Reason you shop where you do

The place I go is out of my way and higher priced than Total Wine by about 10% or so....I go there because it is a locally owned business and the people are as nice as can be and I want to support them, and you can tell they really love and know their beer which is important to me.. They give treats and juice boxes to my daughter while I browse, and have tastings every week with their new stuff they get in. They hold hot items for me and let me know when they are getting things in. I couldn't ask for a better shop. Price, while important isn't everything to me.

Getting limited release stuff and having a great selection doesn't hurt either.

 

Selection and price and the two reasons I go to the places I do. I'll fork over a few dollars more for something that I've heard good things about but don't take advantage of me, give me a good deal. I like to try new beers all the time so I go to places that have something new from a brewery I might not have had before.

 

I shop by proximity and service, I try to be a good regular for about 4 - 6 stores... I try not to be a bargain hunter if I can find good owners and employees.

Or online, if I just REALLY need something I can't buy or trade for with ease.

 

I shop at the local wegman's. Prices are better than others and if I take a bottle with a bad date by mistake, I can bring it back without question. They have a national and international selection and it will be a long time before I have tried all that beer. It's within walking distance, well a sporting walking distance anyway, 1.2 miles each way, so that keeps me fit and lets me drink without guilt. It also keeps me from over buying as one 6 pack is enough to carry home.

 

Most of my shopping is done at the store I work at. After paying cost for everything, seeing how much other stores mark up bottles makes me wanna vomit. Even if I paid retail at my store, it'd be cheaper by $1-2 than most stores in the area. Our craft section is getting bigger and bigger while not the largest, it's solid and is more than enough to keep most beer nerds content. We're also starting to get most limited releases which is awesome.

 

LOCAL,LOCAL, LOCAL

 

I shop where I work. I get 40% off of 12 oz bottles, and 30% off of bombers. We also have a pretty decent selection, and since I stock as well, I often get dibs.

 

Yeah, in NJ distributors go off where you are in the pecking order of sales to get certain releases. If you sell enough Founders, you'll get KBS. If you dont, tough shit. I may have to buy a few cases of All Day and Centennial soon to make sure that happens haha

 

I shop all over the place. We have numerous great bottle shops here in town (at least a couple of which have ~30 beers on tap as well) and most better grocery stores carry an outstanding selection of great beer, including some semi-rare stuff. It all depends on where I am, what I'm looking for, how much time I have, etc. I tend to avoid the places that require the super-secret handshake wink-wink nudge-nudge treatment. Put the beer out on the shelves and let me buy it.

 

I always go to Whole Foods because it's the cheapest and they're always pretty up to date with seasonals. They seem to be more geared to BA-type beer drinkers than Wegmans, and their small cooler and limited storage space ensure that most of the beers they sell are pretty fresh. They also employ people who are generally pretty knowledgeable about beer and can tell you if they ran out of a special release or haven't gotten it yet.

 

vote:

do we hate this guy? or do we befirend this guy for his discount and ability to dibs things before the masses?

 

It's actually more common than not in Washington and Oregon. What better way to browse for bottles than with a tasty glass of Parabola or Hop Venom in your hand? Oh and of course they also do growler fills of most things on tap.

 

It's the location, the pricing, the jazz playing day in and day out, the long hours, and the free tasting events!

 

It's the only place with a selection other than Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada within an hour and a half drive of me.

 

I mostly use totalwine and whole foods cause they're close and generally has a good selection. I also use Blackwell Wines a few hours away, cause they almost always have Cantillon and RR, and takes 1 day to get my order.

 

Oh man. I just cried a little bit. That is heartbreaking.