Owning/Operating a Bottle Shop?

**Timberridge** · 10-05-2016, 09:28 AM

Sativa and indica chips.

**TAFKALVS** · 10-05-2016, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by flowing alpy

There are some underserved regions remaining in Wa. that will want there own dope shops once they see how much tax revenue that is being lost to 'green regions'.

My county has a small contingent of stupid fuddy-duddies who want to ban growing. Final county hearing the 19th, going to go and support the growers.

**Danno** · 10-05-2016, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by AaronWright

I don't know if there is such a thing as a "coffee shop" here in the Amsterdam sense. People just puff away on their vapes anywhere they want, it's ubiquitous.

I know that in Colorado, that type of operation has yet to be legalized.

**TAFKALVS** · 10-05-2016, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by Danno

I know that in Colorado, that type of operation has yet to be legalized.

The intersection with indoor smoking bans is too much for the busybody public health technocrats.

**snoqpass** · 10-05-2016, 10:10 AM

In WA you're not allowed to have open products on the premises of retail stores unless you are trying to return a shitty cartridge that they will blame you for leaking

**RootSkier** · 10-05-2016, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by Danno

I know that in Colorado, that type of operation has yet to be legalized.

I would bet that in most if not all states where the weed is (currently and will be) legalized, the states' clean indoor air acts will prevent indoor smoking forever.

**digitaldeath** · 10-05-2016, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by RootSkier

I would bet that in most if not all states where the weed is (currently and will be) legalized, the states' clean indoor air acts will prevent indoor smoking forever.

matt damon smokes cigs indoors in LA

**snapt** · 10-05-2016, 10:44 AM

Back to the bottle shop idea, what state are you in? Many are pretty cheap for just a beer/wine retail license. Like was mentioned margins are slimmer than most retail. Where I see people succeed are those that have some knowledge (Some sort of Som training) and can hand sell wine. That way people aren't just buying Bota boxes and Coors Light. Offer the knowledge to pair wines and beer with events and needs of the customers and grow your reputation that way. When people come in looking for one bottle they'll often leave with 6 if you give them solid options. Run deals for bulk purchases for things like weddings as well.

Hard liquor licensees are more expensive and harder to come by, and if the state controls it their is barely any margin.

Ms. Snapt is a Som and in the wine/beer business.

**digitaldeath** · 10-05-2016, 10:49 AM

your wife is somali!

haram haram

**MagnificentUnicorn** · 10-05-2016, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by Danno

I know that in Colorado, that type of operation has yet to be legalized.

That's why it won't fly here. I don't think it will either and that's not really a bad thing. I think as time goes by we will see that vaping isn't really that "good" for your lungs either. I like indoor smoking bans.

Originally Posted by digitaldeath

matt damon smokes cigs indoors in LA

But he's a demigod.

**glademaster** · 10-05-2016, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by snapt

Back to the bottle shop idea, what state are you in? Many are pretty cheap for just a beer/wine retail license. Like was mentioned margins are slimmer than most retail. Where I see people succeed are those that have some knowledge (Some sort of Som training) and can hand sell wine. That way people aren't just buying Bota boxes and Coors Light. Offer the knowledge to pair wines and beer with events and needs of the customers and grow your reputation that way. When people come in looking for one bottle they'll often leave with 6 if you give them solid options. Run deals for bulk purchases for things like weddings as well.

Hard liquor licensees are more expensive and harder to come by, and if the state controls it their is barely any margin.

Ms. Snapt is a Som and in the wine/beer business.

This would be for a bottle shop in Oregon, where beer/wine/cider licensing is pretty cheap. The emphasis would be on rare/craft beer and wine. I don't know much about wine, but I was a fan of craft beer before it was even legal for me to drink, and I'm working through the process to become a certified cicerone, so I would have some "credentials" as a beer expert to tout along with the shop.

I assume margins are a bit better on draft beverages and growler/crowler fills, right? I would like to integrate that into the business and have space on-site for people to try beers.

**Ted Striker** · 10-05-2016, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by flowing alpy

There are some underserved regions remaining in Wa.

This is the only way.

Here in B'ham there were dozens of guys with business plans, financing, and locations tied up ready to go before the law was even changed. So many, that this market was overserved within the first year. By the second year, many of those stores had gone out of business.

