How do homebrew stores even stay in business?

[brewhead]

our lhbs is a micro brewer as well.

 

[jldesign]

We have a full blown brew/wine shop and the guy is great - keeps all fresh stock and has a pretty big selection of standard goods. even has carboys in the back room fermenting, has classes, grows his own hops and has a cool cat that chills around the store. we also have a beer and pop place that is huge with commercial and micros and sells a mid size selection of kits and some grains and equipment (lots of older stock though so it is the way last resort)

I like to buy local if possible but making a recipe I want it all then not wait a week or more to get on an order for something so it is tough. prices are higher than mailorder on most but not out of line with tax and everything.

I have to say with modern homebrewing techniques these forums are the place to be sometimes I feel like I know more than these guys and I don't know anything! they are helpful though I'll give them that.

I guess it is all in how much you want to learn in life to expand your knowledge - be it your passion in life or "the job that pays for your life"

all in all thanks to anyone who contributes to these forums looks like most everyone feels the same about local shops

 

[bazeballdadx]

Interesting point about how fresh ingredients are. If you order yeast online versus asking the HB store to order it, I wonder how much difference there would actually be. Of course, the shipping temp factors in as well.

Another point about a good HB store being 'more than just stuff on shelves...'
Imagine going to the grocery store and the clerk asking you, "Hey, what are you making with all this stuff?" Or asking the butcher how to prepare a specific marinade (I once asked what type of fish was best for a fish fry because they were out of cod-- he said he didn't have any idea). HB stores definitely have that atmosphere because it's such a small market.

 

[alemonkey]

I have a friend who owns a brewpub and initially tried to stock homebrew supplies. He just didn't make enough off it to make it worth his time. He'll still sell a bag of grain if a homebrewer asks him, but selling the rest of it was a bust.

Keeping fresh supplies wasn't hard, because he was always ordering plenty for his own beer. The problem was that he just didn't make enough to be worth the hassle.

 

[Trubbub]

I have always wondered how they stay in business...

The owners have to love it... How many of us are always looking for an audience to talk about beer? These guys get to do it with everyone that comes through the front door.

I'm about an hour away from my HBS and ordering online creates huge shipping costs especially if you are ordering like 20#s of grain. My batches are easily getting over $40 per 5 gal and although thats not too expensive, I can't do it every month. I started ordering my grains in bulk to save on money (which ultimately takes away from the LHBS but otherwise I just wouldn't brew)

Long story short, I wouldn't open a LHBS unless I had other income streams and I could do it basically as a retired hobby...

....There's nothing like the aroma of entering the LHBS!

 

[cweston]

I'm about an hour away from my HBS and ordering online creates huge shipping costs especially if you are ordering like 20#s of grain.

You do know there are places that offer free shipping for orders over a certain amount (usually $60), right? MoreBeer and Austin Homebrew Supply are the two I know of.

 

[Brewiz]

I live in the Atlanta metro area of over 4 million people and we only have 3 shops for this entire area.