How do these crappy liquor stores survive?

Let me vent on how crappy the liquor stores are by my home & work. I can not understand how these Sh*t holes stay in business. They are mom & pop type stores that have stacks of stuff all over the place, you feel like you will knock something down every time you turn around. The aisles are about three feet wide with no real organization of beer. At least DUST THE FREAKIN BOTTLES once in a while. That really makes me want to buy a bomber when there is an inch of dust on it--yea, fresh! Forget about a good selection unless you want a BMC, Corona is their idea of a quality import. Why is it that almost all retail has become dominated by corporate/franchise stores but the liquor store is still hugely local yocals? All I want to do is walk into a place and be able to decide between what type of Three Floyds, Bells, Dogfish, etc....too bad they have none. Sucks to be me.

Look at it this way.

The tall stacks block light exposure and the layer of dust indicates the bottles have been pre-cellared.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

I have three stores within 30min of me, and they all suck. basically everything you just described, except no beer. There is a strange law here that beer has to be a certain ABV to be sold in a liquor store, so only high-end stores carry beer. All the grocery stores here just stock regular BMC crap and ocassionally a decent brew. In order for me to get a REAL decent beer, i have to drive at least 30min or more. =( oh well.

They survive selling to the 80% of people that only care about the ounces of alcohol per dollar.

You can always spot the bottom rung stores, they sell artificial vanilla flavoring by the quart.

I knew one that would loan people alcohol for spot over. You can take the $20 bottle but you owe them $25 now.

TxBrew said:

I knew one that would loan people alcohol for spot over. You can take the $20 bottle but you owe them $25 now.

Click to expand...

That there looks like sound business practice to me

TxBrew said:

I knew one that would loan people alcohol for spot over. You can take the $20 bottle but you owe them $25 now.

Click to expand...

I iwsh there was some kind of beer lay-away program. Its like free cellaring, without the temptation to drink it now

I forgot to mention that the lady behind the counter was talking on the phone the whole time I was in there. When i went up and asked where the 22oz Bombers were, she directed me to the cooler that only had 40oz King Cobra, Old Style, & other crap. The store also had bait & tackle and a baseball card section, both looked as hap-hazard as the liquor section. Frustrating!

Parker36 said:

I iwsh there was some kind of beer lay-away program. Its like free cellaring, without the temptation to drink it now

Click to expand...

Send all your cellerable beer to me. I'll be sure to hold them for ya'. And when you do decide you want one, I'll be sure to send the bottle back shiney, dust free, and new looking.







Ohhhh. Come on. You knew that was coming.

david_42 said:

They survive selling to the 80% of people that only care about the ounces of alcohol per dollar.

You can always spot the bottom rung stores, they sell artificial vanilla flavoring by the quart.

Click to expand...

I would think the mark-up on the BMC would be too low to make real money. Why the vanilla flavoring??

King of the Swill said:

Why the vanilla flavoring??

Click to expand...

Where do you live? Not in a large city with a huge homeless population I take it.

It's the same reason some of these stores carry an unusually large amount of cheap colgone, or sterno, or chore boy pads....

To support the population of the neighborhood in getting a cheap high....

Wow Revvy tough act to follow there.

Don't have that problem here, there are many great beer stores and many of the big supermarkets have a great craft beer selection too. Where I came from (the hood) things were different, it will be interesting at Xmas to go back and go beer shopping. I know a few stores there that carry good stuff there, but it's a far cry from the Austin area where I have lived the last 7 years. We are spoiled.

Cheap vanillin can run 30-40% ABV. But, it's a flavoring, so no alcohol taxes.

I must be be blessed with a few "good" package stores near me... One of which is actually pretty good... Whatever I can't get at one, I can get at another... There are a few however that are absolute ****e....

I was on a tear to find Samichlaus after my trip to the Brick Store Pub and one place told me "Well the distributors only give that to their favorite accounts..."

Hence, I will not shop there EVAH!!!!

BMC and PBR...

State owned liquor stores here. beer can only come from beer distributors which are separate. its archaic.

Most stores here sell beer and wine. Many stores also carry liquor. It is great until you start getting to the more rural stores then your choices are Bud Light. Maine also consumes the highest amount of Coffee Brandy in the Nation. BLaaaaat!

blindtiger said:

State owned liquor stores here. beer can only come from beer distributors which are separate. its archaic.

Click to expand...

Ah, another PA dweller, I see.

Utah's the exact same way, flyangler18. It bites. Glad I don't live there anymore

EvilTOJ said:

Utah's the exact same way, flyangler18. It bites. Glad I don't live there anymore

Click to expand...

It's not so bad for me- 20 minutes down the road and I'm at my favorite bottle shop in Maryland! :rockin:

I'm glad I live in Wisconsin. Most of the grocery stores here carry beer, as do the gas stations. The smaller/older/crummier gas stations have BMC and occasionally something a little better (Leinie's is popular).

Granted, I live in the burbs but the grocery stores have rapidly been expanding their beer selections. The one nearest me doesn't have much in the way of bombers or 750's but their 6-pack selection is pretty good. There's another store (Woodman's) with a very good selection including a lot of imports...I get most of my belgians there.

The closest liquor store is just down the street from the nearest grocery, but their beer selection isn't any better.

Green Bay doesn't have any dedicated beer stores, but Appleton, Milwaukee, and Madison do. If nothing else I have to find an excuse for a road trip.

Where I live, if you have a liquor license, you can sell anything (beer, wine, hard liquor, you name it). The grocery stores carry such a basic line of stuff and the liquor stores sell a much more expanded version=--just not good enough in most cases. Up north a bit there are some better one like Binny's Beverage Depot & Sam's Wine & Spirits.

They sell Jagermeister. thats how they survive.

King of the Swill said:

Where I live, if you have a liquor license, you can sell anything (beer, wine, hard liquor, you name it). The grocery stores carry such a basic line of stuff and the liquor stores sell a much more expanded version=--just not good enough in most cases. Up north a bit there are some better one like Binny's Beverage Depot & Sam's Wine & Spirits.

Click to expand...

Where in Illinois are you?

Try living in a dry county. Then you'd have nothing to complain about.

The local grocery store has a pretty decent selection (Flying Dog, Harpoon, Paulaner, Sierra Nevada etc). Have to take a 25 mile drive to get Belgian anything and even further to find a better selection (Stone, Monks Cafe, Ommengang, Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V. etc).

z987k said:

Where in Illinois are you?

Click to expand...

Rural Joliet area.

Grocery Stores have some pretty good selection around here, with San Diego being quite the beer town. That which you can't find at the local vons/ralphs/albertsons you can find at a Whole Foods, or even more likely a BevMo, which has plenty of stuff.

Total Wine & More - America's Wine Superstore

I suffer with having this place less than 3 miles from my house.

One employee is really trying for the as*hole of the year award, but if you avoid him, it's a good place.

click the link, pick NJ click cherry hill. That is the exact store I go to. Click view catalog, opens up PDF file,with prices.

<Total Wine & More - America's Wine Superstore[/url]



1,000 Beers!! I could spend a week trying to decide what to buy/try!
Nice.