Roadrunner Exclusively Distributing Johnson City Gold

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Selected Roadrunner Market stores in the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee are currently the only convenience stores offering Mountain Dew's malt-flavored Johnson City Gold soda, announced the retailer. Stores in Washington County, Carter County, Unicoi County and some stores in the city of Kingsport will carry the beverage for a limited time.

"We're excited to help Pepsi with this promotion and honored they've chosen Roadrunner Markets as the exclusive c-store distributor," said John Kelly, vice-president of operations of Mountain Empire Oil, the parent company of Roadrunner Markets."We have a close relationship with Pepsi, so we were able to secure the exclusive distribution of the 1-liter bottle. We were given twelve-hundred cases, and my understanding is, when they're gone… they're gone and we expect this collectors' item to sell out quickly."

The Johnson City name honors the 1960s birthplace of the Mountain Dew formula. The company's second batch of the soda is expected to use a name and packaging design that represents one of six U.S. regions, as CSNews Online previously reported.

Kelly noted that Johnson City Gold, a non-alcoholic, malted soda that has been described as a cross between Mountain Dew, ginger ale and beer, has created a lot of buzz and prompted a number of calls from customers.

Roadrunner Markets offers the soda in one-liter bottles at room temperature or ice cold in store coolers.

Incorporated as Mountain Empire Oil in 1977, the family-owned Roadrunner Markets operates 92 c-stores throughout Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.