Liquor Stores - An Easy Solution For Selling Rare Beers

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by BrianJ, Jul 24, 2012.

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  1. BrianJ

    BrianJ Initiate (0) Jul 17, 2003 Minnesota

    Sounds like the Surly Syx release hasn't been as contentious as Darkness/Five/KBS and that's great. I'm glad they were able to get such volume out.

    But here's an unsolicited free idea to liquor stores. Require each purchase of hot releases to be accompanied by a $50 (the specific amount could be adjusted) gift card purchase to your store. This works for a number of reasons.

    1. Hoarders/E-Bayers won't bother. It ups the investment too high.
    2. There's no impact to your regulars. They'd spend that money anyways.
    3. Your store can make extra profit off of big releases without pissing off the breweries or the customers by jacking up the price.

    A store is going to sell all of their allotment of big releases regardless of what they do. If they do it this way, they reward their regulars, make a little extra money and keep out the hoarders. Any reason this wouldn't work?
     
    #1 BrianJ, Jul 24, 2012
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  2. minnesotaryan

    minnesotaryan Initiate (0) Dec 27, 2010 Minnesota

    for those on a budget just trying to get a bottle or two between pay checks that seems like it would ruin getting stuff like this.
     
    #2 minnesotaryan, Jul 24, 2012
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  3. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,686) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Don't take this personally, but this is perhaps the worst idea I've ever seen on this website.

    There are a handful of stores that I spend a LOT of money at over the course of the year. Any of them that pulled a shitty move like this, & I'd move that spending elsewhere in a heartbeat.
     
    #3 maximum12, Jul 24, 2012
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  4. BrianJ

    BrianJ Initiate (0) Jul 17, 2003 Minnesota

    I won't take it personally, just throwing an idea out there.

    But to respond to both points - if you're trying to get a bottle or two between paychecks why are you buying $20 bottles of beer?

    If you spend a lot of money at a store why do you care that you have to buy a gift card on top of it. Let's say it was $25 instead of $50. I bought a bottle of Steel Toe and a 12 of Nordeast along with my Syx, that's about $17. Get a sixer of any other craft beer that's your $25. Alternatively they don't have a policy like that and they sell out to people with time to follow a truck around all day that won't spend another dime in the store.
     
    #4 BrianJ, Jul 24, 2012
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  5. minnesotaryan

    minnesotaryan Initiate (0) Dec 27, 2010 Minnesota

    well I set money aside for stuff like syx, sometimes I could probably afford the gift card, but sometimes I just have the extra $40 that I have set aside from buying less beer ahead of time.
     
    #5 minnesotaryan, Jul 24, 2012
  6. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,686) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    It's not the specifics, its the very idea that's offensive to me.

    Bottle limits I get. Nobody wants to have "that guy" who comes in & buys all three cases of a rare release. Why restrict it more? These stores are in business to sell beer - not to get all control-freaky about it (see: Sean Hill). Yes, they are doing what they can with bottle limits to spread what they get around, & I think that's good. But like every good idea, there's going too far.

    I have no idea why people are so obsessed about hoarders or traders or what anyone does with their beer once they buy it. Certainly, most liquor store owners aren't going to care, & trying to artificially restrict buying further is only going to piss people off. Limited releases are already a big enough pain in their asses, I'm sure they don't want to further irritate customers over these beers.
     
    #6 maximum12, Jul 24, 2012
  7. Steasy66

    Steasy66 Initiate (0) Feb 23, 2012 Minnesota

    I agree its a bad idea, but come on, there are far worse ideas tossed around on this site daily. Do you read some of the crap Tewaris posts?
     
    #7 Steasy66, Jul 24, 2012
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  8. pmccallum86

    pmccallum86 Savant (1,107) Apr 7, 2009 Minnesota

    I actually think it's a great idea. It only hurts the truck chasers that follow the truck to stores they never usually visit. Like you said, the regulars will spend the money there anyways.
     
    #8 pmccallum86, Jul 24, 2012
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  9. BrianJ

    BrianJ Initiate (0) Jul 17, 2003 Minnesota

    Replying to minnesotaryan
    That's a cash flow issue and not an issue with total expenditures.You're a Firkins shopper right (you probably don't remember this but I met you at the original store)? You'd still spend that money there wouldn't you?

    I'm just thinking about this from an economist's perspective. If you have a store and you get a beer like this you're going to sell out of it. You want to profit off of it without pissing off the brewery or your customers. How do you do that? You want to make sure that the limited beers go to your most loyal customers (if you don't remember I'm the guy who used to go to the Eden Prairie Munie until they sold two cases of KBS over the phone and haven't been back since. Had they secured me a single bottle I'd still be going there).

