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  • Best way to organize retail shelves

    What do you guys feel is the best way to organize the shelves in a retail store? Do you prefer organization by country of origin, by style or by characteristics?
    Owner
    Grind Modern Burger
    PostModern Brewers
    Boise, ID

  • #2
    the last store I worked at we did it by country, then with in that style. In some cases it was done more by region than country. This was for a pretty large stock though.

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    • #3
      From a shopping standpoint i vote for style. Sometimes style and country groups overlap anyway, but if i go in looking for specific style i get frustrated having to go back and forth comparing, or end up walking around juggling 4 bottles and then have to figure out where to put back the ones i don't want.

      just my 2 cents
      Jeff Byrne

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      • #4
        When I worked the shelves in my last retail position we carried 700 different beers. When I started it was all by style. But another employee and I convinced the boss to let us rearrange. We went Craft on one side alphabetically by name, then Import on the other by country alphabetically by name. Oh and of coarse a pile of industrial beer in the middle.
        Joel Halbleib
        Partner / Zymurgist
        Hive and Barrel Meadery
        6302 Old La Grange Rd
        Crestwood, KY
        www.hiveandbarrel.com

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        • #5
          Anyone in favor of organizing beers by characteristics? I could see breaking beers into 5 or 6 categories based on its flavor profile. Crisp, Hoppy, Tart, Malty, Roasted, Rich etc.

          I realize this is totally outside the realm of what most stores do but I can see this being very helpful to a beer novice which 90% of the public is. The beer geeks are going know what they're going for anyway and this could even help them.

          Let the flogging begin.
          Owner
          Grind Modern Burger
          PostModern Brewers
          Boise, ID

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          • #6
            I have to throw in with Jephro - organize by style. Mixing imports with US crafts in the same style would be a benefit and make it easier for a beer aficionado to find what they want. I just think that there are too many variables/subjectives to organize by flavor/color characteristics.

            No flogging! Just my opinion based on how I shop....

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            • #7
              There's this wine store down the street from me organizes their wine selection by flavor profile... for exactly the same "helpful for novice" reason. But I think most wine snubs would prefer to keep their knowledgeable coolness instead of having sales people treating them like novice telling them what to get. I would think most beer snubs are the same.

              That most likely will not deter the beer snubs as long as you have good selections, but that can also be annoying for them, especially if they don't necessarily agree with your descriptors for the beers. (even if they are wrong, customers are always right...)
              If you want to be helpful for the novice, I would go for knowledgeable employees with maybe a small section to showcase some representatives of the classic styles, but give the customers their own time/fun to browse.



              Personally I would prefer keeping all beers from the same brewery together -- brewers need their own brand images, and retailer presentation is the front line! While all three Chimay will end up be sitting next to each other on the shelf, most domestic craft brewers will have their beers separated all over the place if categorized by style/profile, and their brand images disappear in the mosaic.

              Besides, beer is not wine and doesn't have the common grape/region/vintage characters that can be meaningfully categorized. As brewers we all have different ideas on how a pale ale should taste exactly... and that's a good thing!

              so... maybe try to give the brewers a little more credit for brewing unique beers and the long way of brand building.

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              • #8
                The problem with organizing by style...

                Is that "style" itself isn't as cut and dry as many would like it to be. The criteria for certain "styles" may be based on the presence or absence of specific ingredients, while others have more to do with specific flavor characteristics, or even geographic origins. Besides that, a lot of traditional brewers in other parts of the world don't adhere to the same notions of "style" that have become popular here in the US, meaning that you would then be forced to try to superimpose these concepts in instances in which they may not be entirely appropriate.

                Having said that, I could see an argument for dividing the beer section into 5 or 6 very broad categories, within which the beers could then be grouped by region and producer. But trying to separate "Brown Porters" from "Robust Porters" and "Tripels" from "Belgian Strong Goldens" is only going to lead to mass confusion.

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                • #9
                  There are some HUGE retailers in Central NJ, and the set-up that makes the most sense to me is Country of origin as the main group and then breweries and all their brands together. So the USA part will have all the River Horse styles, then all the FX Matt styles, all the Samual Adams styles etc. I think the brewery would be happier with that too.

                  Tom

                  ECBC

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                  • #10
                    All brewery stuff together

                    When I shop for more unique beers, if I find a brewery I like I usually want more than one offering from that brewery. I would greatly prefer to have them all together.
                    The country of origin (maybe state, too) and then alphabetical by brewery means one could go right to a beer you want, and avoids that annoying feeling of not knowing how a beer is classified like porter or stout or fruit stout/other. Besides, it is frequent that a country has similar styles.
                    How about posting a computer print out of the beers in stock by style for the people who need to find a cherry stout?
                    Last edited by Moonlight; 02-21-2008, 10:26 AM.

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                    • #11
                      Two seperate entities

                      1. Craft segment alphabetical.

                      2. Imports by region......Belgians, Germans, English, Mexico, Other Imports and so on.

                      24 years in the retail side......

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                      • #12
                        I know this is not helpful in any way, and I apologize, but for some reason this thread reminded me of this exchange from the movie High Fidelity:

                        Dick: I guess it looks as if you're reorganizing your records. What is this though? Chronological?
                        Rob: No...
                        Dick: Not alphabetical...
                        Rob: Nope...
                        Dick: What?
                        Rob: Autobiographical.
                        Dick: No f*****g way.

                        (but seriously, another vote for a) country of origin, including UK, Germany, Belgium, Aussie/NZ, Scandinavia, Canada, "Other" b) alphabetical, by brewery name, within the country of origin c) breaking up US by region--California, Pacific NW, Rockies, Midwest, East Coast.)

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Whitecap Dist.
                          1. Craft segment alphabetical.

                          2. Imports by region......Belgians, Germans, English, Mexico, Other Imports and so on.

                          24 years in the retail side......
                          If you stock only cold beer how much square footage do you believe would be required to stock 500+ items with this type of organization?
                          Owner
                          Grind Modern Burger
                          PostModern Brewers
                          Boise, ID

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                          • #14
                            I wanted to let you all know that I've moved the site to its permanent home at www.brewtopiabeermarket.com. I've also changed the options on the blog page to allow for comments on the post so if you have thoughts on my musings I'd love to hear them.

                            We're preparing to go live with the e-commerce site and a catalog of apparel and gifts will be coming out in the coming weeks.
                            Owner
                            Grind Modern Burger
                            PostModern Brewers
                            Boise, ID

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                            • #15
                              I have to agree with those who want their products grouped together (by brewery). It makes sense for a customer to want to try different beers made by the same people who make something else that they like.

                              Also, it is in the brewery's best interest to have a selection of all their beers in one place, as having a similar label/logo together makes their presence seem like a "unified front".

                              To my eye, it looks better (and is easier to find) if there is an area dedicated to each brewery.

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