Brewing Master

Question:

   Any input will be appreciated.

Location isn’t as important as low prices and knowledgeable staff, in my experience.   Most homebrew supply store staff I have talked with have very low levels of expertise, so the ones that know what they are talking about really impress me and get me to recommend them to friends.   Low prices keep people coming back, especially when they compare to mail order prices available.   Also, the selection is important.  After people come a couple of times and find you are out of Cascades or American Ale yeast or Crystal Malt, they stop bothering to go. John DeCarlo, MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA–My views are my own

Response:

   I am thinking of opening a HomeBrew supply store.  As you    might imagine, it is quite difficult to estimate the sales    volume associated with these types of stores because there    are so few of them around.  Anyway, I was wondering if anybody    had any experience with this, and if so, if you would help    me out with some info.?  A couple of questions that come to    mind are: [snip]    Any input will be appreciated.

I have never been a dealer, but I can tell you what I like as a customer. – Have very extended hours.  If I need yeast or something at 8:00 Pm or on a sunday and you are available you will be the one to get all my business. – Keep prices low.  I try to shop local but if you can’t come close to mail order prices than I have to go with my pocketbook. – Make sure your perishables are fresh and stored properly.  Only stock as many hops as you can sell within a reasonable time.  Us homebrewers can tell when the hops are stale. Most dealers I buy from sell out of their home.  This helps with one and two above.  If you can do one and two, three will be easier to manage. Hope this helps. Good Luck, Tony

Response:

        I am thinking of opening a HomeBrew supply store.  As you         might imagine, it is quite difficult to estimate the sales         volume associated with these types of stores because there         are so few of them around.  Anyway, I was wondering if anybody         had any experience with this, and if so, if you would help         me out with some info.?  A couple of questions that come to         mind are:         1) What kind of customer traffic can you expect?                    per day?    per week?         2) Do these stores get alot of walk-by business? or does the            business consist mainly of people who would seek out the            store?  In other words would the increase in business from            being next to a beer distributor make up for the higher rent            as opposed to a low rent store that would get little if any            walk-by customers?  (does this make sense?) The difference in            rent for the shop by the beer distributor is 3X the more            obscure shop.  Both shops are easily accessible by major            roads.         Any input will be appreciated.                                         Thanks                                         Dan

Response:

   I am thinking of opening a HomeBrew supply store.  As you    might imagine, it is quite difficult to estimate the sales    volume associated with these types of stores because there    are so few of them around.  Anyway, I was wondering if anybody    had any experience with this, and if so, if you would help    me out with some info.?  A couple of questions that come to    mind are:    1) What kind of customer traffic can you expect?               per day?    per week?

Before I even attempt to answer this, can you at least give me a little hint as to where you live.      2) Do these stores get alot of walk-by business? or does the       business consist mainly of people who would seek out the       store?  In other words would the increase in business from       being next to a beer distributor make up for the higher rent       as opposed to a low rent store that would get little if any       walk-by customers?  (does this make sense?) The difference in       rent for the shop by the beer distributor is 3X the more       obscure shop.  Both shops are easily accessible by major       roads.    Any input will be appreciated.

Every store that I have seen is out of the way.  Not far, but out of the way. Advertisement is only important insofar as a starting clientel is concerned.  The love of homebrew is spread in the home.  I often go to homebrew stores and they have beer on tap.  I am never impressed. My opinion is that when new comers walk in and they want to taste the   beer, they are assuming this is about as good as homebrew can get.  If you are planning on having beer taps in your shop, you had better be a damn good brewer. There is a guy at a conveinent location who lost alot of business to a guy who started selling out of his home home in my area.  There were alot of reasons, but one of these was that since he sold out of his home, he had less mark-up.   It starts to matter the more you brew. There is always more to say, but there are bills to pay. Berch? All Characters in my notes are fictional and any similarities to actual people is purely coincidence. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

Response:

   I am thinking of opening a HomeBrew supply store.            Any input will be appreciated.

Get in the Yellow Pages as soon as possible ! The nearest supplier to me (Red Bank N.J.) opened soon after the Yellow Pages were printed and had to wait almost a year to get in them. The only way I found them was through R.C.B. IMHO people will go out of their way to visit your shop as long as they no it exists. Good luck. Andy D.

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