For those that live in South Austin wouldn't it be great to have a Homebrew store down South. As much as I love homebrewing and making beer I dread having to drive all the way North to purchase my brewing ingredients. I was wondering whats the consensus out there for those who don't live North of Austin. I believe the City has grown quite a bit in the past years that its now capable to have another store down South. Any thoughts?
I know the traffic in Austin can get pretty bad at times but it's not really a big place, and compared to bigger cities, especially really bigger cities like San Francisco and suchlike, it's an easy place to get around*. Having said that, as a non-driver I'd love it if everything I needed was within walking distance, a short bus ride or a longer bus ride but with no connections, so yeah, a south Austin homebrew store would suit me very well. Ultimately though, it's down to the market. Is it worth the expense of paying a second set of rent and monthly expenses and a second payroll (if you're Austin Homebrew), or is it worth the risk of taking on the competition (if you're not Austin Homebrew)? *But be sure to follow Molly Ivins' advice: "The key to happiness in Austin is to never, ever drive on I-35".
Before homebrew party in SA opened a second location I used to have to drive about 15 miles one way for ingredients. It's surprising Austin doesn't have a second location.
Its really not THAT far to get to Austin Homebrew from anywhere in town (I live in Round Rock and go there regularly!) but I guess it might keep some people off the highways.
Austin could probably use another homebrew store in the south area that can serve south Austin and San Marcos. I know that Austin Homebrew opened even farther north than they were in their original building. There are people probably driving over 30 miles just to make it to Austin Homebrew up north. I know of at least 3 homebrew stores in the DFW area. So based on that, Austin could more than likely use at least one more store. That way Austin Homebrew has some competition.
Im in agreement Austin could use another homebrew store down south, I wouldn't mind the drive from Round Rock but Im closer to the 30 mile border line with Buda. When I was brainstorming for business ideas I considered a homebrew store down South but as we all know it would be really hard to compete with Austin Homebrew and as a homebrew store you would need a online presence to survive in that segment of the market. And after making some calls to vendor it appears that the store would have to be located 20 miles or more apart for them to even consider and according to them I was borderline so If I where to pursue that some vendors wouldnt have been able to supply me. I believe right now the market for another homebrew store down South might be worth looking into.
There are currently five homebrew shops in DFW. Two in the Fort Worth suburbs, two in the Dallas suburbs and one in Arlington. No reason to believe Austin couldn't support a second shop but it doesn't have to be a new AHS outpost (nor should it be).
There is a home brew store South of Austin, it's called Middelton Brewing in Wimberly. http://middletonbrewingllc.com/home-brew/
