KBS price gouging

You can be in a bad spot there, too, though. Good customers of good bottle shops often "expect" to be able to get some KBS, and if they pick up on that you're not getting any, you might lose that business.

 

Of course "annoyances" are part of any business; the question is whether KBS (as an example) is worth the additional headaches. For example, I'm willing to bet stores get more phone calls/annoyances per dollar of profit from KBS than other beers (or, fewer dollars of profit per phone call).

And as far as the extra business part, well, that's questionable in both whether it actually happens and to what degree.

 

Even if Founders "fixes" it, there are a few other beers that fit the bill. I'm not sure people go crazier for any than KBS, but other at least come close.

 

Fair enough. But it raises the question again of "then why not pass up the case?" Why do you sell it? There's obviously incentive to do so and yet all I hear is complaining. Meanwhile, every release there are stores saying they didn't get any of their order, who would have gladly taken it. Maybe all these owners who think it's such a pain and not a benefit to their business should just stop ordering it and give it the stores who want it.

 

I don't disagree with this; that's why I put "hate" in quotes. I think the most profitable course of action can become extremely murky, though, so it's tough for shop owners. Now, is making the hard calls a part of doing business? Absolutely.

But, it's possible that taking the case and not taking the case are both ultimately losing propositions. For argument's sake, there's a chance that they would be somehow better off if Founders didn't have KBS to release. But since KBS does, customers want/expect KBS, and so the problems discussed here may ensue.

 

Well that brings up a valid point: any time you touch something, that lowers the profitability of a beer...e.g If i throw a case on the floor and worry about other stuff, and that case sells, cool, i can make money selling other stuff. If i have to spend an hour handing a single bottle to each customer, that lowers the profit margin because i've expended that much labor on one case.

 

good point, but think about how much money a popular gastropub/beer bar might make during a dinner service. one table could spend $100 alone easily, then multiply that by how many tables there are, then by how many seatings they typically do....you get the picture.

 

can you please rephrase that last sentence, I am having a hard time understanding your point. Thanks

 

Your point is equally valid. By ordering these cases, we set our selves up for it. I've been tempted to refuse cases before, yet never done it. I think it's because there's people i dont want to disappoint.

I dunno, i think what it all boils down to is that this kind of scenario is still in it's infancy, it's only recently that things have gotten so far out of hand. It'll calm down at some point.

 

As someone else suggested above, a store owner could say "no thanks" to a case of KBS if he thinks it's really hurting his business. I doubt any would, because getting a case or two of KBS (or other limited beer) seems to be considered a kind of beer store status symbol. In conversations with the owner of a bottle shop I frequent, he has repeatedly referred to rare beer releases as a "double-edged sword"—and I don't doubt it, I'm sure it's a pain. I'm just saying that as a business owner you probably can choose not to participate, even if it's at your own long-term peril.

Besides, as far as I know most beer store employees are paid by the hour, so whether they're answering phone calls or restocking shelves it's not like time devoted to one activity costs more than time devoted to another.

 

Sorry. I'm saying that KBS might be the clearest example of this phenomenon -- thin distribution, yet everyone and their mom wants some. Other beers might be similar though, i.e. Hopslam.

So, the point is that even if KBS-related issues disappear, there would still be similar problems with other limited releases.

 

I'll refer you to something I said earlier: it's possible that both taking a case AND not taking a case are losing propositions. It's not a given that one has to be profitable.

As far as your 2nd paragraph is concerned, there might be more profitable activities than doing KBS-related stuff. I don't know the dynamics of the industry, but as I said, it's possible that KBS's profit-to-problems/work ratio isn't as good as with other beers.

 

Wow. I may have found a place nearby that's doing even worse. $19 for a 5 oz. pour!

 

I don't disagree with you at all! Based on the tap list at this place I don't believe that his beers aren't paying the bills instead of the pizza. While Al's of Hampden (Pennsylvania) has good pizza, I will always go there for the beer and not for the food. I wanted to throw out the name because they always have good beer and there may be some locals who don't know about it yet. I bought a few bottles from this place and they always tell me that there isn't a huge mark-up on the beer but I always walk out of there feeling like I overpaid. The problem is that they continuously get bottles and keg’s that I cannot get anywhere else and therefore I will continue to spend money in the establishment.

 

I hear you, but I think this is a bit pessimistic. A store owner needs to decide what kind of store they want to be, what kind of clientele they want to serve and what kind of beer they want to sell. The fact is being the store that has the KBS, the parabola, the BCBS, etc. has it's benefits. I mean a store can just choose to sell "regular" off the shelf craft or BMC or whatever makes them happy. If you want to selll to beer connoissiers (sp), the shit storm comes with the territory.

 

Even in a lose-lose situation, there's always a worse and less-worse option. If I were a store owner, I'd probably set up some kind of system that I thought was as fair as possible, be as transparent as possible and let all my customers know about it, and then let the chips fall where they may. Not everyone's ever going to be happy, but most people can at least feel like they're being treated fairly.

 

I understand your point. There will always be a beer that cannot meet demand. Hopslam was like that a few years ago. Now it is still on shelves in some areas and was fairly easy to get because production was majorly increased. Who knows maybe KBS will reach that point next year. My main point is that Founders was not doing themselves (or their customers/clients) any benefits distributing the beer the way the did/always do. Then when it is a mess they release a statement saying "we had not idea". They dd that this year and I believe either last year or with CBS.

 

I wish I could get KBS on tap!