For more than a century, visitors to Ireland have flocked to the brewery at St. James's Gate in Dublin, home of the nearly 250-year-old Guinness brand. But in the late 1990s, Guinness faced a threefold challenge: how to accommodate the ever-growing flock of devotees who come to Dublin to connect with the brand's "spiritual home"; how to modernize its conference and meeting room facilities for corporate use; and, most importantly, how to maintain its traditional relationships with Guinness loyalists while also appealing to younger consumers. They'd grown up watching their fathers chug pints of the famous Irish stout, but had themselves moved away from the brand.

To bring the lost Irish generation back into the fold -- and reinforce the loyalty among overseas drinkers and recruit new ones -- a new visitor center was unveiled for invited guests at three parties in November 2000, and opened to the public a month later.

Nearly three years later, the 42 million-euro investment ($ 45.5 million, according to average 2000 exchange rates) seems to have paid off. The millionth visitor stepped into the Storehouse in September 2002, less than two years after the Storehouse opened its doors. That same year the visitor center welcomed 725,000 visitors in total, an 11.5% growth from 650,000 the previous year.