Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association Newsletter
(August 23-29, 2009)
 Click Here
for the
As I see it...
 
Employees
 
EMPLOYEES
 
DO THEY DRIVE YOU CRAZY OR ARE THEY YOUR GREATEST ASSET?
OR BOTH?!

Hear is my story and I am sticking to it! 

This happened in our store:
 
We have an employee who was looking to do a task with a little more challenge.  We gave the task of purchasing bags and a few other things.   Our employee talked to the salesman to find out if purchasing a larger quantity of bags would get us a better discount.  We were purchasing bags on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.  She purchased a large quantity of bags.  This proved to save us money, a very simple idea, but profitable.
 
Do we really utilize our employees?  Sometimes an employee can do a task in a way that you had not thought about and end up saving you money.  Sometimes it really is good to let our employees do jobs that we do all the time just for a different perspective, it may save you money.   
 
But, not just to save money and time for us, it also gives our employees a boost to their ego.

Happy employees make happy customers!

Another way that has worked to make happy employees is by having work parties.  We do one in the summer and one in the winter.  The managers supply the main dish, and everybody else brings a dish to pass.   This really helps everybody to relax and enjoy each others company.  Good bonding time.  This summer we are having a business meeting as part of the party.
 
Consider giving your employees a new task or remember to appreciate them in some small way.  Saying that they did a good job and a thank you can go a long way.
 
Our employees are very important! 
 
Virgene Shellenbarger
Liquor Hutch, Hutchinson
MMBA Director

Mora Tracking to Build New Store
Mora 
 By Jay Corn
Kanabec County Times
 
Although both fine details and exact time lines are still being hammered out, it appears near certain that the city of Mora will build a new municipal liquor store.
 
Plans call for the new building to be located just east of the stoplights where Hwy. 23 and Hwy. 65 intersect on property currently owned by Donald and Janice Parker.

The Parkers and the city signed a development agreement earlier this month, and a purchase agreement was signed last Wednesday, according to city officials.

The city, as part of the purchase agreement, will be required to plat the 112-acre Parker property and construct at least some roads - one of which is tentatively being called Dala Lane. At least some of the new plots, including one immediately south of the proposed new liquor store, will be designed for commercial and/or residential development.

The city would recoup its plat and road construction expenses through special assessments to the property taxes of both the Parkers and one other affected property owner, although exactly how much those assessments will be and a specific timetable for repayment are not yet known.
 
Cost of a new liquor store is estimated to hover around $1.8 million. The city will, contingent on satisfactory soil boring results, spend an additional $126,000 to acquire the 2.25 acres of land on which the new facility will stand.

Purchase price of the Parker property will come out of the city's liquor store fund.

Exactly how the new liquor store's $1.8 million price tag will be funded has not been officially decided, but city council members have explored in depth the possibility of borrowing the money from the city's electric fund, which is administered by Mora's Public Utilities Commission.

City officials have been working for more than a year on plans to build a new liquor store.

Anticipated to have an "up North" exterior, the new liquor store will, at 10,000 square-feet, be twice the size of the city's current building and feature both a modern-feeling interior and 21st century infrastructure.
 
Temperatures of the proposed new liquor store will be regulated by efficient geothermal heating and cooling, while a fine wine bar and accompanying retail section, as well as a beer cave with a capacity to hold 1,400 cases, are additionally in the plans.

As for the city's current municipal liquor store, it and its contents would likely be put up for sale on the open market. City Administrator Joel Dhein told city council members last week that at least one party has expressed interest in purchasing the building.

To date, Mora's municipal liquor store has generated more than $1.3 million in year-to-date sales, up approximately $70,000 over 2008.
 
Report Stresses Importance of Alcohol Regulation
Campaign Alcohol Responsibility 
A new report, The Dangers of Alcohol Deregulation: The United Kingdom Experience, exposes why the United Kingdom currently is facing an alcohol epidemic and how it can be avoided so a similar epidemic does not happen in the United States.

"As part of a growing globalization trend across the alcohol industry, some have called for alcohol deregulation in the United States. Currently, we have a regulatory system that governs the marketing, promotion and sale of alcohol," said author and former state alcohol regulator Pamela Erickson.
 
"To answer this question one need only look at the recent experiences of the United Kingdom on whether liberalized alcohol laws are optimal. In The Dangers of Alcohol Deregulation, I suggest that the answer is a resounding 'no.' Alcohol should be regulated - and the deregulation of alcohol has many dangerous and unintended consequences for society."

