Distribution issues to CA from other states?

hm not sure about CA laws, but to sell in a bottleshop in Texas you have to have to jump thru some hoops. Much easier now than it used to be, but not as simple as just shipping beer here and putting it in the store

 

Please do yourself a favor and consult a lawyer or at least a qualified consultant. You almost certainly have to get beer you plan to retail through a distributor. Its very unlikely that you can have an out of state brewery just ship your store some cases of beer

 

Regardless of California laws, about which I know nothing, I would encourage you to ask yourself the following questions: 1) How has Covid 19 influenced the economy where I want to do business? 2) Is that economy poised to rebound robustly once things have settled? 3) Is the State increasing or decreasing the tax burden/legal hurdles for small businesses. 4) Is the State competently managed and attracting new residents, or are they leaving for “greener pastures.” In a Covid or hopefully soon post-Covid economy, opening a business that is almost completely reliant on discretionary income will be a risky proposition IMO. All the best if you proceed.

 

I really don't want to come off as rude here but how much research have you done into how beer is distributed and sold before jumping into this venture? As @unlikelyspiderperson said, beer primarily has to come from a distributor. In CA we're pretty fortunate about the rules of beer distribution within our state, as they're relatively flexible, so that can mean you can get beer from a business that specifically distributes beer or the brewery itself if they fall within certain parameters (under certain barrelage per year, etc.). Anything out of state, you're dealing with regulations within your state, within the state you're getting it from, the legality of the beer crossing state lines from the state it's leaving AND to the state it's going, general logistics, etc.

This should be priority one. ^^^

 

Excellent advice, one of the better beer store here thrives, but as he says the margins are very narrow, and it wouldn’t take much of a mistake to turn disastrous for an unwitting and unsuspecting business owner. I think it’s a reason so many small businesses fail, there’s plenty of pitfalls in there that they didn’t see coming. Now with beer you open up to individual state laws, your dealing with a 3d party to distribute, state wants the tax money, distribution wants their cut. Transportation costs.

 

I think Washington DC is the only part of the country that allows you to legally circumvent the distribution system and sell whatever you want at retail.

 

I'm not in the beer selling business, but I was part of a team managing an enterprise software company for four years and learned a lot about running (or how not to run) a small/startup business. As several have stated, but can't be stated enough, you need to get legal advice. However, even before that, you should outline a business plan and review with trusted sources in the industry (Note: In four years of business, we ended up with transitioning our business plan three times). Your business plan needs to address funding, customer acquisition, partners, and marketing approach. Also, please take into consideration resource plan. You may love it at first, but working 6-7 days a week for multiple years will wear you down (even if you have some help).

Good luck!

 

I can help if you have any questions. There is NO legal way for a CA retailer to buy beer directly from an out of state brewery for resale in California.