I am currently in my ninth year as the Liquor Operations Manger. Before I was hired as the manager in Pine City, I had been in retail management most of my life.
 
I figured, I can do this.  The main objective is the same, it is just the product that is different.
 
Wow, was I wrong.
 
Yes, managing the business has its similarities, but what I didn't realize is the influence the citizens and the Mayor and Council have on your abilities to do your job.
 
When I started as the manager, the store seemed to be in great shape. They were making money and transferring funds every year. The manager and council had a good relationship and they trusted how the store was being run. The first year I did the year-end inventory we were off over $40,000 in product! When I went to the city treasurer with my concerns, he said that was about average and not to worry about it. It was probably just mistakes with the computer system as is previous years.
 
That was not acceptable to me, I spent the next year, learning about the computer system, cleaning up the multiple product listings and reconciling invoices each week. The store was reset, and products were made more visible to the clerks. At the end of my first full year of employment we had cut the product loss down to $7,000. To me this was still unacceptable! I continued to work on inventory control, shrinkage, and purchasing.  After the second full year, we had a loss of only $1,700 and over 1.5 million in sales. I could live with that.
 
Next, the City took on the idea of opening a second location. It seemed there was little resistance to the idea and so in spring of 2003, we opened. Both stores where doing fine, we knew it would take at least 3 years to establish a customer base at the new location. In late 2005, the word got out that the downtown store might be closing, since the new location was improving. The downtown businesses started a campaign to close the new freeway location.  In spring of 2006, the freeway location was closed.
 
In moving everything back to one location, the store was totally remodeled on the inside the first year and on the outside last year. We are going to outgrow this location in the future, but we continue to do the best to rotate product and take advantage of our prime selling space.
 
In the past year or so, my goal has been to control the expenses in every way possible.

 

Just because we have always done something doesn't mean it is still cost effective or worth the time and effort. Knowing the business inside and out has helped me to better understand what has the best value for the time and money.
 
So to make a long story short, you never know what curve is coming next. This business is all about change.

 

Be proactive, not reactive. Get involved, network with other municipal managers, be open to new ideas, and most of all inform your Council and public.

 

Just because it seems things are going well, doesn't mean that can't change. We all can do better.

 

The good old days are over, our communities expect us to get involved and set a higher standard.

 

Admit your mistakes and make known your victories.

 

Lara Smetana

Voyageur Bottle Shop Manager

MMBA Director

By Greg C. Huff
 
Click Here for New Bar Rules

 

 

MMBA Regional Meetings

 Fall of 2009

 

 

 

Dave Aeikens  St. Cloud Times

April 14, 2009

The Flensburg Municipal Liquor Store was known to some as Joanie's Place because Joanie Super worked inside as a night bartender for 30 years.

That's what Wayne Vetsch called it. You could find him there every Wednesday night for what he calls the Farmer's Union meeting.

 

Vetsch could only watch Monday morning as flames devoured the city-owned bar, restaurant and off-sale liquor store, ranked as Minnesota's most profitable municipal liquor store in 2007.

Smoke was visible from Royalton, and the small downtown was blocked off by emergency trucks as firefighters from Flensburg and Swanville tried to douse the fire. A few dozen people, including children out of school on break, came to town to watch as the building crumbled before their eyes.

Mayor Gary Fafara said the building was more than 100 years old and housed grocery and jewelry stores before the city bought it.

An insurance representative is expected to survey the damage today, and cleanup will follow.

Whether the city replaces its liquor store is up to the people, Fafara said. Discussion is likely at the next Flensburg City Council meeting, on May 6.

Fafara said the fire started in the attic, and could have been caused by an electrical problem. No official cause has been determined. The fire leaves four employees without jobs.

The store was one of three in the Morrison County town of 236 about 40 miles northeast of St. Cloud.

 

 The restaurant served all-you-can-eat chicken on Friday nights.

"I was supposed to work tonight," said Super, as she sat with friends in a gazebo across the street from the burning building.

 

Super has worked two stints at the store. She had been working there for the past 16 years.

The city owned the building for more than 50 years, manager Cheryl Johnson said. It was remodeled with a log cabin facade in 2001. The facade would come crashing onto the street Monday morning.

 

Kathy Vannorman was working inside when the fire started. She started her shift at 9 a.m. After 10 a.m. she said she noticed a haze inside the building. She called Johnson, who was getting supplies in St. Cloud. Moments later a customer told Vannorman he saw smoke coming from the roof. The fire department was called at 10:17 a.m.

 

Vannorman said the store was the only place in town people could go for cigarette, soda, food and liquor.
The 36-year-old Vetsch had been going to the Flensburg liquor store since he was 21.

"We all came to see Joanie," said Vetsch, who lives about five miles from Flensburg. "It's a bad deal for the city."

Net profit from the store totaled $54,269 in 2007, the latest year for which figures were immediately available. The percent of sales that became profit - 21.4 percent - made it Minnesota's most successful city liquor store that year.

 

City Council member Melvin Piekarski, a farmer, said the city will have to talk about replacing the store. He said he has been going to the bar and restaurant for 40 years
 
 
Click Here to See Fire Video