StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
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e take our dual mandate seriously," said Jeff Anderson, director of the Idaho State Liquor Division (ISLD). The Idaho State constitution not only charges the ISLD with the responsibility to make dis- tilled spirits available to temperate consumers of legal drinking age, but it also charges the division with the task of curtailing intemperate use. To do that, the ISLD reaches out to other entities, from other state agencies, to distilled spirits suppliers, to national groups, such as the Century Council and the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA) and fellow control states. This July, the ISLD sponsored the fifth Northwest Alcohol Conference in Boise, invit- ing law enforcement personnel and also young people to attend. The ISLD used grants to pay for the students' airfares and hotels. "Our goal is to communicate that it's not cool to drink when you're 17," said Anderson. "To do that, we have to discover what resonates with young people. It's not a guy like me, in a tie, getting up to speak." "W Outside view of ISLD headquarters in Boise, ID. 21 of the 66 stores currently outfitted with new cameras and digital recorders. This upgrade will cost a total of $700,000. And the stores have already undergone major upgrades to their point-of-sale (POS) system. The process began in February and was completed by May. POS System Upgrade The ISLD was also instrumental in creating a web- site, www.betheparent.org, modeled after one created by its fellow control state, Utah, using funds from NABCA. And last year, in conjunction with supplier Pernod Ricard, the ISLD ran a series of television commercials that were public service announcements about social responsibility and underage drinking across the state, tying them in with posters on display in the state stores. H Remodeling the Stores oward Wasserstein, the deputy director for procure- ment, distribution and retail, has been hard at work on the look of the stores. After testing the new look in two stores, the ISLD is in the process of rolling out the new look in an additional 14. The whole idea behind the new look is to provide a good shopping experience for customers, particularly women, who, the ISLD's data shows, spend more money than men when they shop at the state stores. "Most obviously, we've worked on our merchandising, cleaning up and maximizing our space," said Wasserstein. "The stores are a lot more organized and easier to shop. We're also trying for a more upscale look, like the cosmetic section in a department store." But the changes to the state stores are more than cosmetic. For example, the ISLD is in the midst of upgrading the security systems in the state stores, with 18 he IT division of the ISLD developed the stores' POS systems originally. "We have some pretty genius pro- grammers," said Keven Lowe, the deputy director in charge of IT. The most recent improvements to the sys- tem include the use of 22-inch touch screens. The ability of the stores and headquarters to communicate sales information has also been improved. "We know exactly what is where, when," said Lowe. Because the program- ming and installation was handled in-house, the cost of upgrading the POS system for all 66 stores was $244,000, basically just the cost of the new hardware. The biggest benefit of the POS upgrade will be another increase in the data the ISLD can use to make business decisions, such as determining inventory levels. "We have great information," said Wasserstein. "I was- n't expecting such amazing information." In addition, the new systems allow for more comprehensive efforts at preventing underage purchases. Wasserstein has been using that information to lower the amount of inventory held in the stores. This allows the stores to expand their sales floors and reduce their storage space. It also enables them to have the products customers want, when they want them, without having product sit on store shelves for months. "If we know a product only sells a bottle two or three times a year, we might keep those two or three bottles in the back," explained Wasserstein. "Our stores still carry 1,200 products, but there'll be 950 on the shelves and 250 in the back. It makes for more shoppable shelves." T The more precise information has allowed the StateWays s www.stateways.com s July/August 2012