HB1186 - Colorado Craft beer in Convenience Stores - boooo

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pcrawford

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I received the e-mail from the Colorado Brewers Guild describing why we should appose craft beer. I think the Brewers Guild e-mail has some good points but I added a few additional reasons why I think we should appose HB1186! So while you're surfing homebrewtalk at work tomorrow shoot an email to your representative.

Thanks Guys!

Here is what I said to my Representative:

Representative McCann:

I oppose HB1186; the email below outlines my reasoning in five points. This Bill does not support the craft beer industry for which Colorado is famous. Please vote no on HB1186, and I'll bring over a home brewed beer and we can celebrate!

1. If convenience stores are allowed to sell full strength beer this will take business from small local liquor store retailers. There is a fixed amount of beer purchased in Colorado . If convenience stores are allowed to sell full strength beer you are taking revenue from liquor stores and adding revenue to convenience stores. Liquor Stores are small locally owned businesses. Many convenience stores are franchised and are nation brands. This bill will take revenue from liquor stores and give it to national convenience stores. Therefore, this bill does not supporting Colorado small local businesses.

2. Because they already sell 3.2% beer, convenience stores have a standing relationship with big distributors and most likely will continue to buy beer from those big distributors. Big distributors sell big beer brands like Bud, Miller, and Coors. Colorado has 106 breweries and many of these are brands are self distributed or distributed through smaller distributors. By allowing convenience stores to sell full strength beer you are essentially reducing the opportunity for small local breweries to sell their beer. These house bills again support big business and hurts small local businesses, both small breweries and small distributors.

3. Small locally owned liquor stores sell locally produced beer. These locally produced beers are Colorado companies and create Colorado jobs.

4. Craft beer made by small businesses sells for more money then less expensive beers that will be sold in convenience stores; higher dollars sales in liquor stores means more tax revenue for the state.

5. Craft beer is an essential part of the Colorado economy. The craft brewers association is based in our state. Colorado hosts the Great American Beer festival which hosts 49,000 attendees many from out of state. Craft beer needs the support of local laws.

Thank you for all your hard work towards protecting Colorado craft beer interests!

Cheers,

Patrick
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E-mail from the Colorado Brewers Guild:

Dear Representative_____________________,

Please vote NO on HB1186 and HB1279.

My name is ____________________ and I love Colorado craft beer. I need your help. I need you to vote NO on HB1186 the Convenience-Store bill and HB1279 the Grocery-Store bill.

These bills are putting my beer at risk because my favorite brewery is less likely to get vital shelf space if corporate chain stores control the Colorado beer market. If I can’t find my favorite craft beer on the shelf, I can’t buy it. Access to market is critical in the beer industry and these bills move in the wrong direction.

These bills will kill jobs, not grow them. Please vote NO and preserve primary employer jobs in Colorado. Our brewers make stuff. They brew beer. That’s important. Help Colorado Brewers grow, and grow the state economy.

Colorado is the envy of the nation when it comes to craft beer and these bills will change that. These bills mean less selection and higher prices for Colorado beer lovers, like me, and I am upset.

Please vote NO on HB1186 and HB1279.

Sincerely,
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________________________________________________________

find your district:
http://comaps.org/allsearch.html
e-mail your representative found here:
http://www.votesmart.org/
 
I'd love to get the States out of the alcohol business completely other than providing a license (and collecting the tax)...but state run ABC = illegal monopoly IMO...and State sanctioned at that...
 
I could be wrong about this, and I also don't live in Colorado...but doesn't that mean that it will be easier for people to buy craft brews by allowing them in convenience stores? This would mean more promotion for the micro-breweries.

You say that liquor stores are local business, but what about the locals who opened the convenience store? You may think "big bad corporate business" but many of these stores aren't opened by the corporation. They're opened by locals who are just looking to start a shop. The head office will offer the owner a starter package, then he will hire a manager and staff.

I've worked for a store that was opened just like this, and my family has been friends with another family of Indian imigrants who came to the US and opened their own Dunkin' Donuts chain.
 
1. If convenience stores are allowed to sell full strength beer this will take business from small local liquor store retailers. There is a fixed amount of beer purchased in Colorado . If convenience stores are allowed to sell full strength beer you are taking revenue from liquor stores and adding revenue to convenience stores. Liquor Stores are small locally owned businesses. Many convenience stores are franchised and are nation brands. This bill will take revenue from liquor stores and give it to national convenience stores. Therefore, this bill does not supporting Colorado small local businesses.

