| As I See It... | |
Summer heat!
It has been one hot sizzling summer. Is this good or bad for sales?
My experience has been that hot days are good for business if they do not last too long. People like to get outside and enjoy good weather, even hot weather. We all know the more heat, the more they drink.
However if we run into a stretch of hot days more than a week long or so, people tend to withdrawal back into the air conditioning and then consumption slows down.
So the best scenario in my book for high sales is a few hot days, a few cool days, and just let it cycle that way all summer long. Now if we only had any control over any of it!!
One thing we do have some control over is keeping products chilled in the heat for consumers.
Beer coolers are always a challenge. Sweaty doors, product not cold enough, not enough room to handle everything that needs to be chilled etc.
Always remember that as the contrast from the cold in the cooler and the heat outside increases you have condensation, just like on you cold drink glass. One way to remedy this is heated cooler doors.
Also, as that customer comes in hot and sweaty, nothing looks better to them than a cold beverage sitting in a bin of ice. So work with your vendors for some bins and work with your ice vendor on supplying some of this ice for you.
Before you know it August will be over and the temperature will start falling just in time for MMBA Regional Meetings.
Enjoy the rest of your summer and sell lots of cold beer!!!
Tom Agnes
Brooklyn Center Liquor |
| Beaver Bay Job Opportunity | 
The City of Beaver Bay is requesting resumes and applications for immediate consideration for the Municipal Liquor Store Manager position.
Good hours, good benefits. Previous bar or retail management experience required.
Attributes should include pleasant personality, computer literacy, event marketing, and supervision experience.
Please mail to John McCurtain, City Administrator, P.O. Box 446, Beaver Bay, MN 55601 or email to curt7752@gmail.com. |
| Being "Nice" |  Your humble editor recently went into a Chipotle restaurant and was acting pretty normal, for me! In short, I was engaged with the staff with general chit chat and a positive attitude. All in all, it was nothing special or different. At the end, two members of the staff said my order was free. I looked perplexed and they said again the order was free - because I was "so nice." The experience got me thinking. If being "nice" generated that kind of a response, what does that say about business? What does that say about society? What does that say about each of us? |
| Geothermal Heating Cuts Energy Costs in Apple Valley |  Apple Valley has cut energy bills in half at its newest liquor store by installing geothermal heating and cooling in the state's first liquor store with such a system. The system, including nine heat pumps and 70 heat-storing wells, cost $113,000 more than a furnace and natural gas pipe system would, said Scott Swanson, director of the city's three liquor stores. But he said the 15,800-square-foot store, which opened in November 2008, will save enough on energy to recover the $113,000 in six years -- by the end of 2014. |
| Retail Basics | |
By DMS Retail
All of us are looking for success in our retail businesses. Apart from and beyond everything else, sustainable success requires consistency. What do we mean by that?
We mean being consistently great in all aspects of our retail business.
Short term successes are possible due to some lucky combination of factors. But, we can not rely on lucky combinations. They are too far in between.
What we need to do is to set the foundations of our business right so that we can repeat our successes consistently.
This also has a profound impact on customer satisfaction.
Your customers expect a certain level of performance from you on the basis of perception you created. By being consistent at your skill set and service levels, you at minimum, satisfy the expectations.
And if you put a degree of constant improvement process in place, you created a winning combination for your retail operation.
At minimum, some of the areas you must deliver on a consistent basis:
1. Sales Skills (Trained staff on professional retail sales skills)
2. Good to Great Products and/or Services
3. Quick response to all sorts of customer issues (Rapid response procedures in place)
4. Clean, tidy and efficient store environment (Great visual merchandising and maintenance)
5. Streamlined and customer friendly checkout process.
Pretty basic right? Yet, just wander around the mall and see for yourself how many retailers are failing in consistent delivery of the basics.
Companies who understood this simple philosophy went on to create retail empires.
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| Vern's Funeral | |
Vern works hard at his job but spends two nights each week bowling, and plays golf
every Saturday.
His wife thinks he's pushing himself too hard,
so for his birthday she takes him to a local
strip club.
The doorman at the club greets them and says, "Hey, Vern!
How ya doin?"
His wife is puzzled and asks if he's been to This club before.
"Oh no," says Vern. "He's in my bowling league ."
When they are seated, a waitress asks Vern if he'd like his
usual and brings over a gin & tonic.
His wife is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and says,
"How did she know that you drink gin & tonics?"
"I recognize her, she's the waitress from the golf club.
I always have a cocktail at the end of the 1st nine, honey."
A stripper then comes over to their table, throws her arms
around Vern, starts to rub herself all over him and says...
"Hi Vern. Want your usual table dance big boy?"
Vern's wife, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of
the club.
Vern follows and spots her getting into a cab. Before she can
slam the door, he jumps in beside her.
Vern tries desperately to explain how the stripper must have mistaken him for someone else. But his wife is having
none of it.
She is screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him
every 4 letter word in the book..
The cabby turns around and says, 'Geez Vern, you picked
up a real spitfire this time.'
VERN'S FUNERAL WILL BE HELD THIS COMING FRIDAY... |
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| Future Dates to Remember!! |  |
2012 MMBA Regional Meetings Fall 2012 2013 MMBA Boot Camp February 19 & 20, 2013 Breezy Point Resort 2013 MMBA Annual Conference May 18 - 21, 2013 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
Toni Buchite
50 Lakes
218-763-2035
Brenda Visnovec
Lakeville
Bridgitte Konrad
North Branch
651-674-8113
Shelly Dillon
Callaway
218-375-4691
Karissa Kurth
Buffalo Lake
320-833-2321
Paul Kaspszak MMBA 763-572-0222 1-866-938-3925 |
| Wine 101 |  | |
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| Beverage Alcohol Training |  | |
Bob Leslie remains available to do alcohol awareness server training.
Contact him at:
320-766-3871
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| License Fees |  | |
The MMBA office has received a couple of calls for information on retail alcohol license fees.
Click Here to See State Statute |
| Two Quick Tips |  | |
Know your average sales transaction and think about ways to increase it.
One reason consumers still come out to bricks-and-mortar stores to shop (instead of going online) is for the fun and festive feeling. Make your store a happy place to be with music, décor and more! |
The value of experimentation is not the trying, it's the trying again after the experiment fails
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