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/282869
22 Beverage Dynamics • March/April 2014 www.beveragedynamics.com [ RETAIL PROFILE ] Balcones and Tuthilltown, as well as moonshines, single barrel bourbons and regional producers like Sons of Lib- erty Spirits of Rhode Island. The store wrangles about four single barrels each year from Kentucky distillers; next up is Buffalo Trace. The Scotch Hutch contains around 200 single malts. "It's a big commitment but on the other hand we're not buying them by the case," says Whitney. Since the store is known as a great brown spirits spot, they are a gift destination for holidays and special occasions. In fact, each staffer is trained on gift wrapping. "So many of our female customers buy these gifts and that extra touch of wrapping each bottle has created a tremendous amount of customer loyalty." MORE IN THE NEW STORE In the new store, Whitney and com- pany are expanding, both in foot- print — the new store is about 11,000 square feet — and amenities. They've added a cheese department with its own Discovery Center that will be front and center at the entry, with 60 cheeses cut to order and another 50 pre-cut. In addition to more movement sensors, the new store will expand its products by 30%, and there will be a larger tasting area and a 24-door beer cooler and a beer cave, as well as a dedicated wine cellar. This will be for wines above a certain price, with temperature and humidity control, and it will be protected via sliding glass doors to limit the intimidation factor sometimes created by a separate wine area. (A similar cellar is being installed in the West Hartford location.) The store also stands alone and has dedicated parking. SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY As is to be expected from a high-tech operation, Maximum Bev- erage is active on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. They've recently hired a full-time social media and internet marketing person, and are active in text message mar- keting as well as e-mailing newsletters twice weekly. Electronic marketing is a changing landscape; indeed, only about 20% of e-mail marketing messages are opened, while text messages achieve about 95%, so a weekly text blast for customers who sign up has been part of the recent social marketing mix. However, deals offered "have to be so good, we lose money on them and just hope they buy more of something else," he says. Like for a lot of contemporary stores, advertising -- where to do it, when and how --has been an issue for Maximum. An animated TV campaign, using a controversial ESPN host who also does promotions with the store, has yielded mixed results. "I don't know if it really works, and I'm not sure the best way to advertise; probably direct mail is best and we do that two times a year as well, and we do some radio," he says. "I'm not sure any of it works but all of us retailers are afraid to stop doing it because you don't know what the impact is going to be." And when you have a store setup that can tell you where your customers hang out the most, when they pick up a bot- tle and what sort of wine they seek frequently, not knowing the impact of a ad could be very annoying. But perhaps the next level of technology-driven retailing will have a direct line to ad responses, who knows? Until then, it will be stores like Maximum Beverage and their yards of cable and array of screens that will lead the drive to refi ne the beverage alcohol shopping experience. BD "They're coming here and they're not just buying and leaving, and that increases the ring. We almost never have anyone walk in and buy just one item." –Brian Whitney Paul LoCascio (left), the store's general manager, with owner Whitney. The store's wine bar – and a constant effort to get customers to taste wines – has been a successful way to increase the average sales ring for wine purchases.