How Does Your Local Beer Store Sell Rare Beers???

CT has this dumb habit of hiding everything good in the back and making people ask. also price gouging and ridiculous limits that dont even make driving down the street worth it.

And I'm sure some people get lied to about availability or what's hiding, liquor store owners in CT are all dirty scumbags.

 

^^^ All of them I'm sure. Shop somewhere else? MA. RI?

 

Wait till your store is pretty full of hardcore beer geeks, then nonchalantly roll that rare bottle/can on the floor towards the center of them and watch them battle it out Thunderdome-style.

 

Whatcha selling?

 

ISO: whatever OP's got

Seriously: take care of your best customers and keep the beer hidden from plain sight. The true Beer Advocates will know when the beer they love is being released and ask for it.

 

Definitely.

 

Is it bad that I go to my local Giant Eagles for rare releases? For those who aren't familiar, they are a chain grocery store. They keep everything behind the counter and it is usually 1-2 bottle limits. But they pull in a few cases and they are usually always half the price of any bottle shops. I was still able to get a Higher Math last weekend for about 7 bucks. A bottle shop would have easily been $15 in my area. I hate that.

 

I think the first thing is to make sure your regular customers get the first shot at those "rare" beers. It is pretty likely that you will have people who come in every week or every other week and drop a fair amount of money. Taking care of those customers before the guy who wanders in every 6 months seems like a good business practice.

Speaking as one of those people who frequents one or two stores and spends a lot on beer, I can tell you that it is worth it to me to drive a little further or pay a buck more per bottle if a store owner knows me and is willing to set something special aside.

Why are you giving employees first crack at those rare beers? Is it part of a compensation for a lower wage?

 

Every single one of us BAs would bitch if we didn't get first crack at those beers.

 

This is the question we would like an answer to

 

I like the put one bottle out at a time. Though practically this is probably a pain, the case will probably "last" longer and implicitly this sets bottle limits at 1pp without having to state it, worry about people hiring hobos to buy your beer etc.

 

Based on my favorite stores...

1. Limit the number of cans/bottles that can be purchased - most of the rarer beers around here get 1-2 bottle/can limits, maybe doubled for a regular customer
2. Rare/limited stuff gets displayed on or behind the sales counter, and only a bottle or two at time
3. Super-limited/very rare stuff is kept hidden and only offered to regular customers.
4. Don't post the items' availability on social media

And while I don't know the policy at all of my stores, at least one store prohibits staff from buying rare/limited beers. I like that as a customer, but would hate that as a staff member. Maybe for the staff, have a lottery or drawing, or an employee of the week reward-type-thing?

Cheers...

 

I agree with many here. My store used to do the whole throw it on the shelf with no announcements and I would always find myself pleasantly surprised on trips to the beer store. Limited stuff would last quite a while, believe it or not. Now, they flood social media all week long with news that maybe 10 bottles will be available of something they will release on a Saturday. People who never visit the store (which is in Philadelphia) show up from New Jersey and sometimes even Delaware. It is kinda frustrating, but hey, they are allowed to do what they went. Just my two cents.

 

...while also tempting the idiots who like to buy all 10 bottles

 

As a consumer, I have no issue with what @Greywulfken has put forth here. Also agree the OP isn't going to find a winning strategy that pleases all, which might be why none satisfy him. I'd suggest, as situation dictates:

• Share some with employees, not necessarily 1 bottle per, but maybe
• Keep a couple aside for better customers. Especially those that at even say, "I've had it, pass it to the next customer who hasn't."
• Limited bottle(s) for the masses, as they see/ask for it

Basically an amalgam of what others have offered up .

 

I've seen a whole lot of different approaches:

1. One store posts that they will do a lottery at a certain day/time. Show up and if there's more people than beer, do the lottery. If not, everyone gets one.
2. One place holds only for their "best customers". I don't shop there because I used to go all the time, but I didn't schmooze the employees, so I wasn't on their list despite the fact that I bought almost all my bottles and kegs from them.
3. One place puts it behind the counter and you have to know it's there and ask. I shop there a lot because I can usually get some via that method.
4. Another place sends out an email to people who've signed up, then it's a free for all. I stop by occasionally, but they usually release during the day. In a college town, the beer geek students get it all before I can get there from work.
5. Release parties, where they have a huge event centered around the release with a lottery, tastings of other beers, etc. That always feels like a bait and switch since you have to plan an afternoon to go there and wait to see if you won. They do it because most people buy other stuff while they're there.
6. Another place just puts it in a pile, in boxes, right where you walk in.

Pretty much everyone has a bottle limit, but it can vary quite a bit from place to place. We have a local facebook group where someone inevitably posts a pic of their haul, then everywhere is sold out within 30 minutes. There are too many people who either don't work or work evenings/nights that snatch it all up. Those are the ones who post a pic of 17 bottles of something that everyone had a 1 bottle limit on because they took two mules and went to every store in town...some following the damn delivery trucks.

I've taken a huge step back from the chase. I try to get a bottle or pack or whatever if something comes out, but I take a very casual attitude about it. I'll try a store or two when I get off work. If it's sold out, no biggie.

TG released KS last week. I didn't drive up Friday when it hit the taproom. Went up Saturday with my wife, but went out for lunch first. It sold out before we'd ordered our pizza and I didn't even flinch. I was happy to hit Pulpit Rock for a couple glasses of Loopy Linn.

 

To OP, you'll never make everyone happy, it is impossible, particularly with such limited amounts. Try not to worry about it too much, just like customers/people should stop worrying about getting every single limited release, people really need to chill the F out.

People always trip about employees being able to buy beers. It is not like the employees are taking the whole case. Happy employees typically = a better run store, better customer service, etc. Plus, in some stores, employees are treated well, almost like family! *Gasp* I know, it is shocking! God forbid good employees get rewarded from time to time, are able to provide information and feedback on products, ya know things like that, god forbid! I mean, people like Respect for Saaz and Cducap clearly deserve those beers more than those stupid chumps that work at the store!

 

I'm assuming you saw the post of "the last 11 bottles of King Sue" post?

 

LOL...yup...the customer always comes first...wait, second...behind the employee. What a joke. IF these guys are beer fans, they can find another store, or go through the same system as every other customer. If the big stores took care of every employee who wanted a bottle, there would be ZERO bottles of some stuff for the CUSTOMERS!! But hey, as long as the employee is happy, screw the good customers I guess. Those happy employees will keep you in business, even when nobody is walking through your door to buy stuff. Right??

 

Lakeland? What exactly is your shop called?

Most places that get small case amounts around me....keep it behind the counter and 1 pp first come first serve.

But the raffling/lottery sounds good....you def won't please everyone with whatever you choose though.