Been having a problem with College Liquors on Patterson in GJ. They have alot of old beer. I really like @Eddyline, and this store carry's their line. I see old shit there all the time. Well, on Mar 14 I go in to checkout what they have. Every can they had was dated back in Sep/Oct/Nov of 2018, these were IPAs, DIPAs, Pale Ales, Wheat, Stout. So, I decided to send Eddyline an email. Someone named J.D.Hindorff replies, tells me they have informed their distribution company and the store. Also, have the local sales rep discuss the account, and to prevent it from happening again. Well, yesterday I go back, guess what, all those fucking cans are still there, nothing happened. I only go to this store a couple of times a month, I use to drop an easy $150-$200+ a month, lucky they see $50 now, and mostly because they sell singles of Eddyline. This place gives Eddyline a bad rep/name, but it seems Eddyline does not give a rat's ass, will see what happens in a couple of weeks, when this J.D. dude might come over this way. What else would you guy's do about this? Cheers!
They definitely do care. They have the worst distributor in CO that literally says "We are a trucking company first, wine and beer comes second". Eddyline cannot legally just go in and buy buck the beer/swap it. Their distributor has to handle ALL of that. Their hands are tied legally. While this happens ALL the time in the market, it is illegal and probably something Eddyline does not want to practice. Eddyline is a small company with limited reps and a huge market. That also sounds like that store is terribly run and I wouldn't shop there. I have nothing but great things to say about them as they personally would send a box truck full of Epic Day during the C&D with Epic and made sure that we were getting what we needed (We are the #1 Epic Day account as a result). Brian is a great dude and I'm sure will make it right. I've forwarded this thread along to my rep (who is also a good friend) to make sure the right people can address it for ya. I love their beer and the people that work there so it's a big bummer to hear that!
Thanks for the reply, and forwarding this along. It's like it takes a month or 2 to get beer 250 miles away. See, that is what I was thinking, once they sell it, it's out of their hands, but still it's their beer, and it should be sold properly by whoever is reselling it. I'm really surprised this store is still opened, some of the people that work there, are not too bright, huge turnover rate. About Eddyline, like I've said, I really like their beers, and hate to see this happening to them around here. Cheers!
Love me some Eddyline. I can't think of a single beer they make that I don't love. Crank Yanker and River Runners are on my short list for best IPA and PA in the state. Kinda sucks that they're stuck in a situation like this.
Your beef is with the store and more importantly your neighbors. If they would buy more Eddyline then it wouldn’t have a chance to get old. Tell your neighbors to suck less. Anyone who loves Eddyline should get a kegerator. Their kegs are like $60 so it’ll pay for the kegerator in short order then it’s pure profit. Grapefruit Crank Yankees was last years feel good hit of the summer at the Poonami house.
Yes, it is with the store, but they don't give a shit, (and their seeing it with how much I spend their now), I like buying singles, been that way for years, once in a while I buy 4 packs/sixers (lot more often nowadays). If they sold it for alot less, since it's pretty old, like maybe $.50 a can, that would help. That's alot of Grapefruit Crank Yanker, I'll think about that. Cheers!
I reckon that it all boils down to how much influence a brewery has with their distributor. I know from personal experience that Deschutes, after I informed them of really old stock at a store, must have put the hammer down as that old stock was gone within a few days.
This store might have heard about that , Deschutes brews are fresh here, but not that many, many a handful or so. Cheers!
I don't think it was called The Liquor Shed years ago (early 2000s) but I saw Odell Colorado Stream in the cooler over a year after they stopped making it. Surprised to say the least.
I head to Grand Junction once or twice a year to see my mom - College Liquors was my go-to place for years. I went in there this week and was really surprised at how run down it is. The place used to be jam packed with stuff, but not anymore. Empty spots on shelves, and the selection has definitely drifted away from anything that could be called "limited". They had some Codename: Superfan that caught my eye, but the canned date was Nov2018. I was much more impressed with Andy's and even Fischer's (seems like they've upped their game).
Basically everything in that room should be heavily discounted if they would like it to sell or free. Cheers!
Also of note on Eddyline — they have perhaps the most competitively priced tallboy six-packs in state, and the beer is great as most mention. Personal fan of Grapefruit Crankyanker from time-to-time (and Epic Day of course). Yah, I'd spend my money elsewhere. Surprised it didn't sell in the first place (it seems like whenever I go to grab their beer it's like two, or three DAYS old). Pretty great.
College Liquors did used to be the jam back in the day. When my wife was doing her rotations over there she lived within walking distance. They used to have stuff we couldn't even get in Denver. I have fond memories of Revolution and Silverton cans. That's been like 10 years ago, though.
This is the core challenge with distribution. I've told many clients, friends and brewery acquaintances to hold off on committing to distribution. $100+k investment in something you can't control. Here's the thing-- The store is caught in a pickle. They paid for the beer already. So, they can toss it and eat the cost, or keep it on the shelf and hope it sells. The distro really doesn't care; they got paid. The brewery cares, but is legally powerless to fix it. All they can do is, maybe, demand the distro treat their products appropriately. I think CO is an open distro state, so getting out of that contract may be an option. This may only get worse as grocery stores don't give a rat's patootie either.
by way of agreement--we didn't get our original Crank Yanker order at my store yesterday, it was 'out of stock' on the invoice...i doubt we make it until next Tuesday but the next delivery will be less than a week old. (may be a chance for me to ease some of the CY fans into Epic Day.)
We’ve got 2 six packs left in our store but they’re 4/16/19...two days before my last post. Makes me think there’s a canning run coming up, or one just happened..
