EDITOR ' S NOTE

These people burst into your store and ask for Blanton ’ s . They follow around wholesaler trucks , and time their appearances for when they know Buffalo Trace deliveries have arrived . They ask , “ Can you take a look in the back ?” At a recent National Alcohol Beverage Control Association conference , one famously outspoken NABCA member described these kinds of customers as “ batsh # t crazy .”

Other descriptors include : Taters , flippers , whiskey fanatics . Sometimes they ’ re newer or casual bourbon fans fed up that they cannot find any “ unicorn ” bottles .

Whatever their background , these are the increasingly large number of people who lust after allocated whiskeys . How did we get here ? Covid−19 supercharged an existing bourbon boom . Folks stuck at home joined online whiskey groups and learned about trendy bottles . Facebook Fomo is real . Suddenly , everybody needed Eagle Rare , EH Taylor . Bottles you could routinely find in stock five years ago have dissapeared . And that ’ s to say nothing of brands already hard to find .

How do you handle batsh # t crazy consumers ? Some stores hold lotteries where winning tickets earn you access to buying in-demand bottles . But these programs have run into issues : employees sniping bottles , accusations of rigged outcomes , or improperly handled drawings that lead to questionable results .

Other retailers hide rare products throughout the stores to encourage walking around . Some incorporate bottles into charitable efforts . For stores with an on-premise license , putting allocated items on the bar for individual pours is a fair way for everyone to have opportunity to enjoy .

An increasingly popular strategy takes the bottles largely out of the equation . Rather than drawing lottery numbers for specific products , retailers randomly assign customers a spot in line . Savvy businesses run multiple lines throughout the day , so that folks don ’ t camp out overnight . People arrive at their time and take their spot . An employee double checks that the line order is accurate , and then people enter the store , one after another , to buy a limited number of rare bottles . Everyone gets an equal shot at whatever ’ s still available , in waves of carefully controlled groups . ( Better yet , stores will also put out their picks , encouraging purchase of single barrels in addition to allocated SKUs .)

This system seems to result in the fewest number of upset customers . ( For now .) However you handle allocated whiskeys , it remains a headache that stores nationwide will work to alleviate in the coming year . For the latest strategies in beverage alcohol retail , be sure to continue reading Beverage Dynamics in 2024 . In the meantime , from all of us here at the magazine , we wish you a happy and healthy New Year !

Beverage Group Vice President Jeremy Nedelka Tel : 763-383-4413 email : jnedelka @ epgacceleration . com

Editor , Off-Premise Kyle Swartz Tel : 763-383-4447 email : kswartz @ epgacceleration . com

Trade Managing Editor Krystina Skibo Tel : 763-383-4419 email : kskibo @ epgacceleration . com

Contributing Editors Melissa Dowling , Melissa Sherwin , Tom Shay

National Account Director Debbie Rittenberg Tel : 763-383-4455 email : drittenberg @ epgacceleration . com

Marketing and Engagement Sales Manager Jamie Boldt Tel : 763-383-4456 email : jboldt @ epgacceleration . com

Associate Managing Art Director Nicole Siewert

Senior Product Manager , Data & Insights Marina Velez Tel : 763-383-4453 email : mvelez @ epgacceleration . com

List Rental Kris Grauer email : kgrauer @ npsmediagroup . com Tel : 203-822-7933

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Kyle Swartz Editor , Off-Premise

4 StateWays • Winter 2023 www . stateways . com