Alright. Just over a year ago I said I would post an AMA. I've worked for Coles for 10 years and First Choice Liquor for 10 years. Following those I now own my own business. A small independent liquor retail store/franchise. I find myself jumping into other retail and liquor posts/threads. So let's go.
Should add.. Started with Coles at 16, started full time straight out of VCE at 18.
Heh, straight off the other thread. My current store, no. I actually think thieves target corporate stores to steal, it's much easier to get away.
Liquor theft IMO was at its worst 6-10 years ago when brazen thieves were quite happy to load up cases of spirits into trolleys and walk straight out the door. (Touch me and I'll kill you was the response when questioned)
Problem is you can't be instore every hour of every day, so yes I probably lose some, but not nearly as much as I did in the corporate stores, but that didn't really affect my personal income, it does now.
What kind of margins are on cider and ginger beer products? They all feel way overpriced.
Cider falls into WET tax(wine) which should mean they are cheaper, wholesale doesn't reflect that though. So speak to CUB etc. ;) (However if you compare a 10 pack of Somersby vs an RTD taxed product, it's cheap and that will probably change)
Ginger beer seems to be a little random, we look at Brookvale as a good example, $26 a 6 pack, yes IMO it's over priced but from what I was told/seen it doesn't fall into beer/wine and is taxed as an RTD. There are other ginger beers that fall outside the RTD category but they taste like horse shit.
Does the person serving me in the store know what the Hidden label/Clearskin wines really are?
I mean those wines are allegedly proper label wines, do the staff know which is which and if I ask will they tell me?
Nope, there's not a single person at store level who can tell you where the cleanskins came from. There are other wines in the store that are 'exclusive' that they may know who produced them. What wine they are in reality, who knows. I've been told I'm drinking $10 St. Henri because it was over produced that year, but did I believe it?
On this topic, I have people telling me our $4 wines drink like $20 wines, in the end it's all about personal taste.
How can anyone in the chain make money on $4 wine? Seems unbelievable that someone can grow grapes, process them, bottle them, ship them, and a retail store charges $4.
I'm not deep into it as yet, but I believe there is WET rebates somewhere along the line. First Choice did sell a wine slippery fish for $3 for many years and prior to that there was extremely cheap cleanskin deals!
Always been curious - does each shop have their own timing for putting out 'fresh' products like baked bread and roast chickens and when to stop putting them out? I swear it seems to be different every time I visit a different shop.
Reply below, didn't reply to comment by accident
So that's probably changed a lot, but there was always set standards for chooks to be cooking and off by a certain time, then it's managed throughout the day based on sales and they had to be available until a set time. Bread was baked and all ready to go as bakers finished early. (There were frozen bake stores who had a quicker turnaround but baked from frozen rather than made on the spot)
How do handle customers that you can tell have a drinking problem? Do you ever say anything to them?
Good question. In corporate, no if they appear sober serve away. At Indy level you can actually build a relationship and an understanding. Recently had a very, very regular who's now pushed through 2 months of counselling and we've built an external relationship. It means a lot to him to have my support outside of it all.
In saying that, there are people you watch slide, and there is not much you can do.
Describe your average business day from start to end.
It's extremely different from store to store. At my worst, arrive at work at 6am, fix up the shambles that were left, finish work at 10/11 when the store closed. 15 hour days minimum, at my best, arrive at the store around 6.30, take the 7 o'clock deliveries, knock off at 3.30 and go spend time with my family.
My worst worst was pre liquor in supermarkets which was basically 2 X 24 hour days with abuse and proving a point.
A standard day in corporate liquor:
arrive 10-15 minutes prior to start time.
Review previous nights notes and fix any issues
Count in registers(all 4+ even if you were only using 2)
Then it's onto Backstock/load/orders.
Phone conference calls once to or twice a week prior to start time. (At random quite regularly)
Quite often in half our business, a 1 person operation with a 0 minute planned overlap had to perform safe work training and communicate any issues from above.
At the beginning of my liquor career we also had around 10,000 tickets a week to out out + remove.
What's your go to value for money bargain for:
*Beer (6 Pack)
*Red Wine Under $20
*Red Wine Under $30
*Liqueur
*Social Spirit (For Shots)
Any in the above categories that you see as overpriced and should be avoided? Looking at you Grey Goose
Thanks.
*Beer (6 Pack) -personal taste but standard beer I'm northern heavy, craft(or not based on opinion, I'm on Coopers XPA currently)(sparkling ale previously, I'm a big Coopers fan)
*Red Wine Under $20 - this is so difficult and I'm gonna answer as per below as well, I could sell you any wine between 5 and $50 that drinks a level above. I think Peter lehmann wines drink below their cost, and treasury/Penfolds wines drink above their cost and there is so much in between.
*Red Wine Under $30
*Liqueur - Dubliner Honeycombe liqueur at $45 is the best liqueur I've ever had in my life. (I've had a lot)
*Social Spirit- hard to do this as everyone is different. If I'm shotting then it's sambucca, frangelico or lower alc. Liqueurs.
Big Thumbs Up to the Dubliner. First time I tried it it was good. Then I tried it cold and I've had a bottle in my fridge since.
By above/below their cost do you mean that Peter Lehmann wines are not delivering value and Penfolds over deliver on value? First time hearing that phrase.
Thanks.
Re reading it sounds wrong. I think Penfolds/treasury are over rated. Peter Lehmann/a lot of Casella wines are under rated so under priced comparitively!
Is your new store being supplied by Metcash?
I think most indepandants are, so yes. But all with different pricing structures based on franchise/relationships
What is your favourite pizza topping?
I'm a pretty simple pepperoni man. Most pizza places can't mess that up!
What are your thoughts about Dan Murphy and First Choice price matching?
How do you compete with that?
I've seen similar comments in a few of the EB games posts. Generally there is a large portion of the population who don't bother price matching or checking competitor pricing. Of the products I stock I'd estimate 80% are cheaper than Dan's and FC's every day prices. I also find people get annoyed with Dans and FC when one day they are $42.95 on Carlton Dry cans and then $55 the next day. We try and stay consistent.
Is working there for 18 months considered a “long time” in your profession?
Definitely not, but in supers and being from the country a lot of people leave for uni. so you quite often only get them from 15-18years old and then they're gone. In Liquor you regularly hold onto them while they finish Uni.
Is theft a real issue for your store.