**digitaldeath** · 10-05-2016, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by AaronWright

But he's a demigod.

indeed

**snapt** · 10-05-2016, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by glademaster

This would be for a bottle shop in Oregon, where beer/wine/cider licensing is pretty cheap. The emphasis would be on rare/craft beer and wine. I don't know much about wine, but I was a fan of craft beer before it was even legal for me to drink, and I'm working through the process to become a certified cicerone, so I would have some "credentials" as a beer expert to tout along with the shop.

I assume margins are a bit better on draft beverages and growler/crowler fills, right? I would like to integrate that into the business and have space on-site for people to try beers.

Yes the fills have better margins for sure. Get to know your distributors and reps, show them the willingness to buy special and new releases so they show them to you prior to anyone else in town. If you have the cash flow you can gamble on buying out the on hand inventory of smaller distributors for certain products so you're the only guy in town with it for a while (for smaller operations this can often be only a case or two). Learn wine, an intro course from the Som folks is well worth it. Any jo schmo can go pick out a tasty looking IPA. Picking a wine to pair with a specific occasion is a hell of a lot harder and more valuable to consumers in many markets. Plus the folks who value that spend money.

DD the lady isn't a Master Som but working her way up the chain. Pretty crazy to watch her pick a varietal, producer, region and vintage on a blind test.

**Ted Striker** · 10-05-2016, 12:21 PM

Going back to the bottle/beer/wine shop... IMO, there isn't much room in the market in western WA and OR just selling bottles/fills at retail. As mtn girl said, you can get your growler filled at convenience stores and gas stations in this town. And the grocery stores have a pretty good selection of beers at prices that the little guys can't match. There was a bottle shop here in Bellingham run by a guy who used to brew at the oldest brewery in town, and it went out of business.

To actually make money you need an angle.

There's a newish place called Elizabeth Station, that's primarily a bottle shop, but also has 16 taps for growler fills, and onsite consumption. They also have limited food / convenience store snacks, and food trucks in the parking lot 4 nights a week. What sets them apart from being just a bottle shop is that they are a community hangout. I can't walk in without bumping into someone I know.

The owner is my neighbor, and he told me that it's loosely based on Super Deli Mart which was a convenience store in West Seattle that had taps. And like any other convenience store, there is no age limit, so kids are welcome (originally, dogs too, but some busybody reported them to the city so dogs are now on the patio only).

But they improved on that model by engaging the local (i.e. PNW) brewers, so they had brewer's nights / tap takeovers where a rep - or in many cases the owners - would host an event showcasing their products, and giving away swag. Then they started to do co-labs with small breweries which actually produced some pretty good beers.

Do something like that, in the right location, with a solid business plan, and you could definitely make money.

Also have a look at Broken Top Bottle Shop and Growler Phil's/Primal Cuts, both in Bend.

**digitaldeath** · 10-05-2016, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by snapt

Yes the fills have better margins for sure. Get to know your distributors and reps, show them the willingness to buy special and new releases so they show them to you prior to anyone else in town. If you have the cash flow you can gamble on buying out the on hand inventory of smaller distributors for certain products so you're the only guy in town with it for a while (for smaller operations this can often be only a case or two). Learn wine, an intro course from the Som folks is well worth it. Any jo schmo can go pick out a tasty looking IPA. Picking a wine to pair with a specific occasion is a hell of a lot harder and more valuable to consumers in many markets. Plus the folks who value that spend money.

DD the lady isn't a Master Som but working her way up the chain. Pretty crazy to watch her pick a varietal, producer, region and vintage on a blind test.

i know lots in liquor and wine biz

very boring and pretentious stuff

" oh this has notes of worm wood and rusted railroad ties, spetacular"

OP - check cashing biz buddddddddddddd

**Yonder_River** · 10-05-2016, 12:52 PM

I was just in Bottleworks yesterday and it's looking pretty sad in there. Probably not the best business to get into right now with margins and competition from grocery stores. I bet they are only still in business due to the owners Having other businesses to subsidize it.

