Total Wine doesn't get it (yet another freshness rant)

That's odd... I don't have a subscription, and I read it completely just fine.

 

In these cases, TW is just a consumer advocate (according to their PR)... It is just an unforeseen side effect that their consumer advocacy also puts their competitors out of business.

I was born at night, but not last night.

 

No. Not by definition.
But I see TW as the Walmart of liquor stores. They have the resources (money) to influence and tilt the laws and ordinances in favor their business model.
They have a business model that no other store can compete with.
They are by definition in some markets not even considered a liquor store. But are considered a restaurant requiring a restaurant liquor license.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/money...tal-wine-more-faces-license-dilemma/92064526/

 

How's thast working so far?

 

Read a few more articles and you'll get this:

 

Seems to be a stretch. Still looking for the "predatory" pricing part.

From the article linked:
"In Massachusetts, Total Wine has sued to invalidate a state regulation that prevents retailers from selling alcohol below cost, a common practice in other industries (my emphasis). The company is also about to launch a public relations campaign here challenging a state rule prohibiting alcohol retailers from issuing discount coupons and loyalty cards."

If TW would like to run specials/sales and actually sell products below the cost the company paid for the products at wholesale, why shouldn't they be allowed to do that? Retailers in any other industry can do that, and many do. Is that predatory? And offering customers coupons and a loyalty program in MA, like many other states allow, is that predatory?

In the alcohol industry, doing business in the 50 U.S. states is the equivalent of doing business in 50 different countries from a legal standpoint. Nothing wrong with trying to make the laws a little more uniform across the country, and favorable to the consumer in the process.

At the end of the day the vast majority of laws TW fights to get changed are laws that don't favor the consumer.

Example: In North and South Carolina there used to be a law enforcing an ABV cap (maximum) on beer. TW lobbied in each state to get the ABV cap raised (cap at the time was <6% ABV I believe). This legal effort was at a cost to TW, which at the time was a much smaller company than it is today, and was, (as it still is) a privately owned company. This effort succeeded and it frankly opened up the doors to modern day craft beers to be available for sale in these two states. Prior to that law change, the beer scene in these states was in the dark ages. There wouldn't be a beer scene in either of these states if the old laws were still in effect. This law change, while certainly benefiting TW by being able to carry and sell more beers, also benefited other entrepreneurs who then were able to open up craft beer stores. And it allowed breweries to open and sell their beers in their own state.

NC went from being a beer wasteland to being a craft beer destination state. Couldn't have happened prior to the law change. State legislators weren't changing these laws until TW lobbied them on the issue. That's how it usually works (unfortunately).

 

Same here. I just clicked the big blue button that said 'Read Full Article'.

 

What is the incentive for retailers to have bloated, aging inventory rather than a lean system that sells through quickly, returning more $/sq ft of retail space? That incentive should be independent of customer knowledge of freshness.

If you're thinking of waving me off as not understanding how the industry works, mind you that the companies that are thriving are figuring out how to be lean, reduce product or raw materials they have to on hand, do more with less space... Amazon, Uber, AB-InBev, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, McDonalds, etc. Your market could be ripe for disruption.

 

Two of the more popular stores in the Detroit area were all but shut out of BC because they didn't sell a lot of GI. The local beer community put them on blast for it. "you guys are slipping" was a common reaction. One place even went so far as to buy bottles from another store and pretty much lose money just to save face. Sometimes FOMO isn't just on the customer side of the counter and the distributors know that, so yeah they try to leverage retailers.

 

I didn't say predatory pricing.

As to the rest of your points, see my post, above:

 

While I aim at the latter, a lot of retailers are in the race to be THE store that has everything and gets more allocations than the other guys. I'm constantly explaining to customers why I don't stack cases to the ceiling. I get one or two trucks from the distributor every week, I don't need three months worth of something stacked on the floor just because "whoah!...so much beer". When I explain beer is basically food...."would you buy meat that was placed in the cooler 3 months ago?"....etc, a light comes on and they start to get it.

