Beer stores that keep the sought after stuff "in the back"

That's true... definitely not a perfect analogy. Maybe it's more like someone at a box office holding tickets for sold-out shows for friends?

 

A suggestion...Try and develop a relationship with store owner or beer manager. Let them know what you are looking for now, and when it comes in. Tell them what you like to drink. Talk about beer...If the store sets some inventory aside (my experience is that many do) when you ask "has the x come in yet?" your beer friend will be more than happy to accommodate your inquiry(if a few bottles were indeed set aside), even if what was on the shelf a few days ago has sold out...

 

one store in my area has a decent selection of craft beer but doesn't have a high volume of sales ,so when allotments are sent out they might get 1-2 bottles .Most the time they put them in the pack room until they get a small collection of stuff and then announce it on facebook .No matter how it's done it's going to make some happy and piss off others .I like the way this store does it because I might get the chance to get 1 bottle of each of what they have set aside.

 

Or perhaps more like making a reservation on behalf of a regular customer who doesn't know yet that there is anything to be reserved but would probably make that reservation if they knew?

Edit: The word "friends" carries with it the extra baggage that you might be doing it for reasons not relevant to the business. I personally have never encountered a beer seller who wanted me to buy something because she thought I was cute... :-)

 

It’s gotta be common in shops with a large customer base when they get in a limited amount of a high-demand beer. The policy of keeping it off the floor is fine, far as I'm concerned. It’s got pros and cons naturally. If there's something limited and current I'm looking for, I'll ask. But if there’s something elite hidden behind the counter, I may never know what I missed...

Withholding the goods allows the store owner to give their best (or favorite) customers a chance to buy it before it sells out. I shop several stores over the span of a month, but a couple heavier than the rest. In those couple, the manager will tell me if something's in. In my less shopped stores, I’d have to ask. The scenario you described puts you firmly in the “regular customer” category, and the store did you right.

--> If BCBS variants and hard-to-find sours go out on the shelves, what're they keeping off the floor?

 

Stores often must carry and sell a brewery's base beers to be able to obtain Special Releases from that brewery. So why shouldn't the Retailer sell the Special Release to people that are buying all the regular releases as well? Seem logical to me.

 

I'm sure quite a few shops keep limited, highly-sought releases off the floor/shelf. However, I would hazard a guess that the number of shops who are truly keeping those releases only for specifically-identified customers is much lower. They may hold a bottle or two for a few really good customers that may spend a lot of money at the store, but a lot of times accessing the "special" reserve is simply a matter of talking to the beer guy.

Sometimes, it's not about holding bottles for specific people, but wanting to have better control over the inventory and make sure that anyone who gets bottle X is getting it because of an express interest in it, rather than just happening to see it on the shelf.

Either way, this practice doesn't bother me. People are going to get shut out no matter what. I think it's probably a good thing that a store owner wants to make sure the people who aren't getting shut out are good customers that may not have the time to show up at the store at truck delivery time.

 

If I owned a beer store you can be certain that the people who buy beer from me every week and help keep me in business would get preference over truck chasers who go from store to store trying to grab as much limited supply as they can without buying anything else or ever stopping in the store again.

 

I work in a customer service type job, and is someone I see fairly regularly going to get treated a little more preferentially than someone I've never seen before? You're goddamned right they are.

The stores and employees that take care of me, I try to take care of them when I go somewhere and get my hands on something not around my parts. Just to show it's appreciated.

 

I personally hope bottle shops like that go out of business.

Imagine if you had to get on your knees for the butcher to give you the 80/20. They have 93/7 in the counter, but only certain people get the good meat. Or if you had to have the secret knock to get your pair of Levi's. Wranglers up front, but better pants in the back.

I get "rewarding" your better customers. To a certain extent. Don't sell me the BCBS because I don't buy enough Bud Light Clamato the rest of the year???

 

Imagine if you had to ask your butcher if he had anything that wasn't immediately visible in the display case.

The living would envy the dead.

 

Every time this thread comes up I post the practice of my favorite shop, (which closed about three years ago due family obligations, not due to limited release practices) in hopes of seeing other shops eventually adopt the idea -

Customers, ANY customer that enters the store is afforded the opportunity to sign up on a clipboard to be contacted once said product arrives to come get their allotment. FC/FS, just goes down the list. No longer want it? Fine, next up on list gets a call. And it was a clipboard. No responses to facebook, twitter, signing in on four square or whatever. Come in, shop our wares and scribble your name out if you'd like "x" beer. They'd usually give you a week to pick it up unless a you could beg off for a day or so due to being out of town. I guess the only appearance of exclusion in this system is that you have to be cognizant of both the product and the ballpark release date as to know enough to look at the clipboards.

Outside of that system, I've become very accustomed to the email notification system that TW has. Only problem is trying to jump on their website after they enter the item into their database (for new items and closed out items) but prior to it being received, as to actually be able to click the little "email me when product arrives" button. So, product is received in, email goes out, call store to verify and ask if they can put one back (about a 50/50 proposition depending on who you talk to) with the promise of getting it THAT day. It's not the best system in the world (mostly since not everything gives you an email option) but it's a start.

 

The LQ store I go to does that....you have to be part of the "Elite" list to get special stuff that's stored in the back....most times I go to the straight to the manager on duty to ask "whats good?" where I would then follow him to the office to get my pick of the goods......

A week ago, I was recognized as "one of those guys" by a new cashier......pretty funny

 

No, but relax and enjoy the perks of being a regular. I'm sure the shop gave up trying to appease the one and done customers and didn't want them around because they tend to be nasty as well as greedy with what they do buy. It's their shop and this is how they want to handle releases that are hard to come by.

 

When I recognize a store doesn't put "the good stuff" on the shelves, I just won't make it a habit to shop there frequently. I think it implies they already have a large, established customer base/staff of beer nerds and I just don't have much of a chance to snag anything limited.

I also think it ruins the fun of stumbling upon something good... There was this small beer store near my work and when they opened it was sort of a free-for-all. They would put something up on Facebook, and I could usually make it in time before it sold out, and snag a few other beers while I was there. Sadly I think this was just a tactic to get their name out there, and over time it shifted to holding all rare bottles for bottle pour events where they could charge a large markup, but that's another story.

 

Some do and some dont as others have said. I usually only shop at stores that keep stuff in back. I spend quite a bit and have built of relationships with the beer ppl at my local store. Thus I never have to worry about missing out on things.

 

Very similar to how my local bottle shop is ran. I personally love it haha.

 

Well said. Small allocations of highly sought after beers are a real pain for distributors and retailers. It should not be surprising that loyalty is rewarded. Also, some seemingly entitled consumers become irate and demand that you/one sell them what they know is "in the back". In business and life, being nice and polite always works wonders.

 

The old saying goes something like... The answer to the question is always no if you don't ask.

Honestly, I have no problem with this. By asking about limited releases, the store can let you know their policy. If you care to be a regular customer there, then it should be no problem to gain access to their limited quantity items, and likely in fairly short period of time.

If you don't like it, shop somewhere else, or open your own bottle shop. #MericaTheBeautiful