I don't get this. Won't it take business from big corporate liquor stores and give it to locally owned convenience stores as well? Also, isn't having more stores selling good beer a good thing? Why have a law that says convenience stores CAN'T sell Avery?

In general I think we should be fighting laws that say you can't sell good beer, rather than supporting old anti-beer-sale laws.
 
In Colorado a person can only own one liquor store so most of the liquor stores are mom and pop places not corporations. A person selling craft beer can walk in and talk directly to the owner or beer buyer. This is one reason in my opinion craft beer does so well in Colorado. Well that and self distribution laws.

However at a convenience store there is usually not a beer buyer only an hourly employee behind the counter. The beer buyer might even be in another state. So it will be difficult for a brewery to even find the correct person to talk with to sell beer. Also BMC and their distribution companies offers huge bulk discounts and if a 7-11 buys a truck load of beer between 20 stores it incentivizes 7-11 to push BMC not local craft beer.

Obviously if convenience stores are locally owned and the owner is present to talk to then more beer everywhere would be good for craft beer. But the general consensus is that is not the case.

here is some more reading i just found:
http://hb1186.com/
http://www.examiner.com/x-27952-Den...ainst-their-beer-on-convenience-store-shelves
 
However at a convenience store there is usually not a beer buyer only an hourly employee behind the counter. The beer buyer might even be in another state. So it will be difficult for a brewery to even find the correct person to talk with to sell beer. Also BMC and their distribution companies offers huge bulk discounts and if a 7-11 buys a truck load of beer between 20 stores it incentivizes 7-11 to push BMC not local craft beer.

So by this logic you should have nothing to worry about...
 
Why would I go to a 7-11 to buy beer when I don't stop there for anything else? To me, and most people I know, the problem isn't a decision between a convenience store or a liquor store, it's which store has the best selection of beer. Liquor stores will never lose that battle. If more stores are offering the same beer, won't that keep the price down? There doesn't seem to be much competition for craft beers, so the price stays high. The owners of the craft breweries aren't punished by the competition.
 
Also BMC and their distribution companies offers huge bulk discounts and if a 7-11 buys a truck load of beer between 20 stores it incentivizes 7-11 to push BMC not local craft beer.

The angle there seems to be "make it harder for some companies to sell beer so other companies do better." And I guess I'd rather just have a level playing field; it works out here.

Let's take Sorrento Plaza, a mini mall a few miles from me. There you can find:

A Chevron with a mini-mart. They sell BMC and Heineken.

A mom and pop liquor store. They sell mostly hard liquor with a reasonable selection of local beer, although the owner doesn't know much about the beer he sells. They also sell junk food, cigarettes and porn.

A big Fresh-n-Easy convenience store (like a big 7-11.) They sell about four kinds of beer. Sometimes they carry Pyramid.

A Bevmo (huge liquor store.) They have a massive selection of craft beers; probably several hundred different brands. There are also one or two guys there who really know their beer.

Whenever I go there I try to hit the small place first, because I like the guy who runs it and they have Lost Coast. If they don't have what I'm looking for I go to Bevmo. The local brewer I know the best (Tomme) has two beers in the mom and pop place, ~12 different beers in Bevmo.

I like that arrangement. The convenience store is there for anyone who wants to get something really, really fast; that's fine with me. The mom and pop place is a place I like supporting, and Bevmo is an option when I really need a double imperial belgian oak barrel aged IPA or a "summer wheat" from a brewery in Norway.

Would a setup like that not work in Colorado?
 
Why do you feel you should have any say in what the convenience stores can stock?

One of the 7-11s near me has Stone IPA, DFH 60 minute, and SN Torpedo. It comes in really handy a few times a year.
 
I'm not usually a fan of government intervention in business except to restrict business excesses, but the laws as they are in Colorado are arguably a part of why that state (where I'm originally from) is one of the best places in the country for craft beer.

One thing I do think gets overlooked in circles such as this one is the reality of sales from the perspective of a retailer. Most liquor stores are supported, by and large, by beer sales, and 90%+ of those sales are, guess what, BMC. Even the awesome tons-of-micros liquor stores usually depend on their BMC sales as their bread and butter. As long as Colorado liquor stores are legally required to be small operations, them losing those sales runs a very significant risk of running most of the liquor stores in the state out of business. With nothing to replace them (remember, no chain stores), and extremely limited space on supermarket and convenience store shelves, kiss quite a few of the smaller Colorado micros goodbye.

Could it work? Sure, if some other conditions were different as well. But it doesn't present a good outlook just changing that rule on its own.
 
