city liquor

I've always had mixed feelings about city liquor.  I think our enterprise is well run, fairly priced, and friendly.  And, it generates money which the city uses for capital expenditures.  But, I don't like that we've shut private business out of selling liquor in town.  If the city wasn't in the liquor business I would not support us getting into it for that very reason; but getting out of the business is a harder nut to crack.

We recently remodelled our liquor stores and I was not a fan of how we decided to do that. Too much space in two of the stores. And, expensive finishes.  If our niche business was $50 wines, then sure--use all the granite and mahogeny that you want. But,that's not our niche.

At the end of the day most people want convenient stores and low prices. That's how you make money in the liquor business. You don't need tasting bars or unneeded space.

I went to the new Haskells in Chanhassen today.  No fancy finishes there. And, plenty of boxes on the floor; no square inch left open.  And man was it packed. 

I find the same thing at Trader Joe's. Tiny stores.  But, they move a lot of wine.

Know your customer.  Configure your stores accordingly.