The history of Hayden Beverage starts with a Boise grocery distributor adding Olympia Beer to his offerings when Idaho repealed prohibition in 1936. One of the partners (seeing better potential growth in beer than Oleo and Moxie) went on his own, taking the Oly rights with him. He later sold the business to the local Coors distributor, a decision that did not earn the enthusiastic endorsement of Bill Coors (who was irked by the #2 brand joining his #1 brand in the same house). So in 1970, the Coors distributor grudgingly sold the Oly rights to a local gentleman. To run the business, the buyer hired a 28 year-old Boise Cascade cardboard box salesman and Harvard Business School grad, John Hayden. Serendipitously, in that year’s legislative session, the state decided to take wine out of the state liquor store system in favor of stores and distributors.