    So how do you manage those? One way people seem to do that is by keeping it behind the shelf and only giving it to the people who ask for it which seems backwards to me, it's the hoarders who will ask. Loyal customers may not. I actually got my Five because the clerk saw that I was buying Lips Of Faith and Unchained and said, "wow you don't want Five?" It wasn't on the floor and I'm not the type to ask.

    The other way is to just jack up the price. Frankly I think that's fair but it makes customers mad and makes the brewery mad. So how do you handle it?
     
    #9 BrianJ, Jul 24, 2012
  10. mjryan

    mjryan Pooh-Bah (1,571) Dec 22, 2007 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah

    The fact is limited release beers are well, limited. I see no need to restrict their purchase to those with a surplus of disposable income. Honestly, it's just beer. Sure, I'd like to get a couple of bottles of Syx, and probably will, but if I don't, it won't bother me.
     
    #10 mjryan, Jul 24, 2012
  11. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,686) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    OK, I stand corrected. Although to be fair, most of his posts are incoherent.
     
    #11 maximum12, Jul 24, 2012
  12. BrianJ

    BrianJ Initiate (0) Jul 17, 2003 Minnesota

    You're contradicting yourself a little bit. You get bottle limits but you don't get why people care what hoarders/e-bayers do. So why not remove bottle limits and let the stores sell out to the first guy that walks in the door?

    I'm just trying to understand your reasoning better, I understand that in the grand scheme of things it's a minor issue.
     
    #12 BrianJ, Jul 24, 2012
  13. Douggo

    Douggo Initiate (0) Oct 24, 2009 Minnesota

    I think limited-release beers should be dispensed by the government, like cheese.
     
    #13 Douggo, Jul 24, 2012
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  14. hoeg0015

    hoeg0015 Initiate (0) Jul 15, 2008 Minnesota

    and when I read them, I always attempt to do it out loud in his voice, and then I get all confused and need a drink.
     
    #14 hoeg0015, Jul 24, 2012
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  15. mothman

    mothman Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,016) Jun 21, 2007 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think there is enough 6 for everyone to quit whining. Every time a new release hits mn shelves someone has to complain. It's not going to be perfect and it never will be.
     
    #15 mothman, Jul 24, 2012
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  16. ChrisConn

    ChrisConn Initiate (0) Feb 20, 2012 Minnesota

    It was interesting to me yesterday to read how quickly that Firkins ran out of Syx(2:30pm?) and I went after work to Big Top at Midway and picked up my limit. When there is a limited release save yourself the trouble of racing to FF and go to your nearest store. Those that are loyal to FF, Ale Jail, etc can probably save themselves the higher blood pressure and go somewhere less known and still get it. They won't mind because they will still sell out.

    New ideas are always great, but this topic does not need a new idea, people just need to relax.
     
    #16 ChrisConn, Jul 24, 2012
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  17. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,686) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Not contradicting myself at all.

    I could boil it down to: a little bit of restriction is good for the consumer & store (i.e. bottle limits). Lots of restriction is bad for the consumer & store (stores piss people off, consumers get frustrated).

    Just look at the Syx thread for confirmation. To use mothman's word, there's a bit of "whining" in every direction about how stores deal with bottle limits, timing, etc. Stores cannot make everyone happy, but they can try to be fair - & what seems fairest is bottle limits & first-come-first-serve.
     
    #17 maximum12, Jul 24, 2012
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  18. BrianJ

    BrianJ Initiate (0) Jul 17, 2003 Minnesota

    Well it's clear that this isn't a good idea even if it seems rational to me because it would piss some customers off. Whether I would agree with their reasoning (I don't) for being pissed about it is irrelevant.

    Again, it's just a thought experiment. These release days are stressful for consumers, stores and brewers alike and I wonder about what could be done to mitigate that.

    Cheers!
     
    #18 BrianJ, Jul 24, 2012
  19. MRC711

    MRC711 Zealot (506) Oct 22, 2007 Minnesota
    Trader

    Couldn't agree more with this statement. Why is having an intelligent conversation about what to do with limited releases considered whining? And isn't whining about others whining still whining?
     
    #19 MRC711, Jul 24, 2012
  20. mothman

    mothman Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,016) Jun 21, 2007 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    If you (or others) are getting stressed about beer releases I suggest you find some solid shelf offerings and stop worrying about the 'latest and greatest.' People need to open their eyes and see that most of these limited releases aren't even as good as what you can find anywhere, anytime.

    Buying beer shouldn't be stressful. And Todd does a damn good job I brewing enough of these 'limited' releases to not make them so limited.

    If you want to call this whining as well, you won't hurt my feelings.
     
    #20 mothman, Jul 24, 2012
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