Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association Newsletter
(June 12, 2011 - June 18, 2011)
 Click Here
for the
As I See It... 
 
Information  

We are going through some financially trying times here in Fifty Lakes and many of the residents are unaware.

 

A retired resident with an advertising background has come up with some suggestions. He has even taken it upon himself to go to his neighbors on his side of his lake to inform them of the situation and suggested they purchase at the muni.

 

We are having a banner printed that says "SUPPORT YOUR CITY-KEEP YOUR TAXES DOWN-SHOP THE MUNICIPAL LIQUOR STORE."  Maybe they'll stop at the bar and have a beverage before their purchase.

 

We have put white boards in the entryway listing the daily specials in the bar and the monthly specials in the off sale.

 

We also need to keep our web site (click here to view the website) updated and keep people informed on how we are doing, along with our daily specials and weekly events.

 

Advertising in the local paper or shopper informs weekenders, vacation people and locals of upcoming and on-going events.

 

Hanging flyers at local resorts and campgrounds helps new people coming to your town plan their time.

 

Signage is also very important. If people don't know you are there they won't stop in.

 

Information is a powerful thing.

 

Toni Buchite

MMBA Director

City Record Retention Schedule
 
Record Retention  

 

 From: Minnesota State Auditor

 

Government records must be preserved according to state law. In Minnesota, local governments may destroy government records only pursuant to:

  • An approved "Application for Authority to Dispose of Records";
  • An adopted and approved records retention schedule; or
  • An adopted general records retention schedule that has been pre-approved by the State Records Disposition Panel.

If the governmental entity has adopted the pre-approved general records retention schedule and that schedule is subsequently updated by the State Records Disposition Panel, the governmental entity does not have to adopt the new version of the general schedule. Instead, the State Records Disposition Panel will assume the governmental entity will use the most recent version of the general schedule.

 

Links to various records retention schedules for Minnesota governmental entities, including counties, cities, townships, and school districts are found on the Minnesota Historical Society's website at:

 

http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/records/retentionsched.html

 

In addition, the Minnesota Historical Society and State Archives website offer guidelines, information leaflets and forms to assist governmental entities in managing their paper and electronic records. For example, the site provides information leaflets for records of watershed districts, soil and water conservation districts, law enforcement, county auditors, public libraries, public health care facilities, heritage preservation commissions, towns, cities, and school districts.

 

The information can be found at:

 

http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/records/recser.html 

Impact of Government Shutdown on Minnesota Alcohol Distribution 
 

To date, the Legislature and the Governor have not been able to come to terms concerning the budget deficit.  If they are not able to do so by June 30, 2011, there will be a government shutdown.  In that event, only "critical" state services will continue.  All other government services will cease.

It is unlikely the Alcohol & Gambling Enforcement Division will be considered "critical" and, accordingly, will cease to function as of June 30, 2011.

Many distributor and retail licenses expire June 30, 2011.  If these licenses expire and if the applications for renewal are not processed and reissued by July 1, 2011, the distributors or retailers in question will be prohibited from selling alcohol.

Furthermore, there may be pending applications for buyer cards or label registrations that have not been acted upon.

Thus, even if a distribution licenses does not expire, the wholesaler will be legally prohibited from selling to a retailer who does not have a license and the distributor will be legally prohibited from selling any product that does not have an approved label.

 

Therefore, it is critical to determine when your license / buyers card expires.  If it expires at the end of this month, all reasonable steps should be taken to complete, submit, and have the license application approved by the end of the month.

 

It is also important to note that temporary non-profit license approvals will be impacted by the shutdown.

 

Looking at Discretionary Income
 
By Tom Shay

What's In Your Wallet?

If you watch television, you have likely heard this expression. It is the closing line in the Capital One advertisements for their credit card. Seeing the advertisement recently, I listened to it in a different light that I would like to share with you.

Think about all those that can do business with you. What is in their wallet? The answer is discretionary income; that is what we get from most of our customers. There are few exceptions to this situation. One is where a customer buys the minimum food to eat or the minimum clothing to wear. Another is where the customer spends to get the necessary medication to get them, or keep them healthy. All of their other expenditures with businesses falls into the category of discretionary income.

Selling to discretionary income is different from selling to the essentials. You have to remember what brought that customer to you initially; it was something they saw, read about, or heard about that gave the person a feeling they wanted to have that product or have that service provided. Because it is discretionary income, the competition is different. While many will see the competition as the shop down the street or the online business that seems to have everything at a lower price, the competition is different for discretionary income.

Granted, a big concern is getting the customer to part with their money as they shop. The bigger issue is getting the customer to decide this is where they want to spend their discretionary income. With challenges come opportunities for those who work to see a solution. The opportunity for an individual business is to be proactive in keeping a customer's interest alive and well.

Envision a business that stays in constant contact with every customer to see that they are maintaining and growing that passion for the product or service they bought from you that first attracted them. The responsibility is also to see that the customer's discretionary income does not move to some other passion. This same business has a wonderful opportunity to take customers from another business that does not properly care for their customers.

The 'brick and mortar' business would do well to listen to the message from the president of Amazon who said that their online store could never match the occasion where a customer can enjoy a cup of coffee, sit in a comfortable chair, and feel the pages of a book in their hands. Change the situation from a book to your product or service and the comparison still applies to an online business.

The responsibility for the manufacturers and wholesalers within any industry is to help all shops to develop their own unique ways of touching their customers and getting that discretionary income that is in their wallets.

 

People are not necessarily in your facility because they want to be

 

Future Dates to Remember!!
 2011 MMBA Regional Meetings
  
Fall 2011
  
2012 MMBA Boot Camp
  
February 21-22, 2012
Breezy Point Resort 
  
2012 MMBA Annual Conference
  
May 20-22, 2012
Arrowwood Resort
  

 

Ask A Director

Gary Buysse
Rogers
763-428-0163

Cathy Pletta
Kasson
507-634-7618
  
Vicki Segerstrom
Milaca
320-983-6255
  
Brian Hachey
Stacy
651-462-2727

Nancy Drumsta
Delano
763-972-0578

Lara Smetana
Pine City
320-629-2020

Michael Friesen
Hawley
218-483-4747

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
  
Shelly Dillon
Callaway
218-375-4691
  
Paul Kaspszak
MMBA
763-572-0222
1-866-938-3925

 
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Edina PSA Reminds Adults Not to Serve Alcohol to Minors
PSA

The City of Edina Communication Division recently produced an underage drinking prevention PSA aimed at adults.

 

It reminds Edina residents that City Code doesn't allow any person in control of a premises to serve alcohol to underage youth.


View Edina's PSA here.

 
Three Men Are Sitting at a Bar...
3 Men
Three men are sitting at a bar discussing coincidences.
  
The first man says, "My wife was reading A Tale of Two Cities and she gave birth to twins."
  
"Funny you should say that, " the second man remarks.  "My wife was reading The Three Musketeers and she gave birth to triplets."
  
With that, the third man jumps up from his bar stool and shouts, "I have to rush home!  When I left the house, my wife was reading Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!"