2016 BCBS Chicago Release (Black Friday & Beyond)

Was it Prestige Liquors? There's one out in the burbs that's a really good store. I don't like what they do for BCBS but generally I like them.

 

Yikes, and I thought it was bad today when I saw Prop for $49.99, Coffee for $23.99, and Rare for $125. Not out of my price range, but definitely out of my moral range. Incidentally, it wasn't flying off the shelf. Big surprise.

Didn't GI frown on this in the past?

 

As we seen with Fischmans, Beer Temple, Bottles and Cans,WLV, Beer Cellar,Etc. that you can place your Liquor store as a hub for the ever growing Craft Beer community and that is how you succeeded,not selling crap and overcharging every chance you get. As Craft grows and the youth by passes the cheap Beer phase these shady stores will quickly see the error of their ways.Until then let them have their quick buck. We'll continue to put our everyday money where it counts and spread the word about these Shady stores so the community knows going a mile to or 2 out of your way for your everyday 6 pack is well worth it in the long run.

 

As a matter of fact it was Prestige. I believe it was the location in Downers Grove when I called. Dude had a real thick accent on the phone. I was taken aback when he told me the policy over the phone...I would have thought they would have gotten you into the store and then told you when attempted to check out. Oh well, at least he saved me some time and aggravation.

 

I would say Fischmans did better then Lis, WLV does better than Sarah Mart, Beer Temple than Carniceria(their Beer and Liquor Dept anyways, those Tacos are the amazing). Mainly when you market your self as a craft beer store you get business from outside the area. Where the local place that overcharges and sells the same thing you can get at 7-11 or Jewel doesn't. Entirely different and less frequent customer yes, but Craft's consumer base is growing, margins are higher and enthusiastic people want to work at these places. Personally I like shopping for beer ,like looking at all the new offerings, like talking shop and typically see other patrons I know. I can't get that experience at places like Logan Liquors even though they sell a lot of the same stuff.

 

Speaking of Logan Liquors. they just blasted on facebook they have 2015 BCBS and BC Coffee. While Supplies last. It's been sitting there since last year. Only 30 bucks for the infected coffee.

 

This is completely anecdotal, but from following the Instagrams of places like WLV, beer temple, Beer Cellar, etc, it seems like they spend half of their time in another state or even off in Europe, so they can't be doing too poorly.

Sure a lot of it is work related, but they seems to be exceeding more than Sarah mart.

 

The only one I notice is that wlv has a large amount of posts from Mexico specifically regarding mezcal y tequila

 

I don't think there's any question that the "good" beer places do better than the shitty ones when it comes to craft beer. The reason the shitty places charge what they do is because they make most of their money off people buying Bud 12 packs, 312, cigarettes, etc. They sell enough of the lower-and beer that they get BCS, and then they gauge on it because who the fuck cares?

 

I'm really disappointed by GI....they have the power to leverage their distributor (hell, they often own them) and product retailers. They know what each store charged last year, they got all that info during the refund. It may have been expensive, but it was a treasure trove of data. How the heck do they see people selling the product for so much over msrp and not do anything about it? I took a lot of flack in one of the refund threads for paying $33 (tax inclusive) at a mom and pop for a 2015 Prop and complaining the refund only covered $25 of it. If GI isn't going to refund the exorbitant selling prices from their retailers, you would think they would at least crack down on it to advocate for the consumer....

 

Stop selling GI stuff and then AB Inbev pulls the rest of the line and those stores aren't going to stick around too long. I just don't think these stores have any choice anymore. It might be self-serving, but I wish they would lay down the law when it comes to this topic. As I said before, I thought GI did sanction some of the bad places a couple of years ago. If so, they need to do it again. $25+ coffee and $50+ Prop is ridiculous.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it technically illegal for that conversation to occur. Essentially, GI set the costs and the retailer sets the price. There's really only so much GI can do...

 

Also, Goose is massive now. BCS is in all 50 states. Think of how many places we're complaining about.

Now multiply that by every city Goose is in. And add a different distributer for at least each region.

It's really just not worth their time for a beer that's available 2 weeks a year. The market will settle it out. There's going to be some shitty owners.

Hopefully most of the product will go to good store owners, and that will be that.

 

This is my thought. I'd rather they concentrate on cranking this shit out, than on whether some small liquor store is jacking up prices. It just seems like an inevitability, sadly.

Also, is it possible that being owned by AB-InBev means their hands are tied more than they'd usually be? I.e, they don't actually have the same clout they used to, because the decision on where to distribute comes from the Bud Light guys now?

 

AB INbev doesn't have the time or care to chase down every little corner store charging extra for bcbs when they roll through the other cheaper options. I think they just look the other way and glorify the bigger releases (binnys, whole foods etc..)

Clearly no one likes the gouging, but no one is making you buy from them. There is no poor little timmy who won't be able to afford just one bottle of bourbon county for his family this year for christmas because his local Scrooge has charged too much.