Should Bottle Shops Allow Holds?

Stores need to take care of their best customers. I have no problem with them choosing to hold back some releases or to just put it on the shelves for anyone. I understand both philosophies and support stores that do both. I have a store or 2 that hold things back for me and they still only hold back 1-2 depending on the beer. If hey sold every bottle or a huge amount of a limited beer to one person than I'd be upset.

 

So very true, one of my guys(Retailer) has been in the industry for almost 30 years and he gets the most of the good stuff, his comp does not like it but he also has 30 years of loyalty to his accounts so that goes a long long way.... Good point.

 

Lying? Not being a mind reader I'd have assumed that he just forgot they were there and was embarrased by his mistake.

Have you never forgotten one thing among hundreds?

 

I frown upon keeping it "in the back" because in general, I don't like talking to people

Its probably why I like the smaller stores - there's no place to hide them. At bottleBOX, they're to the left side of the counter. At exceptionALE they're on the wall towards the rear of the store on the left.

But at Total Wine- oodles of places to hide it ... "crap, I have to interact with people... forget this."

 

As a neutral observer, I am fine with stores holding back stuff for their regular customers. I say "neutral" because I don't shop for special releases, so I have no dog in this hunt.

I can see why non-regulars might get annoyed with the practice, but I also see why the store wants to reward its regulars. So I err on the side of letting the store do what it wants.

 

That does sit sour with me and I would be pissed as well. Luckily the places I hit have the same guys working a lot but I have had times someone is filling in and never saw me before and I feel like a first time buyer with them, they give me the old sorry not in crap. Then I come back and my usual guy is like we have that and gives me some. Sort of a rub but one you cannot avoid since new guy has no idea who you are etc. But I get worked up when I make a trip out then have to return to get it lol. But that is life I guess the fun of beer

 

When you run into the new guy you might ask for the mgr by name or someone else you know by name to see if they have what you are looking for. If nothing else it will let the new guy know that you have been there before.

 

I can see both pros and cons. As a pro, if you know to ask, you'll likely get beer that the average individual won't. And as a con, like other people have said, you can miss out on a better selection of beers.

The only time I've really been rubbed the wrong way about it was with this most recent CBS release. I have 2 stores I regularly go to. I asked the one up the street from my job every few days when their CBS shipment was coming in and they gave me a date. On that date I went and they said their shipment hadn't come in. I called them almost daily before finally giving up and heading home for the holidays. They released their units of CBS on Christmas Eve having had it the whole time in the back. I can understand the practice, but at the same time, I like to be able to trust my suppliers.

 

Exactly. It's unfortunate, but ultimately consumers--not retailers--are the reason this is a thing.

 

Beer chasers ruining the game.. Hype beer ruining the game

 

Haha - between those two very black and white options it's an easy answer

I guess the problem for me is all the scenarios in the middle. Like what about the people that are regulars, but who aren't dropping the most coin. Or the ones who are not comfortable shooting the shit (or giving beer - I saw such an icky example of this the other day) and making themselves known to the beer guy / owner. And maybe someone looking for a beer is a first time customer, but they've only just gotten into the craft scene and are excited to get hold of something vs being a hoarder - we've all been there.

If I had to choose a single blanket option, I'm (like I've always been) in favour of the "put it out on the shelf with limits" option. But these days, like most people, I shop at a few places and have different expectations at each. There's the place where I'm a legit regular, where I absolutely do not expect to get hooked up, but appreciate it when I do. Then there are the couple of hidden gems (a relative term in the social media age) where I know things will last a bit longer, and even if I miss out, I know they'll have stuff I want to buy. Then there are the whole foods type places where I know it's a case of being in the right place at the right time, combined with a bit of luck.

But I do completely understand the "hold it in the back for regulars" approach - we only have ourselves to blame.

 

Exactly we have ourselves to blame especially when its gotten to a point where we hire people to stand on line for us

 

If it's going to be gone in an hour or two, why bother?
I see this practice in situations where there is only a case or 2. Seems to be a labor-saving situation. They bring it out if there is any left when they get done with everything else. *shrug*

 

The most interesting thing to me is the change in the overall perspective and tenor of responses compared to 5 yrs ago. They seem much more accepting/understanding of the practice of holding back. People used to violently object to what they felt was “kissing the ring.”

I suspect it is a combination of more availability of beer in general, more outlets to buy, folks who 5 yrs ago moved on or perhaps now are a “regular enough” customer.

My main reason to support the local guy is that he is a good guy and I want him to succeed. I don’t need to fund TW CEO’s third vacation home. If I spend a 1$ more a six (that’s 16 cents a beer)—fine. If he hands me some goodies without asking—never expected but always appreciated.

 

I have no problem with stores doing it, but the methodology for identifying regulars can sometimes be problematic for average shoppers. A store close to me that I go to decently regularly keeps everybody in a database based on how much they spend in a given period of time, and those are the folks that get notified about releases. I buy $20 of beer maybe 3 times a month, so even if I tripled my spending, I'd never be able to compete with the bourbon guys who are putting down four figures in the same time period, and don't care to snag a limited bottle of beer in the bargain if it means they can flip it, too. So while they recognize me and say hey when I come in, I'm clearly not the priority there. There's plenty of places in town that put stuff out and set a limit, so it's not hard to come by things, but I think neither strategy is perfect.