Best Practices Awards 2017

to store schedules required a major shift in store staffing , along with new signage and revised training .

Fine Wine & Good Spirits brick-andmortar Sunday sales for fiscal year 2015- 2016 ( before Act 39 ) totaled $ 88 million , while Sunday sales for fiscal year 2016- 2017 have totaled almost $ 113 million . The PLCB is continually evaluating sales cannibalization on other days to make adjustments as appropriate and strike the right balance for consumers .

Jolly and his PLCB colleagues continue assessing the lottery and weekend retailing opportunities within the state ,

“ Two days after the act went into effect , we had 24 of our stores operating with lottery machines . Within the first week , we were up to almost 50 stores . By October 2016 , more than 300 stores had lottery machines installed and operational .”

— CARL JOLLY , DIRECTOR OF RETAIL OPERATIONS FOR THE PLCB

which have both been met with extreme customer enthusiasm .

“ We ’ ll keep identifying stores that are a match for one or both of these initiatives ,” he says . “ We ’ re constantly looking at sales data to identify good fits . This is good for the state of Pennsylvania and it makes our stores more competitive with grocery stores that have similar products . It ’ s also good for customers . People have embraced being able to shop on Sundays and holidays , which are prime shopping days . They have more flexibility within their schedules now .”

BY KYLE SWARTZ

For Virginia Wine Month in October of 2016 , the Virginia ABC partnered with the Virginia Wine Board and Virginia Tourism Corporation . ABC stores offered a 15 % discount on all Virginia wines , while state vineyards were encouraged to conduct in-store tastings throughout the month . Promotion for the campaign took place on the Virginia ABC website , news releases , social media and e-newsletter , as well through in-store materials like posters and bottleneck tags .

“ We wanted to be part of the statewide promotion and education of consumers that ABC stores carry Virginia wines ,” says John Shiffer , Virginia ABC director of marketing . “ Consumers awareness in general of Virginia wine is very high , but I don ’ t think the consumer thinks of Virginia ABC stores as the place to go for that wine .”

Instead , people more often associate grocery stores with purchasing in-state wines , Shiffer explains . Consumers traditionally think of ABC as where they buy spirits . The 2016 campaign helped overcome that reputation . Sales of Virginia wines in ABC stores increased 11.3 % year-over-year for October .

The Virginia Vineyard Month of April in 2017 was again a collaborative effort among the three organizations .

“ By working together we are able to create a much more robust promotion ,” says Karin Taylor , Virginia ABC consumer marketing manager . “ We all get a lot more exposure that if we ’ re doing it by ourselves . There ’ s a lot of synergy from the three organizations coming together .”

The Wine Board originally developed Virginia Vineyard Month to increase

18 StateWays | www . stateways . com | September / October 2017