Comments on: More beer in a grocery store

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:52:45 +0000

You are welcome. Obviously I am biased and I tend to get on my soap box. You bring up a great point with your response. Do people in PA really want beer in grocery stores or do they want a large selection of singles, six packs etc for a reasonable price at the beer store? There are over 17,000 licensees in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who can sell beer. A convenience to beer is not a valid argument by any chain or grocery owner. Considering we only have 612 state stores for wine and liquor (which by the way is also ridiculous) I am not sure why there is such a push to add to the 17,000 locations where beer is sold.

By: pleia2

pleia2 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:01:44 +0000

Matt – Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful comment.

I think I would be perfectly happy with beer distributors selling 6-packs and singles. At least that would give us a choice aside from getting them at bars or being forced to buy a whole case.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:54:17 +0000

I recently purchased a beer distributor in PA.
In response to the intial blog I agree that the laws are crazy and I agree that they should be ratified, however the laws should be voted on by the general public and not politicians which will never happen. You commented that the legislation does not want beer at gas stations because they will drink and drive on the way home. I think the bigger issue is who is serving the beer not if they will pop one open on the way home. A beer distributor owner has a lot more to lose than some punk kid working at Citgo. Let’s face it, people who work in gas stations typically are not the brightest bulbs in the tanning booth. I can see it now, a 19 year old kid tells all of his buddies to come down to the local sheetz after his boss leaves and he will serve them. I know this happens in other states. That said, I agree that if kids want beer they will get it, however, I take pride in the fact that I am tough on carding and serving.
Whenever I am asked about how I feel about grocery stores getting beer I tell that person that if they do sell it in all grocery stores it will kill beer distributors. We will literally drop like flies which isn’t fair to us and the equity and money we have in our businesses as well as our licenses. The average consumer may not care, but the reality is that the cost to ship the beer to these stores will get passed on through the beer sales. In addition, if beer is used as a loss leader, they will make up for it on the other 500,000 SKU’s. The consumer will end up getting a great deal on a six pack of bud light but will blindly overpay for milk, lettuce and mustard. It is happening now with soda. They lure you in to buy 5 12 packs of pepsi for $6 and you walk out spending $100 bucks on over priced hamburger meat and apple jacks. My take on it is this….why are grocery stores able to sell everything? And I mean everything? They can sell, gas, food, prepared foods, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, lottery tickets, stamps, and now beer? They even sell redbox DVD’s and have coinstars. When does it end? I am a republican and believe in small business. Walmart, Target and Giant Eagles/Weis, are killing our society. Plain and simple. If you think that those large chains are passing on savings your are sorely mistaken. Lastly, I agree that Wegmans is a different breed but I highly doubt you’ll find “a lambic” at Weis or Giant. Wegmans has a good thing going and they would actually be great for beer sales and educating the public taste buds. The problem is that you give grocery stores an inch and they take a foot. Package stores and distributors in other states work, because they can sell beer wine and liquor. Until the state gives up the monoply of the state stores beer distributors won’t survive on there own. We will loose thousands of jobs….jobs that we desperately need in this state and country right now. The simple answer is to allow beer distributors sell singles, 6 and 12’s. Why does this option have to exist in grocery stores-so you don’t have to get back in your car? We would keep the prices reasonable because contrary to what most believe we do compete with each other. Last thought, if the distributors are non existent I also believe that grocery stores and walmarts will only carry top selling brands. Yes, they will dabble with some micros and imports but in the end they will only carry what sells at a good rate of return-space is money in a grocery store and they will not carry brands that move occasionally or take risks on new products. I would argue that in the end this will actually significantly hurt, craft, micro and start up breweries because again, only the strong will survive. That combined with corporate kick backs to chains from miller, coors and bud (which is illegal) will kill the little guys in the long run. Last thought, my location sells approximately 50-75 kegs of beer a week. These sales are a combination of college students, bars who run out and many locals who have kegorators. I wonder how these folks will feel when they find out that the local Weis has no interest at all in dealing with kegs and the local Distributor shut his doors….hmmm something to think about.

By: Mackenzie

Mackenzie — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:01:06 +0000

Wait…on a Sunday? I thought *only* State Stores (and only a handful of those) could sell alcohol on Sundays.

Also: I still find it weird to go into a grocery store in Virginia and find them selling wine.

By: pleia2

pleia2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:54:09 +0000

Home brewing is much more expensive than you might think, even just for the ingredients you spend nearly as much as buying a case of mid-priced microbrew. Then you have equipment, time, and your first few batches tend not to be stellar, it's an art after all. But yes, it was a hobby of my ex-husband, we had delicious home brewed wedding beers and we grew hops in our back yard.

By: RoboNuggie

RoboNuggie — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:36:10 +0000

Alarming indeed…. but, how many are bought or obtained by the youngsters and how many are supplied by parents or relatives….

I have seen some pretty crazy pricing at the lower supermarkets chains where 15 bottles of Budweiser go for Â£7.50 (12 dollers)… pocket money prices..and no age checks.

Still, your situation over there is quite bizarre.. have you ever thought about home brewing?

By: Dwayne Sudduth

Dwayne Sudduth — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:36:07 +0000

Lyz is right when it comes to underage drinking. Even back in my ‘youth’ (when many states had more reasonable drinking ages of ’18’ we still drank underage. Granted, my father was a severe, abusive Alcholic–but both he and my mother would allow me ‘sips’ of beer. My first beer ever consumed was at the hands of my best friend from school’s father at Kings Island Amusement in Cincinnati Ohio when I was just 14 years old. (he and I were just talking about that yesterday, ironically). The drinking age in Ohio at the time was 18.

My home state (Indiana) has no state owned liquor stores, and you can buy beer/wine at the local 7/11, Sheetz, or grocery stores– except on Sunday, then you’re limited to bars with Sunday permits and no carry out. Like PA, bar permits are commodities–due to limitations on how many can be in an area, and are frequently worth 3-4X what the actual commercial property is worth. I recall them building an ‘Outback’ in Muncie IN, and it sitting idle for about 9 months while they waited for a liquor license. They paid $1,500,000 for the license in a bidding war with two other places because it was the only license available in town.

Shipping of alcohol into PA is illegal because PA is trying to ‘aid’ the local winery industry; which is very large here. I know of about 6 wineries within about 45 minutes of where I currently live; and there are probably more. That’s why you have so many ‘BYOB’ places–to encourage buying local wine. Sadly, I’m not much of a wine drinker; when I do drink it I like sweeter, more fruity wines. I’m more the Beer/Scotch type myself.

By: pleia2

pleia2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:07:52 +0000

@RoboNuggie That's a lovely theory! Alas it's not true. Pennsylvania is on the high side of average when it comes to underaged drinking in the US.

By: RoboNuggie

RoboNuggie — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:46:51 +0000

It does seem somewhat convoluted over there Plea…. but I can understand them not selling beer at a convenience or grocery store….as Paul said, you can here in the UK, but I tend to think that maybe they shouldn’t… it would deter the many, many drunken teenagers I see in my local area if they kept the beer in the pubs…

By: Paul Mellors

Paul Mellors — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:54:18 +0000

Hmmmmmm i love beer, especially this one that was purchased at a grocery store….i love the uk :) lol x