Owning/Operating a Bottle Shop?

[glademaster]

There must be a few maggots in the liquor store/bottle shop business, no?

I'm curious about the viability of something like this. Obviously there are issues with employee theft, spoilage, robbery, etc. that come with a cash heavy business, but it seems like it could be done in a way that minimizes exposure to those risks.

I'm not interested in a full-fledged liquor store, but a bottle shop that focuses on craft beer, wine, growler/crowler fills, and that would also have a seating area for tasting/event hosting. I don't want to deal with the headaches of preparing and serving food, but would ideally like to establish this business in a location that would allow an adjacent food cart(s) to feed patrons of the bottle shop.

Obviously the initial investment in refrigeration space, draft set up, and permitting would be a hurdle, but once the business is up and running, it seems like the overhead would be reasonably low.

Pros? Cons? Demotivational words? Are there businesses like this around you? Did you try to start one and run screaming? Do you own one and make bank?

[Name Redacted]

Margins are tight on beer, you'll make your money on liquor and wine.

[digitaldeath]

can collecting perhaps

[skifishbum]

The quorum of a dozen
Ain't gonna play that game
The hassles of food will likely be minamilized by the dram shop insurance savings
I doubt a taco cart in the parking lot would qualify

[old goat]

what does it take/cost to get a beer/wine license where you are?

[Cruiser]

Quick phone reply while I'm in between salespeople...

Margins are super thin as compared to traditional retail. Wholesale pricing is based on volume and your bottle shop ain't gonna do big numbers so you'll be at a competitive disadvantage soon as you open the doors. That means you'll struggle to keep the bills paid and you'll have difficulty finding reliable labor since you won't be able to pay much. You will have to be the face of your shop and the reason that customers choose to spend their $$$ with you instead of the cheaper guy down the road. Be prepared to work a lot of hours for the duration. And don't have any delusions of turning an actual profit before year 4 or 5 because that's virtually impossible. Keep your build out cheap and your overhead as low as possible then give it a good shot. It's a fun industry to play in and the fringe benefits can help to fill in the gaps left by thin margins.

PM me if you end up with specific questions once you get a little deeper into the process.

[glademaster]

This would not be a Utah venture, it's time to move on to greener pastures and stop working for someone else.

Liquor licensing to sell retail beer/wine, serve beer and wine, and sell growlers, crowlers and kegs would be $400-500 per year. From preliminary research, getting said license would not be a difficult or terribly involved process. There are obviously some hoops to jump through, but it doesn't appear to be enough of a hindrance to deter me from looking into seriously.

[digitaldeath]

its all about kombucha now

the booch will overtake beer in a decade

start brewing booch


very good


very tasty

[babybear]

I like the idea of kombucha but its still growing on me with all the weird particulates etc. My sister makes it and she gets psyched about the particulates though- tentacles they call em

Where you moving to, glade?

[TAFKALVS]

Kombucha is disgusting hippy swill. Like drinking pond water. I can't believe it's legal but raw milk isn't.

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Glade - We have a shop here in town that sells beer, wine, cured meat and cheese. Maybe something like that would be a good idea?

[skifishbum]

If your gonna move to greener pastures
Might as well grow bro

[digitaldeath]

this guy is making major dough lo

http://www.deaneskombucha.com/#welcome

[Timberridge]

The hippies in VT drink that boochy stuff. Sounds like a good idea if you need a colonoscopy prep.

Crafty beer is a fad that's peaking. Along with panini sandwiches.

You need to find the next fad.

[digitaldeath]

Kombucha is disgusting hippy swill. Like drinking pond water. I can't believe it's legal but raw milk isn't.

------

Glade - We have a shop here in town that sells beer, wine, cured meat and cheese. Maybe something like that would be a good idea?

tastes like magical elixir, makes one feel like a million bucks

you cant buy the major market BS kombucha, gotta get locally

[digitaldeath]

if you wanna get rich OP

sell fear

cash in

[babybear]

You need to find the next fad.

Alcoholic slushies-aka sloshies are all the rage around here.
Delicious but so much sugar consumed

Probably not enough to make a shop of it tho

[Timberridge]

weed infused seltzer waters.

[ghosthop]

its all about kombucha now

the booch will overtake beer in a decade

start brewing booch


very good


very tasty

we have a kombucha bar in BZN, I went in skeptical but was pleasantly surprised. Much better flavor than anything prepackaged I've tried from a store. And it leaves your stomach with the feeling you get from jumping into a cold pool after a long sauna. A nice alternative when I want to take an underage lady friend to a "bar" and the college scene seems to have not found out about it yet.

[Timberridge]

You want something that scales well and you can sell to someone else one day.

Try different types of things you can flatten into a chip. At my grocery store they have bean chips, quinoa chips, spelt chips, amaranth chips and other chips I've never heard of. Find an exotic grain from Nepal you can flatten into a chip.

[riser4]

The wikipedia never fails.

Kombucha has been claimed to have various health benefits, but there is little evidence to support such claims.[2][3] There are several documented cases of serious adverse effects, including fatalities, related to kombucha drinking, possibly arising from contamination during home preparation.[3][4] Since the mostly unclear benefits of kombucha drinking do not outweigh the known risks, it is not recommended for therapeutic use.[2]

[old goat]

You want something that scales well and you can sell to someone else one day.

Try different types of things you can flatten into a chip. At my grocery store they have bean chips, quinoa chips, spelt chips, amaranth chips and other chips I've never heard of. Find an exotic grain from Nepal you can flatten into a chip.

yak chip

[digitaldeath]

The wikipedia never fails.

Kombucha has been claimed to have various health benefits, but there is little evidence to support such claims.[2][3] There are several documented cases of serious adverse effects, including fatalities, related to kombucha drinking, possibly arising from contamination during home preparation.[3][4] Since the mostly unclear benefits of kombucha drinking do not outweigh the known risks, it is not recommended for therapeutic use.[2]

you can feel the benefit, ok

[TAFKALVS]

The wikipedia never fails.

Kombucha has been claimed to have various health benefits, but there is little evidence to support such claims.[2][3] There are several documented cases of serious adverse effects, including fatalities, related to kombucha drinking, possibly arising from contamination during home preparation.[3][4] Since the mostly unclear benefits of kombucha drinking do not outweigh the known risks, it is not recommended for therapeutic use.[2]

I knew it was a bunch of hippie horeseshit.

[ghosthop]

The wikipedia never fails.

Kombucha has been claimed to have various health benefits, but there is little evidence to support such claims.[2][3] There are several documented cases of serious adverse effects, including fatalities, related to kombucha drinking, possibly arising from contamination during home preparation.[3][4] Since the mostly unclear benefits of kombucha drinking do not outweigh the known risks, it is not recommended for therapeutic use.[2]

alcohol kills, eh? Pretty sure this thread is about opening a shop to make $$, not curing my severe case of millennialism.

[RootSkier]

Liquor licensing to sell retail beer/wine, serve beer and wine, and sell growlers, crowlers and kegs would be $300-400 per year. From preliminary research, getting said license would not be a difficult or terribly involved process.

Really? What state is this?