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/705687
www.beveragedynamics.com July/August 2016• Beverage Dynamics 17 [ RETAIL PROFILE ] 1 When the company began selling franchises, the brand team already had 30 regions chosen as target markets, but they've been cautious about entering some well-established beer cities like Asheville, NC and Portland, OR. "We want to make sure we have local partners who know the area, the brewers and the customer base," Schalow says. "Running a business in an unknown market is hard – we've had members of our CBC family move to take on a new store, but it needs to be in the right city." When opening a new store, the brand team (which now numbers six, including two who came up through the Belmont store and one brought in from outside) looks at demographic information, local breweries, distribution and, most importantly, local laws and regulations. "The fi nal decision comes down to how many hurdles we have to jump over to be successful," Schalow says. "For exam- ple, can we sell pints or growlers? The margins on those products are much better, so it's important if they're al- lowed. The fl agship store in Belmont is our best-selling store and doesn't have any on-premise or growler sales, but it's a challenge to keep that going." It's important to Craft Beer Cel- lar that each franchisee's personality comes through to the store's local cus- tomers. Each location has a separate Facebook page and Twitter account, allowing for individuality. "There's a reason we chose those franchisees to join our family," Schalow says. "They're passionate about beer, and we want that to show through their content and their marketing." "We've all done a great job reaching out to customers and feeling their love and passion for what we do," Yarid-De La Cruz adds. "It helps that we all come to work every day guided by the same vision – bringing wonderful liquids to customers. I'm the rookie here, but I've seen the passion across the board. That's the glue of what we do here – bringing people together and educating them in a respectful, mindful way." A LIFETIME OF LEARNING "A brewer's language is so different from an average customer's language," Yarid-De La Cruz says. "Because of that, there's a lot of education that has to happen early on when introducing someone to craft beer." Craft Beer Cellar locations offer classes and tasting sessions (where allowed), mirroring the experience Baker and Schalow had when fi rst starting in the industry. "I don't have a background in beer – none of us did, other than loving to drink it," Schalow says. "I had learned about wine and food in the restaurant business, so I took the same approach to beer. I wasn't a beer-head out of the gate. If anything, I would say we all shared an 'all in' mentality when it came to learning." Every franchise owner is at least a level one certifi ed beer server, and the CBC team believes strongly in the certifi ed Cice- rone program, with each owner achieving various certifi cations. "As long as consumers' curiosity and willingness to educate themselves about beer continues, our industry will thrive," Scha- low says. "I'm still fascinated by new beer innovations after six years of doing this every day, so how can the average consumer not be fascinated too?" IS LOCAL INHERENTLY BETTER? Craft Beer Cellar-franchised stores differ in product selection – some sell spirits, and some even sell cigars – but have one thing in common: a focus on local beer. About 25-30% of sales vol- ume in every store across every state is local products. Making room for local beers, which change frequently, has caused logistical chal- lenges over the years. "We've decided that more isn't bet- ter," Baker says. "When we opened we had 350 beers on the shelf, and by 2014 we had 1200. That's when we hit a wall and decided to cut the stock down by nearly 400 SKUs to concen- trate on the best products. Customers were completely overwhelmed walk- ing into the store, and it was a huge challenge to track inventory, date codes and shelf life. So less is defi nitely better in our case." "Smaller brewers are often better, but local isn't always best," Schalow adds. "I think we've done a good job of reaching out to local brewers, and we respect them enough to be honest. As a business owner, I've had to tell local brewers that we really want to support them, but their beer isn't very good. It's a touchy conversation to have, but if a product doesn't meet our standards it's necessary. But we always tell them, 'just because it's a no today, that doesn't mean it will be a no to the next brew.'" SETTING AN EXAMPLE Despite the abundance of men in the beverage alcohol industry, these three women don't openly defi ne Craft Beer Cellar as a female-owned business. "We don't even give it any thought," Schalow says. "There are a lot of men out there, but there are more women than ever on the brewer and the ingredient sides of the business. We're just beer geeks – we come in different shapes and sizes, and some of us are female." "We want to be respected for setting a good example, selling awesome beer and doing a good job," Baker adds. "To me, that's being a good human being." BD "WE DON'T EVEN GIVE IT ANY THOUGHT. THERE ARE A LOT OF MEN OUT THERE, BUT THERE ARE MORE WOMEN THAN EVER ON THE BREWER AND THE INGREDIENT SIDES OF THE BUSINESS. WE'RE JUST BEER GEEKS – WE COME IN DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES, AND SOME OF US ARE FEMALE." —Suzanne Schalow, co-owner of Craft Beer Cellar