We don’t have separate beer and liquor stores here. A lot of people buy their beer at the grocery stores. Any interesting beer is at the liquor stores.
I think I’ve seen the trend if fewer. Raft beer stores, less craft. Ever on the shelves and at restaurants. In Vermont, we have the interes9trend of so much interest in local beers, that other interesting (and great) domestic and foreign beers get squeezed out.
I’ve probably been living under a rock - but when I couldn’t find any decent beer at my local liquor store, I became concerned
I have seen that shift too, but I do not think it is just fewer enthusiasts. From my time in retail and beer, it feels more like the demand is still there, just not consistent enough to support a fully dedicated footprint in every market. During the boom years, volume and hype could carry a wide selection. Now it comes down to turns and reliability. If the product does not move, it does not stay, even if people say they want it.
Beer bars are, I think, mostly down to the combined pressure of brewery tap rooms ave normal bars raising the floor for general taplists. I've not seen the same loss off specialty stores, but the areas I frequent also didn't see a boom in them. My guess would be that the business dynamic is similar to breweries. In the boom it was easy to open one and make it work, when the hype fades you have to actually have the business segment chops to know ans serve your core customer
This begs the question about something that I often wonder about - do store employees have the opportunity to sample beers, wines, liquors so as to be able to personally recommend alternate brands when something a customer asks for has sold out? If so, how do you control the consumption so that an employee isn't plastered at the end of their shift?
At my store, I receive/request samples from vendors as much as possible, as management does not allow me to sample out product (vendors are allowed to come and give samplings/demos to customers, though). I am also not permitted to drink at work. So, when I receive samples, I distribute among coworkers (when possible) and take it home to try. Among other things, it *greatly* helps being able to speak to the quality of the product when a customer asks me about it. It allows me to have an easier time recommending products to customers, as well, when they're not quite sure what they want/are looking for, or like you said, when something is out and they're looking for something comparable.
That is a great question, and it is something that can vary a lot depending on the store and how seriously they treat the category. From my experience, the best setups usually separate education from the actual shift. Staff tastings are done off the clock or in a controlled setting, so people can build familiarity without it interfering with day to day operations. A big part of it also comes down to how much people care about the product outside of work. In beer especially, the stronger teams tend to be the ones who are learning on their own time, whether that is through something like the Cicerone program, trying samples at home, or just staying engaged with what is out there. If I were building a team, I would lean into that. Not in a heavy handed way, but encouraging that kind of curiosity and giving people opportunities to taste and learn outside of the shift. That tends to translate much better on the floor than relying on in the moment sampling. On the floor, it becomes less about tasting everything and more about understanding what is moving, what is fresh, and how to guide someone based on that. If there is any sampling during work hours, it is usually limited and structured so people can stay sharp and professional. So ideally it is a mix of prior exposure, personal interest, and real world feedback rather than relying on on the spot tasting.
I doubt that happens at stores. At breweries, yes. My nephew worked at Great Lakes and he regularly got free beer, got to try new releases… I would get six packs without labels.
Our Craft Beer Cellsr morphed into an independent store, adding a tasting bar, moving into wine… And I’m bugged that they have less interesting beer and I wonder how they will hang on.
A sure-fire way to determine whether an inquiring customer is legitimately interested in the product: “I can order it in and have it for you in a few days. I’ll also ask the distributor to pull the freshest stock. Just need a xx-percent deposit.” A win-win, unless there’s a manager who’s afraid of “offending” the customer by asking for a deposit.
Will seltzers and ciders replace light beer? I think sure. For the alcohol, seltzers are an easy drink. But craft beer? The pour, aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel. All the aspects that make craft beer. That void is not replaced. Maybe there will be a time there is competition in terms of ABV, but I am hopeful for the flavor and other characteristics, lagers will beat seltzers, IPAs will beat "imperial" seltzers. Craft beer will hold the wall.
Back in the dark ages, I worked two summers for a local liquor store chain while in college. A number of these stores had very impressive wine inventories. At one of these stores, the manager gave strict orders to the stock boy/runner/grunt crew (that would be me) to refrain from interacting with any customer in the wine section, especially if they “appeared to be wealthy.” We were to summon him, or another manager on duty. We usually didn’t have to take the time to profile the customer because the manager would literally come running to greet said customer and brown-nose him or her for a good hour. But it made me super paranoid about wine for years.
Let's hope the beer market crashes abd everything except 10 breweries in every state survive. All owned by AB and Molson. All distributed ny Reyes. All overpriced. Then we can all talk about how good room temp 3 year old IPAs from Total Wine were.
I used to get this a lot when I worked with real cheese. "I can get it, but it's a 30# wheel and you'll have to pay for a quarter of it up front." Actually had a couple of takers over the years.
The THC isn't really a thing here, but there was a bit of shelf set aside at my store at the Missouri State Border
I've worked with and around wine for my entire adult life, and actually have college credits for it. I'm not a wine guy, it's not my preferred beverage. I can tell good from bad, but I'm not sure that I can tell good from great for most varieties/styles. I am not comfortable around wine people. You can never be sure who is just looking to show off an expensive bottle and who really knows their stuff.
