animal
04-29-2010, 09:39 PM
7-Eleven Launches Branded Beer by Joshua M. Bernstein, Posted Apr 20th 2010 @ 2:00PM
This week, convenience-store chain 7-Eleven announced it would begin carrying its own budget brand of beers, dubbed Game Day. The news made me do a double take, nearly causing me spit out the sublimely hoppy Stone IPA I was drinking. Was 7-Eleven angling to be my low-cost craft-beer salvation?
Mmm...not exactly. As expected, the decision was driven less by a desire to sell great brews than the bottom line. Beer purchases in convenience stores dipped 4 percent last year, according to research group SymphonyIRI -- nearly double domestic beer sales' 2.2 percent decline.
But the silver lining is that purchases of sub-premium beers (Keystone Light, Natural Light) actually ticked up. Customers haven't stopped drinking. They just want to pay less for a buzz.
Sometimes this gambit pays off, such as the medal-winning Mission Street pale ales and IPAs that California's Firestone Walker brews for Trader Joe's. But brand-wise, Trader Joe's sits on a slightly more elevated plane than a convenience store selling unnaturally glistening, endlessly rotating hot dogs.
http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/20/7-eleven-launches-branded-beer/
A convenience store with its own beer brand? Well I suppose if grocery stores can do it, so can convenience stores. I just wonder if they might have it available on tap in Slurpees or Big Gulps- there's an idea!
________
Arizona medical marijuana dispensary (http://arizona.dispensaries.org/)
This week, convenience-store chain 7-Eleven announced it would begin carrying its own budget brand of beers, dubbed Game Day. The news made me do a double take, nearly causing me spit out the sublimely hoppy Stone IPA I was drinking. Was 7-Eleven angling to be my low-cost craft-beer salvation?
Mmm...not exactly. As expected, the decision was driven less by a desire to sell great brews than the bottom line. Beer purchases in convenience stores dipped 4 percent last year, according to research group SymphonyIRI -- nearly double domestic beer sales' 2.2 percent decline.
But the silver lining is that purchases of sub-premium beers (Keystone Light, Natural Light) actually ticked up. Customers haven't stopped drinking. They just want to pay less for a buzz.
Sometimes this gambit pays off, such as the medal-winning Mission Street pale ales and IPAs that California's Firestone Walker brews for Trader Joe's. But brand-wise, Trader Joe's sits on a slightly more elevated plane than a convenience store selling unnaturally glistening, endlessly rotating hot dogs.
http://www.slashfood.com/2010/04/20/7-eleven-launches-branded-beer/
A convenience store with its own beer brand? Well I suppose if grocery stores can do it, so can convenience stores. I just wonder if they might have it available on tap in Slurpees or Big Gulps- there's an idea!
________
Arizona medical marijuana dispensary (http://arizona.dispensaries.org/)