Market Company, where he last served as President and COO. He later served as Chief Executive Officer of both Wilson Daniels and Infinium Spirits, being an integral part of both company’s early successes. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Young’s Holdings since 2000. Jeff has a passion for developing brands and early stage companies. He currently partners with various businesses in and outside of the alcoholic beverage industry.
Jeff is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Marshall School of Business program for Entrepreneurship.
Director
Director
Don received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1969 and his J.D from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1972 . Upon his discharge from active duty in the U.S. Army, Don joined the Los Angeles law firm of Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano and Hatch in January 1973 where he became a partner in 1978. In 1986 Don left Iverson to become President of Hollywood Park, Inc. In 1999 he left Hollywood Park to become Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Young’s Market Company and Young’s Holdings, Inc. He was elected to the Board of Young’s Holdings in 2014. That same year he resigned as General Counsel and as Executive Vice President of Young’s in December, 2019. He continues to serve on the Board.
Director
Director
Jeff is a strategic, senior executive with over 39 years of experience working with senior management, audit committees and Boards in addressing complex, global business issues. As a former Big 4 partner, Jeff has extensive experience managing and coordinating global engagements for complex, multinational Fortune 1000 public and global private companies, in addition to assisting with crossborder acquisitions, supply chain alignment, regulatory issues and sophisticated tax planning and structuring. Jeff has served as the coordinating partner and tax account leader serving a number of Fortune 500 and Russell 3000 companies across retail, apparel, technology, life sciences, entertainment and service companies. Jeff has held significant leadership positions including Managing Partner, Regional Market Leader and Regional Strategy Leader within EY.
Executive Team
Vice President of Human Resources
Vice President of Human Resources
Binali Mesri is the Vice President of Human Resources for Young’s Holdings. She is responsible for leading the Human Resources function managing all compensation, benefits, talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion, and employee relations functions for the organization.
Prior to this role, Binali was the Senior Director of Compensation and Performance Management and Young’s Market Company. Before joining Young’s in September 2016, Binali worked in a variety of roles with increasing responsibility at Pacific Dental Services. Prior to working at Pacific Dental, Binali also worked at Verizon Wireless for eight years in numerous roles in Analytics and Finance.
Binali hold an MBA in Finance from the University of California Irvine and lives in Orange County with her spouse and two children.
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Brian has served as the General Counsel for Young’s Holdings, Inc., Infinium Spirits and Wilson Daniels since 2012. From 2012 to 2019, he also served as the General Counsel of Young’s Market Company. Prior to joining Young’s Holdings, Brian was a member of the legal team at Amazon.com and an associate in the corporate department at Gibson Dunn. While at Gibson Dunn, he advised on corporate and securities law and mergers and acquisitions transactions across a variety of industries.
Brian is a 2002 graduate of Princeton University, where he majored in History and received a certificate in Latin American Studies. He is a 2005 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where he graduated with honors and is a member of the Order of the Coif.
Brian is admitted to practice in California and in front of the United States Supreme Court.
Vice President of Real Estate
Vice President of Real Estate
Cassie Kelle has served as Vice President of Real Estate for Young’s Holdings since 2012, managing our real estate portfolio, including acquisition, development, disposition, and property management. Before the RNDC joint venture, Cassie was also responsible for the real estate supporting the Young’s Market Company operations, including construction, project management, and facilities management.
Before joining Young’s Holdings, Cassie held roles of increasing responsibility in notable commercial real estate organizations, including Arden Realty/GE Capital from 1998 to 2012 and Charles Dunn Company from 1995 from 1998.
Cassie graduated from The University of Western Ontario, Canada, with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography, concentrating in Urban Development. Cassie lives in Orange County with her spouse and daughter.
President of Real Estate and Alternative Investments
President of Real Estate and Alternative Investments
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Drew Bauer is the Chief Financial Officer of Young’s Holdings, Inc. He previously served as the SVP Finance and Treasurer for Young’s Holdings, Inc., Infinium Spirits and Wilson Daniels starting in 2015. From 2015 to 2019, he also served as the SVP Finance and Treasurer of Young’s Market Company. Prior to joining Young’s Holdings, Drew was an officer for ILFC during its restructuring and sale to Aercap. Before joining Aercap, Drew held positions as the VP Finance & Treasurer for Guess, Inc, VP of Strategic Finance for Experian and various positions in investment banking at both Merrill Lynch and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Drew is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he majored in Corporate Finance. He received an MBA in Finance and Accounting from New York University.
Drew is a licensed C.P.A. in the State of California.
Vice President and Controller
Vice President and Controller
Jennifer Tapper has been Vice President and Controller of Young’s Holdings, Inc. since January 2020. Previously, she served as the Director of Financial Reporting at Young’s Market Company and has held various financial and accounting positions at Printronix and Quality Systems. Jenn holds a bachelor’s of science degree in accounting from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Underwood Family Foundation
The Underwood Family Foundation is dedicated to impacting and improving the communities where we live and work. Our main aims have been environmental conservation and community improvement projects. We also partner with Habitat for Humanity in their efforts to restore communities and rebuild homes.
We believe that it’s our responsibility to pass on our values to the next generation, which is why the Adrienne and Vernon O. Underwood Scholarship Program was first established in 2001. Since then, it has helped 169 promising, college-bound students—of Young’s employees—pay for their college education.
Responsibility and Sustainability
At Young’s Holdings, we encourage only responsible consumption of alcohol. Together, we partner with our suppliers, partners, customers, and communities to set a positive example and advocate for safe and smart drinking practices. We do this via education and awareness classes for new hires, a taxi program for Young’s Holdings employees, and Employee Assistance Programs for employees who need help managing their alcohol use.
