The Foodery in PA

that store fucking sucks /thread

 

They're in Philly and I believe they're the same jerks who tried to charge $30 or so for a bottle of Parabola.

 

Most expensive store I've ever seen.

 

Check out any thread about Heady, Cantillon, or BA stouts in NYC. You'll see some interesting prices.

- Joe

 

Much more offensive when it's standard shelf beers.

I was there earlier this year.

$5.75 for Founders Imperial. That's twice the price of what should be a $12 four pack.
Most beers someone can find at any decent beer store were 1.5x or 2x the price.
GI Barleywine for $9.35 a bottle.

 

Although he states in the thread he is trading for items that he will share for free, I still question the legality. PA is a tough nut to do business with when it comes to booze, so I wonder how they would interpret these transactions considering they have the right to audit their inventory at any time. Doing anything less than selling them to himself before he trades them could present a massive problem for him.

I also wonder if the distributor would care, seeing as they already have their money. I'm pretty sure the breweries involved would care.

 

As a self-admitted "hoarder for trade-bait" I can see how that would upset you. From my point of view, I say all the better. Allows me to casually stop by on the way home and grab a bottle of Parabola.

You're part of the problem, so don't be hatin' on the game you're playing.

I really don't care if they trade of some, it's their beer afterall. If you really have a problem with it don't shop there. They've been selling great beer since many on here where still in short pants.

 

Regarding price, The Foodery prices are generally on par with other bottle shops in Philly. What you get is selection and convenience, i.e if you wanted to grab a slice of pizza at Rustica instead of spending $25 on a burger + beer + tax + tip at a bar, go to the Foodery, grab a bottle or 2 of beers (usually not found at those bars), a couple slices, and enjoy for a lot less. If I'm going to buy just beers, most of these bottle shops won't be my first choice and the Foodery is no exception.

I'm not sure why all the outrage with the owner wanted to trade with beers he gets. If you owned a bottle shop, I really hope you would be passionate about, enjoy, and love sharing beers with your friends as well, including beers that we here trade for because there are no other ways to get them. You know, acting like every normal beer enthusiast on this site. Are people really expecting the owner to chase trucks, drive around town, and pay marked up prices from a competitor whenever limited beers are released?

ETA: the poll question is misleading and not specific to the situation. It should be "Is it unreasonable for a bottle shop owner to keep a few bottles of limited beers to trade for beers he can't obtain without trading?"

 

A friend of mine went to the Heady Topper blind taste test they held last week. The Foodery posted it on their blog that they were doing it a few days ahead of time. I think he said there was somewhere around 35 people or so that came. Doesn't really seem like he is trading for just himself/friends but is just doing it to allow others in the community who don't trade to try some beer not available in the area.

On a side note, I believe the owner said he had traded a case of DirtWolf for the case of Heady. I found that surprising.

 

I always called it the $35 six pack store. Their prices are that high.

 

I would really love to be able to BUY a bottle or two, or three, of Classic Gueuze... now I know one of the reasons I can't....

 

If you're a store owner you pretty much can do whatever you want. People complain about prices and this and that, but in the end everyone has their own degree of what value is personally.

I haven't looked at the thread, if you are sure it's them well...

I think the other irony is that people complaining about certain stores who have something and are pricing it too high or whatever don't realize there's no such thing as bad publicity when it comes to this...

 

I am curious about the licensing and taxes associated with bottle shops in Philly. Most of the shops allow you to drink at them. As mythaeus mentioned, bottle shop prices in Philly are usually pretty high. If they have similar taxes as bars, it might explain the higher prices. Additionally, I'm sure there are higher taxes for getting around the PA case laws. Just a few thoughts.

I don't think it's been mentioned, yet, but the Foodery locations did pour free Heady for people a wee or so ago. So, if he is given free tastings after trading his overpriced bottles, that's a less selfish result. Unless, he just handcuffed without current label approval to sell Heady. --- sorry just saw drz113 mentioned the free tasting ---

In the reddit post, he's looking for Russian River ipas. Is it one label approval for both kegs and bottles? He may be able to then sell those bottles. If he continues to pour these beers free for customers, maybe that's not the worst.

- Joe

 

I've only seen PtE kegs here in Philly. We get "plenty" of them too (so it seems) so I'd really doubt he's trading to sell since people who know about PtE know they can get it on draft. Besides, I see no reasons why he would trade beers that he could easily sell for significant markups just to sell the beer he traded for, most likely illegally and with lower markup potential.

 

There is no difference in taxes for bars versus bottles shops versus retail sales at beer distributors. All businesses pay the same tax rates: http://www.phila.gov/Revenue/taxpro/Pages/rates.aspx

Separately, the cost of a liquor license is dependent upon the private sale of the license to the establishment. All depends on how much you want to pay to acquire it. No preset difference between establishment type.

Bottle shop prices in Philly are high for several key reasons: (1) higher rent; (2) selling product individually requires tremendous volume to make money (even if the margin percent is hight, the absolute margin is low); (3) craft beer is a premium product, and people will pay for it.

Bottle shop owners aren't getting filthy rich over night. If it costs you $2500 a month in rent, $500 a month in utilities; and you have to pay 4 employees (at 40 hours a week) a halfway decent wage (let's just say $10) you are talking (at a bare minimum): $9500 a month in overhead. At $2 per bottle profit on average (which might be generous) you would need to sell 4,750 bottles a month just to break even.

 

Thanks for the information. It's silly to compare Philly prices to NJ prices, especially in the suburban areas. I appreciate you sharing all this info.

- Joe

 

I agree. He said he wanted it for a tasting. So, it may be another free tasting. Philly also gets Blind Pig from time to time, more regularly at Monk's than other places. Essentially, it is a business move to bring people in for a tasting and hope they buy something.

I suppose this is all of topic since the original question was whether using stock to trade is a dick move or not. I would have to believe that most store/bar owners will take a bottle or two for him or herself to drink or whatever. Essentially, he paid (or will have to pay for it at some point as I don't believe PA is COD) for the beer, it's up to him.

I think it was silly for him to even identify himself as the owner of a store, let alone naming the place.

- Joe

 

Excelent post. The constant whine that "Philly prices are too high" is tiresome. Who'd a thunk that renting a couple thousand square foot builing at 17th & Samson would cost so much more than a strip-mall store front in DelCo....

 

I think it's well-meaning. Here's the write-up from the first event:
http://www.fooderybeer.com/philly-beer-blog/2014/7/9/the-power-of-novelty

Rather than trade for out-of-market beers, however, maybe it would make more sense to pit the very hard-to-find in-market beers against beers that can be bought more easily (e.g. test the Classic against some more obtainable Tilquin).