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: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/282869
FILL 'ER UP www.beveragedynamics.com March/April 2014 • Beverage Dynamics 49 selections, and two sizes of containers, a 64-oz. growler and the 32-oz. Squealer—too small to growl. "It's been a great addition to our business," enthuses Carney. "I get a better margin on draft beer, my customers get really fresh beer, and it's better for the environment—all those bottles kept out of landfi lls. TAPPING INTO NEW BUSINESS "The growler program brings in new customers just by having that different offering; it helps differentiate us from our com- petition," says Jeff Rubin, senior merchandising market man- ager for Duane Reade. The New York-based drug store chain was another pioneer when in 2011 it installed a seven-tap draft beer station at its drugstore in hipster Williamsburg, Brooklyn. "The trend was just beginning then, and we fi gured it would be suitable for the neighborhood, also we had extra space in that store," recalls Rubin. After that successful test, the concept was installed in three other Duane Reade stores. "It's meeting our expectations." "Our draft beer selection draws more customers than the av- erage liquor store would get," says Beau Orsi at the Liquor & Wine Warehouse in Dayton, OH. The fi ve-tap growler station draws customers from an hour's drive away. The concept has been in place since the store opened fi ve years ago. "It's been successful," asserts Orsi, "and it lets us carry a lot of craft beers you can only get on draft." Liquor & Wine charges $5 for the container; 64-oz. fi lls range from $8 to $22. "For us the biggest advantage was that we have built Peco's as a niche for craft beer," notes Mulvihill, "but we hit a road- block because a lot of new, small or local breweries were pro- ducing beer we couldn't sell because it was draft only." Growlers solved that problem. Peco's sells the containers for $5; beer for a 64-oz. size ranges between $10.99 and $20.99; 32 oz. run half that. "The response has been really great, pulling in a lot of new customers," says Mulvihill, as well as encouraging trading up from domestic to higher-priced craft. "We're seeing a lot of guys who are usually light beer drinkers gravitating towards craft beer at the taps." Although Carney carried a good selection of bottled beer, because the store name is The Wine Bin, there was not much of an association in customers' minds with craft brews. "Since I installed the growler station, my beer business has doubled," reports Carney, both on draft and in bottles. "It has defi nitely brought out the beer drinkers." The retailer makes the point that many of his wine customers are women; now their hus- bands are frequenting his store to check out the draft offerings, and have discovered The Wine Bin's packaged beer selection as well. Another big advantage is that because of the kegs' case equivalency, his store is now considered a large beer account by suppliers, and Carney is able to get more allocated product. "Now when there is a rarity, only 50 cases coming into the state, we get one." That bounty greatly strengthens The Wine Bin's appeal with beer geeks. GETTING A HANDLE ON IT Most growlers are 64- or 32-oz. glass bottles with a handle; brown glass shields the liquid from sunlight and the dreaded At Peco's Liquors, in Wilmington, DE, the growler station is now the number-one category in the store after only six months in operation, says director of sales & marketing Edward Mulvihill.