Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/215070
On average, Reeck says, among his five stores the product mix and sales of wine, beer and spirits are evenly divided. set yourself apart from the competition." The product mix and volumes in the stores are roughly the same with perhaps a few percentage points variance, says Reeck, who personally oversees all the wine and spirits purchasing – he leaves the beer business in the hands of each store manager. "Even though the stores operate in different areas, I watch the percentage of each category and we average one-third, one-third, one-third. An individual store might reach, say, 40% in beer or wine, but on average it works out that way." ith wine selling such a fragmented business only barely dependent on brands, constant customer education takes pride of place at the Cellars. In- store seminars and tastings are well promoted in advance via the company's newsletter and direct mail circulars, with a full annual calendar presented so that planning is simplified for customers. Mini-seminars, held at least weekly at each store, are brief and punchy – perhaps 40 minutes long with tasting included. More organized seminars are based on particular topics - Wines Of The Moment, Deck Wines (from Chenin Blanc to Zin!) and Southern Hemisphere Battle being some recent examples – and generally fill the aisles in stores. "Wine Lunch Saturdays," a program held from October through May, takes the Cellars' wine education goes on the road to some of the Twin Cities best known chef-driven restaurants. Store specialists and managers run many of the seminars though guest winemakers and others are occasionally brought. Seminars that garner extra attention in or the five Cellars stores operating in the suburbs of the Twin Cities, the main concern when it comes to beer is finding the correct balance between customers' ever-changing enthusiasms and what will become a steady seller. "Our general rule of thumb is that we can sell a few cases of anything, but people today are so interested in moving around, trying new things and finding new brands, that it's new, new, new, all the time," says Rod Olson, store manager of the Roseville unit. The Cellars owner Ted Reeck leaves beer buying decisions to each individual store manager, and Olson says that works well on the individual unit level. The national explosion of craft brews, mirrored in Minnesota and the upper Midwest area as new breweries come on line one after another, has made it an exciting if dizzying time to be a beer buyer. With more than 2,000 skus of beer and cider stocked in the Roseville store, Olson says these days it's the hoppier, the better for his customers. "When a new brewer comes into the market, the distributors will ask them what they have in the hoppier end, and if they don't have something, their chances aren't so good of getting in," he says. Besides a rapid churn in new brews and a taste for hops, locals have shown to be a good market for ciders, Olson says – his current count has reached more than 50, and all of them selling well. So, too, do 750 ml bottles of many brews. "Bombers do really well for us – someone can buy a four-pack of something rare and pick up two of the pricier bombers and we ring up $80 for what is about a six pack of beer." And while many stores are turning their backs on imports, Olson says the Roseville locations continuing emphasis on quality and rare European brews has made him friends among that sector of beer buyers drinkers. Of course, all these ever changing brands means fewer double facings and more tumult in the beer aisle, with monthly resets not uncommon, but Olson says change is good. "I have enough space to do whatever I want here, and we're always open to something new." W Constant Customer Education F Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • November/December 2013 • 25