Marvin L. Sands (1924 – August 28, 1999) was an American businessman, and the founder and CEO of

Constellation Brands Constellation Brands, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, is an American producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share (7.4 percen ...

, a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

beer, wine and spirits company.

Early life

Marvin Sands was the son of Mordecai E. Sands, who was a partner in a winery in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

, Queens, New York since 1932. He was of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. Sands earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

, and served as an ensign in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Career

Sands founded the Canandaigua Wine Company in 1945 at age 21. Sands tried to establish a brand, and was unsuccessful with King Solomon kosher wine and an eponymous Sands brand. In 1954 he produced a "flaming-red blend of dessert wine" called Richard's Wild Irish Rose, named after his son Richard, and this grew to become more than 90% of their sales in the 1960s. By 1980, annual sales topped $50 million. The company was renamed Constellation Brands in 2000. In 1987, he acquired the Manischewitz Wine Company and in 1988, received

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

certification for the brand from the

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs for ...

. It has acquired several companies including

Robert Mondavi Robert Gerald Mondavi (June 18, 1913 – May 16, 2008) was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted label ...

wine and

Svedka Svedka is a mid-priced brand of vodka owned by New York-based Constellation Brands. The product name is a portmanteau of the words ''Sverige'' or ''Svenska'' ("Sweden" and "Swedish" respectively in the Swedish language) and "vodka". The spirit ...

vodka. Sands served as the company's CEO from its inception until 1993, when he was succeeded by his son Richard Sands.

Personal life

Sands lived in

Canandaigua Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county compl ...

, New York with his wife Marilyn "Mickey" Sands. He had two sons, Richard Sands and Robert Sands; and a daughter Laurie Sands Stern (died 1995). He died on August 28, 1999; services were held at Temple B'rith Kodesh in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. The

Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center The Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center (CMAC), originally the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center (FLPAC) is an outdoor concert venue in the Town of Hopewell, New York, just east of the City of Canandaigua, on the grounds of ...

is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sands, Marvin 1924 births People from Canandaigua, New York 1999 deaths American company founders University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American chief executives of food industry companies American people of Jewish descent United States Navy personnel of World War II