The current epidemic in the U.K. follows the path of gradual deregulation to a point where society treats alcohol much the same as any other product. All forms of alcohol - beer, wine and spirits - are sold almost everywhere and can be purchased 24 hours a day.
 
These relaxed laws have created an alcohol epidemic characterized by very high rates of youth intoxication; large increases in alcohol induced diseases including liver cirrhosis; and frequent instances of public disorder, crime and violence around pubs and nightclubs. An examination of how this epidemic came about is a good lesson for the United States in an effort to ensure such extreme alcohol-related problems do not reach U.S. shores.

As alcohol became more available in the United Kingdom, it became cheaper. From 1980 to 2007, alcohol became at least 70% more affordable in the United Kingdom.
 
This was particularly true in grocery stores where four large supermarket chains gained 75% of the market and became locked in a price war driving alcohol prices ever lower. Alcohol is sold "below cost" by many of these mega-retailers. People shifted to drinking primarily at home due to the cheaper prices.
 
Meanwhile, local urban communities were looking for ways to revitalize their core centers and hit upon entertainment as the key. Numerous nightlife centers sprung up - some with mega-bars able to host 1,000 patrons. These became scenes of drunken debauchery with people spilling out at closing time vomiting, urinating and passing out. An ill-advised solution was to allow 24 hour sales so drunks would exit throughout the night, not all at once. This did not seem to stop the problems, but it did increase the burden on law enforcement.

Currently, the U.S. has a strong alcohol regulatory system. Most states have the regulatory elements recommended by public health authorities. Each state has a system that carefully controls alcohol through three market segments.
 
This system prevents price wars, eliminates tainted alcohol and collects taxes. Enforcement has curbed illegal sales to underage buyers. Drunk driving has declined, although too many people still die on American highways from alcohol-induced crashes.

"It is critical that Americans take the lessons from the United Kingdom with great seriousness. Alcohol is a different product that cannot be sold just like any other commodity. Regulation works to prevent practices which induce increases in consumption, heavy drinking and hazardous behavior," says Erickson. "The research and rationale for these important marketplace curbs is not sufficient.
 
Often policymakers are at a loss to explain why Americans regulate in the way that we do. This is dangerous as we could lose a good regulatory system in the U.S. merely due to lack of understanding." 
 
The report can be obtained on the Public Action Management website, www.pamaction.com
 
Future Dates to Remember!!
July 1st
 MN Tax Adjustment 
 
 
MMBA Regional Meetings
 Fall of 2009
 
 
Ask A Director
 
Gary Buysse
Rogers
763-428-0163
 
Bob Leslie
 Pelican Rapids
218-863-6670
 
Dan Bahr
Bemidji
218-751-8868
 
Brian Hachey
Stacy
651-462-2727
 
Nancy Drumsta
Delano
763-972-0578
 
Lara Smetana
Pine City
320-629-2020
 
Joyce Zachmann
Spring Lake Park
763-780-8247
 
Virgene Shellenbarger
Hutchinson
 320-587-2762
 
Tom Agnes
Brooklyn Center
763-381-2349
 
Steve Grausam
Edina
952-903-5732
 
Toni Buchite
50 Lakes
218-763-2035
 
Michelle Olson
Sebeka
218-837-9745
E-Mail Me
 
Bridgitte Konrad
North Branch
651-674-8113
 
Paul Kaspszak
MMBA
763-572-0222
1-866-938-3925

 
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September BAT Trainings
BAT Logo
Bob Leslie has scheduled the following Beverage Alcohol Trainings:
 
Sept 1 - Moorhead Sept. 13 - Stacy Sept. 23 - Hawley Sept. 24 - Bemidji Sept. 27 - Fairmont
 
If you would like to attend these trainings or schedule an event for your facility, contact Bob using the information in the "Ask a Director" section of this newsletter.
Mike Martino Passes Away
Reco
MMBA Commercial Member Mike Martino of Reco Store Equipment
unexpectedly passed away a couple of weeks ago.
 
Mike and his wife Laurie were welcome fixtures each year at the MMBA Annual Conference.
 
Notes to the family should be sent to:
 
Laurie Martino
7666 Palisades Ave.
Otsego, MN 55330

Click Here to View Mike's Obituary 
 
Some people buy out of habit, convenience, or price but would be quick to defect to an alternative