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/751263
18 Beverage Dynamics • November/December 2016 www.beveragedynamics.com At any given time, approximately 38,000 different products are available at the PLCB's warehouse. in stores. "One of the largest changes is how we developed the in-store layout," Horst says. "We used to have a standard design with the office in the front corner and register bays across the front of store. We completely changed that by put- ting a register bank in the center of the store, together with the office and a tasting bar. It served us in two ways - customers could al- ways find one of our employees to ask questions, and we kept the shelv- ing low so that our employees could always see the customers." At the stores' newly designed focal point center table, customers can find staff to answer questions or provide individualized recommenda- tions. As well as providing a tasting bar, the location also highlights pro- motional items and a collection of educational materials for customers, including answers to frequently asked questions about wine and spirits, a vintage chart, a food pairing outline, party planning guides, calorie charts and tips for responsible hosting and consumption. Throughout design and construction, the PLCB was commit- ted to developing a store that is attractive and environmentally responsible, with the majority of the store's lighting state-of-the- art LED or energy-efficient compact-fluorescent lighting, which use a fraction of the energy of traditional lighting. All stores receive certain similar elements like signage, fix- tures and shelving with a color scheme changed from austere white to more shades of brown and darker colors. With stores that range in size from 1,200 square feet to 15,000, variation is inevitable, but the bulk of the stores are around 3,000 - 3,500 square feet. Whether units are moved to new locations, as in the case of The Waterfront store, or remain in place, landlords are included in design discussions and asked to participate in the amortization of upgrade costs, since the state owns none of the loca- tions. By 2010, three pilot stores were opened with the new brand. "The overall goal is to touch every store in some way," Horst says. "We do have some little, rural stores that only open partial days and times. The elements they get will perhaps be min- imal but there are elements like signage and literature, which will be consistent across all stores." As the stores are rebranded, in most cases the product selection is expanded. Premium level Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores (currently 88 are so des- ignated, with the total expected to max out at around 100) carry the most items, including an expanded line of higher-end wine and a premium collection of spirits, usu- ally between 5,000 and 7,000 items. Around 38,000 items are warehoused and available for every store at any time, but the assortment depends on store size, mar- ket, demographics and sales histories. "We try to manage the size of store, selection of product and the volume of those products to the local area," Horst says. The PLCB in-house category management team within the marketing department works with store operators using store Throughout design and construction, the PLCB was committed to developing a store that is attractive and environmentally responsible.