Beer and Wine Store Concern

I personally don't care about knowledgeable employees.
I can find my way around a beer section pretty well these days.

 

I really like it when I tell them I don't need any help, but they try to help anyway.

 

816-942-8888

Maybe yp has a different # listed, but this one works. They're open until 1:30 am, always busy, they sell gas, great beer & wine, I don't see them ever closing lol. If your bored today, you should swing by there.

 

If you don't find any, I'll trade you a bottle of mine. I saved a couple for 4/20.

 

Most of the places frequent have staff that know quite a bit about beer. A couple of them have true beer wise men (or is it weizmen?).

 

If I need help related to beer, I tend to go directly to my local bottle shop. I assume that the whole reason most bottle shops exist is because of clients who want craft beer and want somebody knowledgeable to sell it to them. I was just commenting to someone yesterday that I love bottle shops because they are like the old fashioned hardware stores my dad misses You can walk in with a problem and the guy or gal behind the counter knows enough about their merchandise to help you fix it. When I go to my large liquor store (just like if you should go to a Home Depot to carry through the hardware analogy), I don't expect anyone there to really know their craft. I make sure to do my homework first.

 

I think the correct term is weiss men (w pronounced as a v)

 

It only bothers me when I'm browsing and I see someone else looking bewildered at a large selection of craft beer. They look around, pick up bottles seemingly at random, and walk away empty handed.

I'm pretty friendly myself, so lately I've been saying something open-ended like "quite a lot to choose from, isn't it?" to gauge their interest. Sometimes they're just window-shopping or looking for something specific, but often they just want to try something other than BMC but have no one to recommend anything.

Usually they are seeking to try a different lager (and they usually don't know the term lager), so I recommend a great craft lager.

I'm not on a mission or anything, just being friendly and sometimes filling the "beer person" void you describe. I'd rather see someone walk away with something they might enjoy instead of walking away empty handed or (even worse) unknowingly walk away with something that might turn them off of "craft beer" (I've seen people return a four pack of Ruination for a six pack of Lagunitas Pils because they "don't like bitter stuff" and didn't realize Ruination was bitter).

 

Thankfully the place I go to normally doesn't have that issue, but I could see why it would be frustrating. I like to talk to employees when I'm in the mood, and it's nice to have someone to sound off with. Maybe they've had something I want to try - it helps influence my purchasing decision if they know what styles I like and have recommended good things in the past.

 

For me it depends on the store. I find I like stores that have a guy who knows as much or more than I do so they can provide useful comparisons and talk beer for fun or stores where the employees don't necessarily know that much.

But many stores have guys who know just enough to try and steer me towards the slow movers, old IPAs or constantly hang on me without offering any useful advice.

If that's the case I'd rather have a store where the guys don't really say much unless I ask them where X beer is. They generally leave me to do my browsing and occasionally will sell me a few limited beers that many stores hide or make lists for because they don't know any better.

 

I could care less. I do my own research.

 

I prefer ignorant employees... that are polite, smiling, and happily look up a beer in the computer to see if they have it or not. I just want good customer service that is the same as any other retailer where it is common knowledge that they're paid for being customer service folks, and not educated specialists about the products they sell.

I do come across a lot of self-proclaimed "experts" and I find them annoying more often than not. There are good, knowledgeable folks out there no doubt. I think we need to be realistic and realize there's usually not going to be someone who's paid to be there because of what they know about beer.

 

I work at a large liquor store in Connecticut. As far as knowing when new beers will hit the shelves, that generally falls into the lap of distributors. There are those of us that browse Beer Advocate frequently and know what to ask our sales reps about, but the large majority know what they're told about.

Then there's the issue of "limited" beers. Allocation lists make sales reps lie and lie badly. I asked my rep today about Ommegang Game of Thrones because he had not mentioned it to me yet. I knew that a store in the area had received some, and he proceeded to tell me a story about how a warehouse worker had plowed into two whole pallets of the beer and broke it all. He couldn't really explain how the other store had gotten some despite this.

 

The store I generally go to has a Cicerone (first female Certified Cicerone, apparently) in charge of the beer section, so I don't have that problem. If anything, I feel inadequate talking to her because she occasionally comes across as condescending when I ask some ignorant questions. Sometimes I almost prefer to do my own research and deal with naive, less knowledgeable, employees for a couple of the reasons outlined above.

 

There are bottle shops, big and little. And then there are retail stores that carry wine and beer in addition to other things. The later don't educate their employees on anything other than how to work the cash register and answer the phone. At these stores you need to read the package. Because if you ask an employee that is the first thing they will do before stumbling for an answer.

As for the later stores, they are providing customer service as described by the masses. Everyone wants better customer service, but reject it when it is given. That's why stores promote employees become your friend. They are made to chat you up, offer baskets, help you find things and suggestive sell. Sound simple and concise, but employees are declined most the time, and then berated by impatient people the remaining time.

My point....lol....if you want better info in the beer departments chat up the employees and don't reject them. Talk to them and educate them so they can pass on the info. Personally I'd love more guys chat beer with me as I try to help them. It gives me the opportunity to share what I know, and to also learn from them. But the reality is that beer shoppers where I work don't wont to engage and I end up forgetting what I learned, and have nothing of value to share with them.

So...stay loyal to the independent beer sellers and engage as often as you can. Sooner or later things will improve. And the independents are more likely to educate their employees.

...rambling on...