As a board member we are asked to write an article for the newsletter once every ten weeks or so.
With Christmas right around the corner my thought was to write a real cheery article but as I said we don't get to write often so there are some things that are on my mind I would like to share.
Over the past two years I have attended all but three MMBA Regional Meetings and I have done a POS training at each one of them.
Some sessions are well attended, which is great. Others not as well, which is concerning.
What I hear many times is that other than the manager, and sometimes not even the manager or the people overseeing the liquor store at city hall, nobody understands what the POS system can and should do for them.
In this day and age, if you do not use the POS system to your benefit you will be left behind and eventually be calling MMBA for help.
This goes out to city administrators and city councils that run or oversee the liquor store operations...Iit is not good enough to just run a municipal liquor store these days. You need to be able to make money and show a profit. Otherwise residents will be asking/telling you to get out of the business.
If your operation is not performing as you think it should, you need to ask for help.
Here are some simple things you should be asking yourself and your manager:
- What % of sales should my inventory be at?
- Do we do cycle counts and what is the dollar amount we are over/short after each cycle count?
- What is our gross margin percentage?
- What percent sales are we in liquor, beer and wine?
- What percent are our labor costs vs sales?
- Are the stores discontinuing old product or are they just letting it collect dust and therefore just taking up space and not making any money?
- How do we price our products (price ends in .49 or .99) and what percent do we markup liquor, beer and wine?
- Do we run promotions? Do we have a wine or beer club? Do we promote a liquor, beer or wine of the month?
As administrators and councils, these are a few of the questions you should be asking yourself and your managers. If your manager cannot answer all of these questions, then this could help explain why your operation is not making the money you think it should.
YOU NEED TO ASK THE QUESTIONS, OR NO ONE ELSE WILL!
If our bosses do not ask these questions of us, who will?
Administrators and councils, MMBA is here to help. You just need to contact us and we'll do what we can.
All that we ask is that you act on our recommendations, otherwise we have wasted each other's time and energy to help fix the problems.
Managers, if you have questions and concerns about your stores, contact a board member; attend Boot Camp in February; the annual conference in May or a regional meeting in the fall.
I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you get to spend quality time with your families during this busy time of year!!
Steve Grausam
Edina Liquor