I have family in CO and visit there and I was surprised that the craft brewers don't want their stuff in convenience stores. Just seems counter-intuitive at face value. I live in Florida where I can get a wide variety of beers at the grocery store. I can get the main/bigger craft brews (Stone, Rogue, SN, etc.) right there but it's nothing like the selection at a good Colorado liquor store. It's like craft brew heaven in those. But even having full strength beer in every convenience/grocery store there are PLENTY of small liquor stores around (and some ABCs too). Seems there are just as many liquor stores here than there are in CO.

I'm not saying this bill is a good thing, if the craft brewers don't want it then I'm sure they know best. I'm just not sure I buy the notion that it's going to put every mom&pop liquor store out of business. But that's only based on what I see here in Florida, which might as well be a different country.

EDIT: I might add that most convenience stores only have so much cooler space and it's pretty much all taken up. Based on the massive selection of craft beer in CO, is it even feasible for most convenience stores to have anywhere close to the selection of refrigerated craft brews on hand that a liquor store has?
 
I don't find craft brewers organizing to preserve antiquated laws which interest them any more attractive than large breweries doing it.

Craft brewers make a lot of noise about how the big guys are only the big guys because they restrict consumer choice. I guess the Colorado craft brewers know better; they benefit from restricting choice too.
 
I understand why your reasons for opposing this bill. However I would support this bill out of principle. It promotes capitalism and deregulation. I see no reason why the colorado government should be able to decide where certain beer is sold. I'm not going to change my economic views because I happen to enjoy craft beer. IMO deregulation is good thing.
 
At first it almost sounded like the beers were going to be pulled from the liquor stores and only allowed to be sold at convenience stores. That didn't sound good. But to me it just seems like a bill that would open up out dated laws about beer sales, and let some of these small breweries (who want to do the work to track down beer buyers) a chance to make more money.
 
I don't find craft brewers organizing to preserve antiquated laws which interest them any more attractive than large breweries doing it.

Craft brewers make a lot of noise about how the big guys are only the big guys because they restrict consumer choice. I guess the Colorado craft brewers know better; they benefit from restricting choice too.

+1

I posted this in the Beer Wars movie thread, I simply do not understand why craft brewers are trying to compete with Big Three beer companies. It doesn't make sense. They are totally separate markets. Commercials and freedom of choice are not going to make craft beer drinkers pick Budweiser instead. Likewise, 90% of the macro-lager drinkers in this country are never going to dig an Imperial IPA, regardless of how available it is. It just seems silly. Craft beer people in the Beer Wars movie railed against unfair distribution and legislation and now they're pulling the same shady crap in Colorado.
 
Here is my take on this situation.

The argument that the liquor stores are making, and it may be valid, is that convenience stores have multiple items that bring in revenue streams, food, magazines, soft drinks, cigs, gas (some), etc. Liquor stores sell beer, wine, and liquor (maybe cigs, and some glass ware). They claim beer accounts for 50% of their sales.

Now supposedly if you put a big dent in that 50% it would lead to less selection at the liquor stores as they would have to stock the items that produce the largest amount of sales and not venture into some of the more obscure items that, as craft brew lovers, we all like to try now and then.

I have no idea if this is valid or not.
 
Here in WA, all beer is treated equally and is available at convenience and grocery stores, and the state runs the hard liquor stores. I would guess we have one of the strongest craft beer markets in the country. You don't need special distribution to have a craft beer movement, you need people who will buy craft beer over BMC. They don't need to be in separate stores to be sucessful.

This bill sounds like it would help remove government regulation on beer and strength. I am all for less government control.

This probably failed because it removed some of the tax that is collected at the point of sale at the liquor stores. Maybe it didn't, I really didn't read it.

Just my humble opinion.
 
Here in WA, all beer is treated equally and is available at convenience and grocery stores, and the state runs the hard liquor stores. I would guess we have one of the strongest craft beer markets in the country. You don't need special distribution to have a craft beer movement, you need people who will buy craft beer over BMC. They don't need to be in separate stores to be sucessful.

This bill sounds like it would help remove government regulation on beer and strength. I am all for less government control

+1
In NH, where I'm from originally, it is this same way.

I moved to CO for 2 years (ski bum) and was shocked and a little upset that I couldn't find decent beer at the convienence store. Though in the ski towns, people drink more NB than BMC.

If you make craft beer less available to those who are unfamiliar, then those people have less of an opportunity to try something new. The BMC is still present in those locally owned liquor stores. Why not give them the chance to expand and market their product to more people?

I would support this bill.
 
BTW - I am a supporter for small business. I would like to see the government try to regulate how many locations a corporation can own, rather than the product they're allowed to sell.
 
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