Ask The Liquor Store Clerk!

[bbs2k]

@dnooman

What is her phone number?

You can take her, I’ll have either her or her.

[Gary_Robson]

@Nekosoft

Cooking wine generally has salt added as a preservative.

But it would still be “real” wine–meaning it contains alcohol, which was the point of the comment.

And do they really add salt? I can’t imagine a professional cook using that, because they wouldn’t want the amount of salt increased in the recipe without knowing precisely how much is in the wine.

[Ludovic]

@InvisibleWombat

But it would still be “real” wine–meaning it contains alcohol, which was the point of the comment.

And do they really add salt? I can’t imagine a professional cook using that, because they wouldn’t want the amount of salt increased in the recipe without knowing precisely how much is in the wine.

I’ve seen the remnants of a jug of cooking wine in a kitchen’s dishroom trash, and the label did indeed list a heavy amount of salt (as in, a full drinks worth could easily be over %100 DRI.)

[OneCentStamp]

Cooking wine. Huh. I guess it does help keep the wine from going bad too quickly. I’ll be damned.

What I’d always heard (and was corroborated by Alton Brown FWIW), was that salt was added to keep unscrupulous cooks from dipping into the kitchen stores for their own personal (drinking) use.

[John_DiFool]

Three more related to questions upthread:

1. Youngest person who tried to buy alcohol,

2. Most bombed person who came in wanting to buy something, and

3. Flat out weirdest person (may be part of set #2, or vice-versa) who came into your store.

[Lakai]

New York liquor store clerk checking in. Out here you can only sell hard liquor, wine, mixers (they must have 1% alcohol in them) and water. Beer and anything else non-alcoholic is not allowed

1)At either of your jobs, what’s the largest purchase you’ve seen.
2) Are there any hilarious purchase combinations you’ve seen (e.g. I’ve purchased a bottle of Grey Goose, a 12 pack of Coors light, A bag of Beef Jerky, and hummus).
3) Do you handle the ordering for the store? How is that done? Are there certain days of the week / year that get a bigger rush on certain types of booze? (e.g. Guiness on St. Paddy’s Day).
4) Anyone ever break merchandise? Do they have to pay for it?

1. I’ve made one $3,000+ sale. I’m sure others have seen bigger sales.

2. Since I sell only wines and spirits I can’t really think of any funny combinations with them.

3. No, but I have a general idea of how it’s done. For some reason we can’t order directly from wholesalers. Distributors buy from wholesalers and we buy from them. The price depends on how much you buy. For example, 100 bottles of Grey Goose will be sold at a cheaper rate than 20 bottles. So the trick is to have a lot of storage space so that you can get the top deals on most of the items you buy. Also, sales people will regularly come by and try to sell you new stuff.

As for variations in the types of booze we sell, it is only noticeable on holidays. New Years sees a lot of Champagne and sparkling wine sold. On Christmas and Easter we sell a lot of wine. On Jewish holidays we sell a lot of Kosher stuff.

4. Yes they have to pay for it, but there is nothing I can really do to force them to. They won’t be able to buy anything else from the store unless they pay for the broken bottle though.  
   

How do you deal with underaged kids who “left my id in the dorm” or “the other guy let me buy it!” Have you gotten any fake ids? Have you ever had to deal with a customer who’s already intoxicated?

I have come to be very good at inconveniencing customers so I just tell them as seriously as possible that they are not going to get any liquor. If an ID is expired or not government issued then I don’t make the sale. If I think that I’m getting someone else’s ID, but the picture kind of looks the same, I make them recite the information on the ID. It’s funny to listen to someone trying to explain why they can’t remember their own birthday. I’ve also seen one youngster try to pull off being born in the 1960’s. He was laughed out of the store.

It’s against the law to sell to an intoxicated person. As a general rule, we usually see people before they are intoxicated. The ones that come in intoxicated have real problems. My rule of thumb is that they must walk a straight line from the door to the counter in order for me to make the sale. Trying to get a drunk to go home is also really annoying.

