Tapping into beer options
Distributors take in stride the ability to sell six-packs
There was a time when buying a six-pack or a single bottle at a Pennsylvania beer distributor would have been exciting, and not just because it was illegal.
Until about two years ago, when they started selling 12-packs, distributors could sell only full cases and kegs. But as the state’s booze laws gradually have loosened, consumers now can buy sixes and singles at supermarkets and convenience stores, even gas stations, plus a growing number of bottle shops and breweries, as well as bars and restaurants.
So on Tuesday, when distributors were allowed to sell six-packs and smaller quantities of beer, including in refillable glass jugs called growlers, it wasn’t huge news to many consumers. Rather, it’s just another option in a state where it can be quite easy to get just about any amount and kind of beer that you want.
The way the beer-buying landscape already has changed means that while some distributors are revamping their retail space and computers to handle mixed six-packs and draft taps, some aren’t going to bother.
“It’s not that big a deal,” says Gary Patel, whose family runs two distributors. At Beer 88 in Castle Shannon, he’s putting in a new cooler for six-packs and singles next week and, in a few months, a draft system to fill growlers. At Brookline Beer, which is a drive-through, they will stick with 12-packs and cases, at least until they expand that store and have room.
Although he knows some Beer 88 customers will like the added features, “The truth is, I have no interest to do this kind of business.” He’s concerned that many customers will buy only a bottle or two, and if the beer doesn’t move, the rest of the case will outlast its sell-by date.
In Lawrenceville, Shane Lohman is going to keep his Steel City Beer Wholesalers just that, to focus on supplying his retailers. One upside to the new law he sees is that distributors’ customers can more affordably try highend craft beers, which can cost $50 or more for a whole case. Otherwise, he says, “It’s not that tough to get a six-pack as it was.”
But that’s why Squirrel Hill’s Save-Mor Beer & Pop Warehouse is undergoing a dramatic reconfiguration to make room for a 22-door cooler, and scores of feet of new shelves for six-packs and bottles, plus a growler station. Its craft-beer-centric customers expect choice.
“Hopefully this will be helpful and bring consumers back to us,” says Steve Klein of what he calls the biggest law change in 90 years for distributors. When his late father started Shadyside Beer Distributor in the 1960s, they carried maybe a dozen brands. Nowadays, he carries more than 1,000 at any given time, and many customers only want the next new one.
“We all have to adapt to it,” he said early Tuesday afternoon, by which time they’d already sold a few sixpacks, but there wasn’t any kind of crazy run on them. Many customers were just learning from his signs and advertisements about the new law. (Signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in November, it also lets bars start selling booze at 9 a.m. on Sundays, without requiring them to also serve food; lets residents get “beers-of-the-month” shipped to their homes; and lets sports venues sell mixed drinks.)
Tony Vecenie of Vecenie Distributing, a Millvale wholesaler with its own retail storefront, says retail distributors “all have to find their footing and find what works for them.” He points out that it took months for 12-pack sales to catch on; he wonders if now “they may slowly disappear or be minimized.”
Just as it will take some time yet for distributors to adapt to the change, it remains to be seen whether customers will embrace buying buying smaller amounts of beer from them or not. Mr. Patel thinks supermarkets still have the advantage of all the foot traffic from food and now wine shoppers. For some consumers, it will come down to what retailer offers the most convenience and best prices.
In the meantime, points out Mr. Lohman, “it can’t hurt” beer connoisseurs. He believes, “It’s a good thing for us as a beer city. The fact that it’s not earth-shattering speaks volumes about how far we’ve come.”
“It’s a good thing for us as a beer city. The fact that it’s not earth-shattering speaks volumes about how far we’ve come.” — Shane Lohman, Steel City Beer Wholesalers, Lawrenceville