Wow, where did summer go?

We have had a great summer season once it finally arrived here in the Northwoods and now to think fall is just around the corner and we are gearing up or our last summer hurrah... Labor Day Weekend!

As I look around the off sale side of our store, I see many summer items still flying off the shelves and yet the beer vendors are already trying to push fall seasonals.

With the heat wave back on, I have changed my plans for seasonal product turn around.

This is an example of a quick change and forward thought process that can benefit so many other stores (large and small) who rely on mainly summer tourist business.

I have decided to hold off on fall seasonals until after Labor Day and continue on the hot summer items, as that is what is selling.

I have also used this time to look back at the prior years' sales and locate the non-sellers overall and the slow movers and relocate those items to our clearance rack to move them out and make room for new items coming out on the market.

I review the list of items people have asked if we carry and then review the surrounding market to determine if it is a hot product in our area.

The magazine "Beverage Dynamics" is also a great tool to review ratings on new products and knowledge about existing products. My sales reps are always surprised when I am asking about products before they are even available.

As I see it... We are in an ever-changing business and with limited space I need to make every item on the shelf a seller, and be one step up on the competition. We want to have those new items available so when that new visitor comes to our store we amaze them with great selection and outstanding customer service.

This will make them a return customer instead of a visitor.

Take the next week and look around your store and use your inventory and sales journals to help you push those hot items and get rid of the ones taking up space!

Dust on a bottle is profit lost to something new.

Plan strategies to move seasonal products during the season and have a game plan of what you are going to replace it with.

A little review, research and planning will help you bring in the right items for your facilities.

Lisa Kamrowski

Nevis Liquor

This is an e-mail I recently received from Colorado.

The newspaper link below has an article front page showing the citizens of Fairmont where some of the Liquor Store profits are going in 2014.

Every year we have a customer appreciation weekend and during the live radio remote I always talk about all the projects in the community our profits have paid for.

It becomes more and more important each year to drive home the importance of having our Muni. It was nice to see it front page in print!

Molly,

Greetings from Parker, CO.

As a Fairmont alum, it's was a pleasure reading the below article on-line this a.m.

We've all known for years your hard work and leadership at the liquor store has benefited the entire Fairmont community beyond measurable amounts. 

Thank-you for making such a positive impact in the lives of so many!

Regards,

Trevor

Click Here to Read Article

As you recall, voters recently forced the State of Washington to get out of the retail alcohol business 

By Davis Wahlman , KEPR TV

A change in the law made alcohol available at your nearest grocery store, Target, and Walmart.

It came with the promise that it wouldn't put booze into the hands of kids.

But KEPR found that's not the case. In the year since since Initiative 1183 was passed, more places have been busted for selling to minors in both Franklin and Benton County.

Barbara Hall doesn't mince words when it comes to businesses selling alcohol to minors.

"I hate it. I think it's a huge issue. So many people are affected by it. So many kids are affected by it," she says.

She was one of the many people who didn't believe the hype about Initiative 1183. Barbara thought that by putting the state out of the liquor industry -- it would make alcohol more available to minors.

"It's become so much easier for kids to get it, to be served to them, and to buy it or to steal it," she added.

Barbara doesn't seem to be far off. 

W filed a public records request with the state liquor control board asking how many violations each county had. In Benton County, before Initiative 1183, there were 31 violations for all of 2011.

In 2012, there were 41. Already a higher number as the law took effect in June. So far this year there have been 30. Pacing to have the highest number of violations in the last three years.

Franklin County has a similar story. Just a dozen violations in 2011.
That jumped to 42 last year. While I reached out to some of the businesses on the list, they declined to talk about why they received violations.

And when we reached to three groups on each side of the for and against 1183 campaign -- no one returned our calls.

One convenience store worker says she always checks IDs because it's not worth losing her job.

"Even if they look old, I still check IDs. You never know, they could have a beard and they could be under age," say Lily Caldera, a convenience store clerk.

She might have the right attitude, but the numbers still show, wider access to alcohol has come at the same time of wider access to minors. 

Most underage sales happened at convenience stores and most only had to be busted once to make changes. Under state law, clerks could be fired if they're caught selling to minors.

Ole and Sven go on a fishing trip to Canada and come back with only three fish.

Sven says, "The way I figger it, Ole, each of them fish cost us $400."

Ole says, "Well at dat price, it's a good ting we didn't catch any more of 'em than we did."

Beverage Alcohol Training

A car crashed into the store early Tuesday, leaving damage to the front. It happened at 3:37 a.m. at 451 Main St. The driver was speeding and doing U turns in the street, according to Stearns County Chief Deputy Bruce Bechtold. He could be cited later, he said.

Click Here for the Full Story