Sam's Settles for $300,000

we almost lost our local wineries because of proposed changes to the distribution system. I understand the fear that the big wineries would set up their own warehouses in each state and ship to places like Sam's Club, Osco, etc -- cutting distributors out. In this state distributors handle all products. Local wineries previously could ship. Now they can still ship, but the customer has to sign a special statement requesting shipment and verifying a lot of information

Local wineries could have been sacrificied if they were totally unable to ship. Most of them exist through the ability to ship. Our state was thinking of halting all shipments except from wholesalers.

And I have tried to simplify it so some may think it is a bit oversimplified.

Most of the shipments I have received here in Ohio have been by FedEx although some Binnys shipments have arrived by UPS. These shipping companies are total hypocrites. They know exactly what they are picking up when they get these packages from the stores. On a return, they mess with the little guy because it doesn't get them as much revenue as the retailers. They are afraid of losing the business of the big guys to a competitor, so they don't push the isssue. Another online retailer who ships liquor is Shoppersvineyard.com out of New Jersey. I also noticed just the other night that Binnys shipping rates have gone up sharply, probably due to increased fuel prices. This whole issue boils down to one thing, MONEY! Every state wants the tax off of the liquor sales. In Ohio's case, they have a website, but no product list of locator. In addition, they are snail slow in replying to questions and requests, sometimes they don't even bother to reply. Quite frankly, if they want my business, they need to carrry the products I want at a place convenient for me to purchase them. They also need to get with the 21st century and have a website conducive to locating product. Customers like me will not wait for them to get up to speed, if I want something and they don't want to carry it, a few clicks and I will find someone else that does!

Thomas

Things are so much more relaxed here in Japan. I think most small bars buy as they need from retailers, at least when they run short. I have often seen people who are obviously running a bar in convenience stores buying a few 633 ml bottles of beer.

When I asked about it the post office told me that shipping bourbon would not pose a problem. The private shippers all ship spirits within Japan, as far as I know.

Heck, until a few years ago you could buy beer on the corner from a beer machine. You can still find those in hotels and hot spring resorts. Ten, fifteen years ago I use to see kids in the convenience store buying beer for their dads. Way back when I was sixteen, they wouldn't let me carry beer to the car for my mom. They did carry it for her, though.

Getting something through customs might be different. At least I would expect to have to pay duty. Maybe not, if the bourbon was a gift. The guy I asked at the post office didn't know. I haven't tried yet.

On the minus side, most big bars, especially chains, only serve beer from one company. Also, on the production side you have to be really big to get a license, at least for beer. The 'micro' brewers here are still quite large.

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Originally Posted by cowdery

It has long been an open secret in the industry locally that many small bars, specifically those that operate on a shoestring and can't get credit from the distributors, basically buy their stock at Sam's with cash from the register, sometimes making several trips there a day/night. That's why Sam's, unlike most retailers, carries liters.

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I was wondering why I could find liters at Sam's, when I've never seen anything other than 750 ml and 1.75 liter bottles elsewhere. Generally, I've always associated liters with the duty-free market.

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Originally Posted by CrispyCritter

I was wondering why I could find liters at Sam's, when I've never seen anything other than 750 ml and 1.75 liter bottles elsewhere. Generally, I've always associated liters with the duty-free market.

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Bars generally use liters. I'm not sure if there is a reason for that. Maybe someone here who has worked in the hospitality industry will know. It could be a way of differentiating those two distribution channels and perhaps Illinois is unusual in even allowing liters to be sold at retail.

In the pre-metric era, the standard off-premise unit was the fifth (i.e., one-fifth of a gallon) while the standard on-premise unit was the quart.

It could be nothing more complicated than the industry responding to market preferences and, for whatever reason, consumers tended to prefer the fifth/750 ml while bars tended to prefer the quart/liter.

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Originally Posted by cowdery

...It could be a way of differentiating those two distribution channels and perhaps Illinois is unusual in even allowing liters to be sold at retail...

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It's certainly not unusual here in Tennessee. Most retail stores (all privately owned) carry most sizes available of popular items, from minis and 200mls right up through 1.75Ls, including liters. And liters sell. There usually is a bit of a per-volume price break as one graduates up in size -- and that seems to be the rationale for most purchasers.

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Originally Posted by TNbourbon

It's certainly not unusual here in Tennessee. Most retail stores (all privately owned) carry most sizes available of popular items, from minis and 200mls right up through 1.75Ls, including liters. And liters sell. There usually is a bit of a per-volume price break as one graduates up in size -- and that seems to be the rationale for most purchasers.

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Now that you mention it, when I shop in Louisville Liquor Outlet always has liters. I guess the exception is here, where Sam's is about the only place that carries them.

When did the industry go to metric measurements?

I recently found a couple of bottles of tax stamped fifths of Walkers's Deluxe. In Michigan it is hard to find old bourbon. The bottom of the bottles have a "75" on them, does this have any meaning.

Cost: $7.00/bottle including tax
Status: Unopened (although this will change soon)

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Originally Posted by TNbourbon

And liters sell. There usually is a bit of a per-volume price break as one graduates up in size -- and that seems to be the rationale for most purchasers.

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I rarely see liters or 1.75 liter bottles of bourbon here. When I do see them it is either of something I don't really want, or it costs more in the one liter bottle than in a 750 ml bottle. For some reason that happens a lot in Japan.

On the other hand, bottom shelf Japanese whiskey or brandy comes in four liter PET bottles at bargain basement prices. If all I wanted was to get drunk...

Ed

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Originally Posted by Edward_call_me_Ed

I rarely see liters or 1.75 liter bottles of bourbon here.
Ed

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They are rare in Sweden, as well.

Currently, at my local liquor store you can get a 1,5 liter Grant´s and a 4,5 liter Famous Grouse. That´s about it.

Quite common here are 350 ml bottles, especially when it comes to blended Scotch but we can get F. Roses, 7 Crown and a couple of malts in this variety, as well.

I rarely thought about the size of liquor bottles until I got into bourbon in a big way. It was then that I noticed that all American bottles were 750 ml as opposed to the 700 ml of the European ones.

And yet, when I was a kid in the 70´s the older guys always referred to a bottle of Vodka/Brannvin as a "75", so apparently there have been a change somewhere around. Maybe this happened when we joined The EU back in 1994.