http://www.denveroffthewagon.com/2012/03/21/colorado-focused-hugos-beer-spirits-to-open-in-june/ I didn't see a thread on this and I thought it was pretty awesome so I figured I would share!
Westword covered this as welll. Different concept, yes. But IMHO, you just need to visit 2-3 stores and you can find 90% of what Colorado has to offer, that's bottled. The particularly interesting part is sorting the beer by style, not by brewery and no wine. But for the experienced beer shopper it's not a big or needed difference. I would really be interested if they can truly get ahold of national craft rarities (that others can't) and/or if they did regular tastings or had a bar that served 3-4 local brews like a lot of small grocers do in other states.
A couple reactions (with some thought...but not much): Good luck getting the rare/one-offs/specialty brews. More often than not, stores have to carry a brewery's whole line up to get the rare stuff. With 15 doors, that might be difficult Wine is the mark-up maker. Beer and spirits, for the most part, don't produce much profit At least Stranahans will be available for them, since the distributor has backstock sitting around now I like the MO; the relationship with distributors seems the key here
The idea of growlers fills in intriguing. Not sure what would need to happen legally for that to become a reality, but I like where the guy's head is at!
