Large liquor stores that dont sell singles

I find that most of the stores I go to don’t give you the option to buy singles and very few have a build your own 6pk section…

 

Im in in the Los Angeles area. Total Wine has a large selection of singles. Bevmo has some. Total Wine singles are usually shelf turds. I have more luck with 19.2 oz singles at the larger grocery stores in my area and at some gas stations.

I have a Shell gas station near me with a large selction of 19.2 oz singles and they are usually 2 for 6 dollars. They are always refrigerated and much fresher at these areas then at Total Wine.

The large grocery stores in Los Angeles are Ralphs (which I believe is Kroger in the midwest) and the other large chain in Los Angeles is Vons. Cheers!

 

The stores that I shop at all have singles. Both larger and smaller stores.

 

Shoot, up till not too long ago, the minimum purchase to go in Pa was a 6pk.
The whole mix a 6 thing didn't exist until sometime in the mid to late 90's/early 2000's. I'll have to do a little bit of research on that one.
Now I'm curious.
Even getting a 6pk from a beer distributor was a no-no, you had to get it from a bar.
You had to buy beer by the case, keg, or party ball.
40's were available singly at the bar as well.
I sorta miss those days.
I blow through a 6pk of good beer, and I'm left wanting more. Have to go out, drive to the store, drive back home.....yada yada.
Yes, some beer is still available by the case, but often times it's parted out on the shelf. Been there, done that.

 

The big store around here is Binny's. For years they have had a 'curated' pick six selection available at each store. And by 'curated' I mean seemingly it's always old beer which has been sitting around a few months. They have recently introduced a more premium pick four selection at some of the stores I've been at anyway. These seem to be more of the popular recent releases which would likely have more appeal (albeit a bit pricier than the pick six as well). However, in both instances one is limited to what the store has chosen in each 'pick' section. It's not really singles but rather you need to purchase either four or six singles from the respective sections.

We are fortunate to have a few stores in the area where one is able to pick a single of any beer in stock for purchase. If one just wants one single can, they can have at it at these stores. If I'm in the market for singles, I will go to one of these stores rather than press my luck with the limited Binny's selection as noted.

There is certainly the pricing aspect as noted in @Beersnake's post one should consider. I'm fine with paying slightly higher than 1/6 or 1/4 the regular packaging cost but half the cost is ridiculous imo. I would not be purchasing any singles at that pricing ratio.

 

I have several smaller beer stores near me that all sell singles of anything they have , though with a markup. I have 2 TW near me that will let you break any 4PK, . I tend to shop at the smaller ones cause they have newer drops with less flats and all beer is refrigerated and fresh.

 

The big store here has a singles wall and will break down packs. The kicker is that they're priced very reasonably. Like less than a dollar more than the price per beer in a pack. It's... dangerous for me now.

Went to the smaller store here and they also have some shelves with singles, but most of them are way overpriced. Most of these aren't refrigerated at either store, but the smaller one has a lot more older stuff, too...

 

I see lots at my local grocery stores. Bud, Fosters, Icehouse, MHL, Coors, Corona, Pacifico, etc.

Unfortunately, very few microbrew singles and no breaking apart six packs.

 

Of the two stores that I frequent, one has a singles section that has a very good selection including recent arrivals, but this section isn't close to having everything in the store. They price these beers at what I'll call 20-25 percent markup, but they then give you 10% off if you fill a 6-pack. There are bottles and cans among these singles, and I think all are 12 oz.

The other store has a singles section that represents about 25% of the beers on the shelves. It's a mixture of bottles and cans, and of 12 and 16 oz sizes. They're marked up probably the same 20-25% as the first store. This store also allows you to break up a 4- or 6-pack of bottled beers, but not of any cans for some unknown reason.

 

You just kind of wonder what goes into the decision process by ownership whether to offer singles or not.

 

I would assume most would be trying to cater to their average customer. I think around here, the average single buyer is coming into the store at 10:00 PM and looking for something to put in a brown paper bag and slurp down. In that case, management is probably a phenomenal job…

 

Someone will have to explain the whole “mix a 6” thing to me. Do you literally have to buy singles in increments of 6? Anywhere I go that sells singles, I just buy the cans/bottles I want but they don’t have to be in sets of 6, 12, 18 etc. That concept seems utterly random and arbitrary to me unless I’m misunderstanding something about that term.

 

I never buy from the "mix six pack" section especially from the big box liquor stores. It is the final resting place for really old IPA's, anything else they can't really sell that is old, and bad macros.

Buying some singles from the small local bottle shop in my neighborhood, that does as good a job as you can do with rotating fresh beers in and out, while having a unique selection, well that is another thing.

 

I think the 'mix a six' term is just a marketing thing because of the rhyme. My two stores have special printed 6-pack carriers plus the 10% discount if you fill it, but I can buy just one of something if I want.

 

If so, then that’s confusing, misleading, and dumb

 

Those are three words that often describe good marketing.

 

Welcome to craft beer. Can I get you a howler, growler or crowler of barleywine or perhaps our local triple India pale ale?