**snapt** · 10-05-2016, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by digitaldeath

i know lots in liquor and wine biz

very boring and pretentious stuff

" oh this has notes of worm wood and rusted railroad ties, spetacular"

OP - check cashing biz buddddddddddddd

Sounds like you watched a doc on Netflix brah.

**digitaldeath** · 10-05-2016, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by snapt

Sounds like you watched a doc on Netflix brah.

im from MN - we are liquor capital of midwest - major bootleggers here boy

i know prominent liq store owners / multiple reps for wine beer and liq / so much you dont

only docs on netflix i watch are about aliens and nazis, broham

**bagtagley** · 10-05-2016, 02:30 PM

Craft beer may be peaking - no idea - but going places to drink beer definitely is not. Here people drive 30+ minutes from town to get drunk in farm country. Breweries are killing it. Some of them make some really good beer, but most is just okay. Doesn't matter, on a nice afternoon, they're packed to the gills. The new thing is breweries with food trucks instead of a kitchen.

Line up some serious cash, build something modern industrial rustic farmhouse with gender neutral bathrooms with sliding barn doors. Hire a decent brew master and sell some burgers and pizza. Outside seating and cornhole are required.

**Ted Striker** · 10-05-2016, 02:41 PM

^^^ totally.

people said coffee was peaking way before it actually did, and post peak coffee consumption is still way up.

**glademaster** · 10-05-2016, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by pisteoff

There's a newish place called Elizabeth Station, that's primarily a bottle shop, but also has 16 taps for growler fills, and onsite consumption. They also have limited food / convenience store snacks, and food trucks in the parking lot 4 nights a week. What sets them apart from being just a bottle shop is that they are a community hangout. I can't walk in without bumping into someone I know.

The owner is my neighbor, and he told me that it's loosely based on Super Deli Mart which was a convenience store in West Seattle that had taps. And like any other convenience store, there is no age limit, so kids are welcome (originally, dogs too, but some busybody reported them to the city so dogs are now on the patio only).

But they improved on that model by engaging the local (i.e. PNW) brewers, so they had brewer's nights / tap takeovers where a rep - or in many cases the owners - would host an event showcasing their products, and giving away swag. Then they started to do co-labs with small breweries which actually produced some pretty good beers.

Do something like that, in the right location, with a solid business plan, and you could definitely make money.

Also have a look at Broken Top Bottle Shop and Growler Phil's/Primal Cuts, both in Bend.

This is what I have in mind as a vision for the place. More than just a beer/wine store, but a neighborhood spot. There is a spot in southeast Portland called Belmont Station that is very similar to what I have in mind. Maybe it isn't a viable business, but it seems like there are neighborhoods or cities where there is a market for it.

**JayPowHound** · 10-05-2016, 06:40 PM

Being from Mass, where booze of any kind can't be sold in gas stations or grocery stores... I might suggest you find a state with similar regs.

Reduce the competition, ya know....

Good luck sir

**Ted Striker** · 10-05-2016, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by glademaster

Belmont Station

Oh yeah, I forgot about that place. I have friends that just bought a house a few blocks away.

I think it's a totally viable business, if done right, in the right location.

When there were only 10 breweries in Bend people would've (and probably did say) you'd be crazy to open the 11th. Now there are over 20.

When the third brewery in Bellingham was in the construction stage, people thought that this town was too small to support another brewery. Three years later there were 5, and the one I just mentioned opened a second location. Today we have 8, with 3 more on the way (one is Melvin's second location - stoked on that.)

There's a reason that once there's a gas station on one corner, competing gas stations attempt to get the other corners: competitive clustering. Businesses offering similar products or services located near one another will pull in more business as a whole than they would individually if spread out. Restaurants, bars, fashion, furniture, and hotels all follow this model. The various districts of Manhattan illustrate this pretty well.

So I don't buy the idea that drinking is "played out" or past its peak.

**Yonder_River** · 10-05-2016, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by glademaster

This is what I have in mind as a vision for the place. More than just a beer/wine store, but a neighborhood spot. There is a spot in southeast Portland called Belmont Station that is very similar to what I have in mind. Maybe it isn't a viable business, but it seems like there are neighborhoods or cities where there is a market for it.

On a similar vein, research chuck's hop shop here in seattle. Same deal, it's all about community.