 

You sound just like my local guys. They have a similar practice and its awesome. They stock enough but not piles, it moves fast, they get more, etc. Always loads of choices but not so much it sits and gets dusty. They have a strong following of locals that is for sure. I wish more folks operated like you do and my locals, its the way to go. Also having a open relationship with folks, I feel I can openly talk to my store guys and say just about anything. They listen, they take notes when needed and that is the key to being the best in the area. They get most of my business that is for sure.
Cheers

 

On that topic we are in agreement!

Cheers!

 

I purchase waaaaay more beer from non-TW retailers since the beers at TW tend to me too old. From my personal perspective the practices of TW as regards beer retailing in non-predatory since they incentivize me to buy my beer elsewhere.

Cheers!

 

And I make sure to run my store the same way, lean and clean. Hopefully more wholesalers and retailers will follow suit and stop playing these arbitrary allocation games that cause buyers to bloat/burn cases of beer just so they can be the "it" store on instagram. So many people don't see the cases upon cases of beer that gets purchased by stores JUST to get one case of a rare item only to return the product when it inevitably goes past it peak freshness date. It's a waste and some of these stores are worse than the customers when it comes to FOMO beers. A lot of what goes on in this industry goes unseen by the average consumer who too often doesn't care how the beer gets on the shelf so long as they can buy it.

 

This article seems to champion all the good that Total Wine has done, not highlight a bunch of negative practices. Who isn't happy with buying beer on Sundays, later store hours, volume discounts, and beer coupons & rewards?

 

Well I commend you and others like you. Your leading the way and its appreciated!

 

OK. That's odd in my view, though, to assert in one fell swoop that "TW's consumer advocacy puts its competitors out of business," because there is still a LOT of retail beer competition out there in existence. And there's more new competition on the way that none of us even knows about yet let alone in what form it will be. Could it possibly be that any retailers that went out of business when TW came to town weren't serving the interests of enough consumers (to sustain their business) at the end of the day, when put up against the "new mousetrap" that TW brought to market?

Consider some of the municipalities there in your state of MN with the municipal government-run wine/beer/liquor stores that have a limited product selection and a monopoly on prices (AKA high prices). Would that be your preference? It's not for most consumers. Yeah, Total Wine came to nearby towns and rattled these municipal stores' cages, because many of their customers (not all, mind you) fled to the other choice (more selection and lower prices overall).

Competition never ceases. Sears certainly must have put some smaller local shops "out of business" back in the day with their new, large department store model and ubiquitous and very popular catalog from which you could buy just about anything. But look at Sears today. They, too, didn't keep up with the times. Retailers have to keep up with the times and either compete successfully (consumer advocacy) or go out of business. The founders/owners of TW don't want to become a Sears.

 

I went to TW once a few years ago. Noticed the way out of date IPAs and huge markups on everything. Never went back.

My go to store, Yankee Spirits in Attleboro, MA posts all major releases on Twitter, so it's easy to track down the fresh stuff. In terms of IPAs, I drink Finback/Singlecut etc. all with 3-4 weeks of canning. They have plenty of out of date stuff but I just ignore it.

 

I'm not saying you're a dumbass, because you're not, just frustrated...

but yeah. I once was at Wegmans and they were "literally" building a big endcap of Sucks, I want to say around Thanksgiving, but it was when it was supposed to be new, it was in season. Herpaderp me, walks up, actually picks up a bottle, fiddles around with it, and Laguintas goddamn dating, I can't see anything, and go herpaderp it must be fresh, they just got it, right?

Took it home. They might have just gotten it, but it was intended to be sold 12 months before. ...and that, was the last time I bought Lagunitas (used to love Sucks, but I'm not wasting my time and their insistence on not helping the customer check dates, is a deal breaker).


in case anyone was wondering, the 14 month old Sucks, was terrible.