Buying privilege. Come on, man.

GI Christmas Ale is piled to the ceiling at one of my locals, selling $2.99/4pk. They pushed it on me as I walked into the shop. I declined. Don't feed the beast. Why is there a 15-wide 6pk facing of GI regulars at the grocery store, etc. etc. etc. DONT FEED THE BEAST.

 

^^^Yeah, that sums it up.
The way the said store is doing it is pretty lame.
Having said that, I know for a fact that the more GI product a locale sells throughout the year is the basis for deciding on what level of BCBS (and variants) they'll receive. But to require purchasing other products...ridiculous.

 

That's a big part of my issue with it, because the whole point of that sort of system is to reward the stores that move a lot of product over the course of the year by doing a good job and making genuine sales. Places that force you to buy shit just so you can buy other shit are artificially inflating their numbers.

 

JP LIQUORS in naperville. Plus he rapes u on the price. Then he raffles the Rare with $20 tickets. Jack ass!

 

One thing that hasn't been said yet (I think): this practice makes it easier to actually buy these beers in some ways.
Let's say that the only way you can buy a certain beer is to either: line up before sunup and wait for three hours, buy it whenever you feel like at a marked up price, or buy it whenever you feel like with other beers... then the "best" option could very well be the last one. At least you are getting more beer for the money than the second case. I am saying this because the shops that sell with this policy are the places that end up hanging on to the beer for longer than five minutes. Please note that the following is what's in line with my actual habits:

Having said that, it's not something that I personally like. When I have encountered this, I've always said "no thank you." The problem with it, is that when the clerk tells you that you can't buy something without doing something else, it creates a feeling of unwelcomeness... that your money is no good there. It's a negative feeling and one that turns me off to the store. It's a simple emotional reaction.

What conditions are in play that allow this circumstance to even be needed? If a flagship beer is "keeping the lights on," then why isn't it moving? If one beer is more in demand than another, then why not shift production accordingly? If Maine's Peeper collects dust but Lunch sells out, then why not adjust production and/or sales? I understand that not all beers are created equal in terms of overhead, availability of raw materials, and margins... but something isn't quite adding up.

 

So many tears.

 

Which is worse...this scenario, the one where truck chasers from out-of-town buy all the limited beer at your store and run off to the next, or the one where the store charges double the MSRP? I personally wouldn't have bought a 6er for the opportunity to buy the beer, but at least it is available for purchase. At the end of the day, it is either worth it to the purchaser or it isn't. If he sold all his beer with the 6er policy, then I'd say supply met demand and all is well in the world.

 

Are paid raffles legal there without a gambling license?

 

That's a great question! I have no idea but I will happily busty his balls next time I walk into his store.

 

Well save for BCBS & their bigger offerings their core line up of Sixers, is meh @ best they have to free their shop of future shelf turds, & the AB-InBev rep probably working a new strategy @ the grass roots level

 

You are right that most of their reg sixers are average at best. I want to like them but just don't.

 

BCBS...."Sold the hard way".

 

Big Beer strong arm tactics! All of these M&A transactions are only going to lead to one thing which is the ability of Big Beer to control the craft beer market through unfair competitive advantage with their distribution channel dominance.

If you are a brewery and choose to make an exit then go with a private equity play as they are more likely to continue supporting the smaller brewery ecosystem.

I don't like it.

 

I just posted a photo Tuesday of a store in Cambridge MA that had 20+ cases on the floor. $7.99 a bottle or $90 a case.

Demand is not at an all time high, nor is supply and issue

 

Do you also have a problem with the lizard people?

 

Demand is at an all time high, and supply is an issue. Your scenario is a case of misallocation rather than an abundance of supply, because I can guarantee you that there are plenty of places where the beer sold out the first day, People in many cities would be thrilled to find a bottle (much less a stack of cases) at this point.