Should Bottle Shops Allow Holds?

I was recently talking to a store manager about cult releases. He doesn't like the hassle, the frenzy, and the danger. He said he had been threatened or assaulted over a cult release - didn't get into the specifics but he seemed quite shaken by it. Now he just takes a list of those who ask, tells them when to be there, and gets it out the door.

 

That's completely and utterly insane. No one should feel their safety is compromised because of something so silly. And yes, in this case, that's just silly.

 

Yup, but that is also the reality some retailers have to deal with. I know one guy here who declines his allocations for reasons much like the ones described above. He has decided they are not worth the hassle.

 

As with most things..... WE ARE OUT OWN WORST ENEMY......

 

You have a customer who spends a lot of money in your store, might even come bearing gifts. So you treat this person the same as someone who just walked in off the street and you may never see again?

 

My money is as good as the next guy’s.

 

If you’re bearing gifts because you’re legitimately friends with the guy/girl that works there and it has nothing to do with getting hold of rarities they’re selling, then that’s one thing. If you’re bringing it to curry favour then frankly that should count against you. I saw this happen recently and both me and the guy that worked there gave each other a what the fuck look.

If you’re a regular and the beer has been put out on the shelf with a limit and no announcement, then the chance of you (or other regulars) happening on the beer are higher than a person who is both a) new to the store who also b) knows and is seeking the beer in question.

I don’t think rewarding the 24 biggest spenders / biggest talkers / biggest bribers is necessarily the best way either. You’re potentially alienating the rest of your customer base. @Sweatshirt ’s way gives anyone who is some semblance of a regular, a good chance of getting hold, without making a small number of regulars first amongst equals.

 

If it is on the shelf and sold on a first come, first served basis, I would expect that the loyal customers would be the first ones there out of loyalty. So I do not see a problem with this approach.

 

The problem with just putting rare beers on the shelf as a first-come, first-serve basis is that even the most loyal customers may be out of town, at work, etc. on the day the beer comes out. Not everyone can plan their entire lives around a beer release and they shouldn't have to.

I think the best policy for a store (and one that some understandably don't want to do because it requires more work on their part) is to take names of people who want to reserve a bottle and tell them they can pick it up once it is released. That way no one fights about it and no one has to get to the store early.

 

It may not be as much or as often as someone else's though.

 

What if the loyal customers are out of town, at work, etc when the list goes up, and by the time they go to do it there’s already equal/more names than there will be bottles? Doesn’t that pose same issue. Just in advance of the sale vs at the point of sale?

Sorry if I’m being dumb about how this works - the list method isn’t really a thing in NYC. I guess if it’s oversubscribed, and they then draw names out of a hat, that wouldn’t be a bad method. Still nothing to stop the more savvy/plugged in beer hunters who aren’t regulars, getting their name on a list though surely?

 

The bottle shop I used to frequent until I found out I apparently wasn’t “loyal” enough to deserve the beers in the back, has shelves and shelves of bombers. I would guess at least 95% of the customers wouldn’t be able to pick out a bottle of CBS out of the lineup. Most of these customers are content to stop in and pick up a six pack or two of DFH or equivalent and be on their way. The remaining 5% who are “in the know” may pass on it if it’s not their thing. Which is why I think placing it on the shelf for a first come, first served basis is not a problem.

I can see why the folks who spend inordinate amounts of time and money at their shop feel like they are owed something since they’re already so heavily invested. But there are MANY choices for the rest of us who remain independent. Knowing that, keeping products hidden is not how I would run a business.

 

That's why , my "box cutter" is a full sized Benchmade with a tanto style blade. Goes through cardboard and neckbeards like butter, lol. Nobody has gotten violent with me but I did have a guy offer me $50 if I would sell him a No Rules that was reserved for someone else. He kept begging and pleading like a child until I offered him $50 to go buy some dignity.

 

Nice. Is your name in line with where you live? If it's where I think it is, my in laws are right down the road (what's a good shop for the next time I am in the area?)

 

I know quite a few secret spots in San Diego that get Pliny and I know the time the of the year where certain stores get more of it and hide it. People see me with it and ask where I got it. Part of me feels like its should keep it a secret but I always feel guilty and tell everybody. I already drink a lot of good beers anyway and Pliny is not actually my favorite. I'm not going to go buy them all and hoard them for myself anyway so I just tell people how to get them even tho they're probably going to try to go buy them all and hoard them for themself.

 

I've heard of that before, but since all Liquor Stores here in New Brunswick are operated by the government, I've never seen it in practice.

Like a few said above, I would just vote with your dollar. Business that operate with dirty tactics such as that don't deserve a second look in my opinion. I'm sure the brewers who's beer they stash behind the counter wouldn't appreciate what they do.

 

I moved out of Ypsilanti over 15 years ago. I have no idea what the shops are like over that way anymore.

 

I am a former liquor store employee and I can tell you anything in the back is nothing special unless it's a release like Bourbon County or KBS and it needs to be held in the back to prevent people from buying all of it to fairly distributed to multiple customers over multiple days anything else in the back that we've ever had was any new deliveries that we've never gotten before thus the manager when they get off their lazy ass needs to email the SKU number up to the corporate office so we can get a scan in a price for it and that's all it is but I disagree with people hiding normal things in the back like when weyerbacher has a special release or things like that I've seen get held unreasonably is things like weyerbacher which I don't agree with being held but other than that there's nothing in the back unless you know of a large-scale release and even still sometimes the manager which I also disagree with gets them on a reservation list for all his friends which is a fact that I have sold to first come first serve customers anyway fuck reservation lists but other than that there's really nothing secretly hidden there's not a portal in the back room of liquor stores.

Long story short I wouldn't pester heir liquor store workers unless it's a big release because I can claim plenty of times where I'm trying to take in a delivery and an invoice and I have somebody come up to me and straight up ask me where is it when I have no idea what they're talking about or it's already sold and they don't believe me

 

For me it depends who's asking.

e.g. if my local spot has the latest Grimm can, I'm not going to advertise that in the Grimm thread, which is filled with/watched by people running from store to store trying to grab as much as possible.

If someone from out of state starts a thread saying they're staying in my part of Brooklyn and looking for suggestions, then absolutely I'll recommend those spots (and mention cool stuff they have in stock)

 

In my seven years on BA that is by far the longest sentence I have ever seen - I reflexively gasped for breath after reading it. Style points for not using a single comma.