What’s the most expensive thing you sell?

Remy Martin Louis XIII for $1299.

How often does someone have to come in to buy, say a 12-pack or 750ml bottle, before you label them as an alcoholic? Do most working alcoholics drink the cheap stuff, or the more pricier brands? What is the liquor of choice among functional drunks?

I label most of the customers that I recognize as alcoholics. Since we only sell alcohol and I recognize you, that means you buy a lot of alcohol.

What are the top selling liquors by type

Vodka – Balinoff, Smirnoff (and in no particular order) Georgi, Grey Goose, Russian Standard and Three Olives.

Cognac (pronounced Con-yak out here) – Henessy VS and VSOP and Remy Martin VS.

Whiskey – JohnnieWalker Red and Black, Chivas 12 yr old and White Horse.

Rum – Bacardi Gold and Light pretty much dominate our sales.

Wine – (in no particular order) Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio, Cavit Pinot Grigio, Bartenura Moscato, Kendall Jackson wines, Robert Mondavi wines and Maison Nicholas Wines.

We sell more Vodka than anything.

Which is more profitable as a percentage of markup over cost, wine or spirits? My sister worked in a liquor store years ago and said the margins were much higher on spirits. I would have thought the opposite.

Markup is way higher on the wines, but the turnover is way higher on the spirits. Some stores have their spirits marked up to insane prices, but I don’t know how they make any significant amount of sales with the level of competition they are under. Maybe in a town with one liquor store they can get away with it.

**And now from some questions. All store clerks are welcome to answer. **

When a customer gives you a $100 bill, do you hold it towards a light source to see if it’s fake? If so, how many people reply with a variation of “it’s ok, I just made it”? If anyone thinks that this is a good joke, don’t use it, I hear it from every third customer.

If a customer comes in and asks for a good red dry wine, what would you do?

Are you allowed to kick out customers? Have you ever done so? What are some of the things customers are usually banned for?

How big is the store and how many people work there?

Are bars and restaurants in your state allowed to buy liquor from you? Do they? (Here you can only purchase from distributors.

How do you guys stock the store? Maybe I can learn something from your method.

[Cub_Mistress]

Hey, would any of you liquor store clerks or liquor customers mind dropping by this thread on alcohol prices and give your answer? Thanks!

Also, do you get customers who are embarassed to be in a liquor store? I have a friend who won’t go in one, even though she drinks sometimes.

[Starving_Artist]

@Lakai

Markup is way higher on the wines, but the turnover is way higher on the spirits. Some stores have their spirits marked up to insane prices, but I don’t know how they make any significant amount of sales with the level of competition they are under. Maybe in a town with one liquor store they can get away with it.

Thanks for the answer. I was beginning to think my question had been lost in the ether.

[cbawlmer]

Lakai: if you can’t sell beer, where does one buy beer in New York? I’ve never been there, so I’m curious.

[Lakai]

@Cub Mistress

Also, do you get customers who are embarassed to be in a liquor store? I have a friend who won’t go in one, even though she drinks sometimes.

This seems silly. Kids love going to liquor stores and adults are supposed to be adults about it. People are shy about asking questions, but I haven’t noticed anyone being especially shy about buying liquor.

@cbawlmer

Lakai: if you can’t sell beer, where does one buy beer in New York? I’ve never been there, so I’m curious.

Pretty much in any store that sells soft drinks. Big pharmacies, supermarkets and convenience stores all sell beer.

[A.R.Cane]

I’ve been on overseas military bases where the C.O ordered that records be kept of alcohol purchases at the BX liquor store. If you exceeded his limits, you received a lecture from your immediate superior on the evils of excess.

[Yorikke]

@John DiFool

Three more related to questions upthread:

1. Youngest person who tried to buy alcohol,

2. Most bombed person who came in wanting to buy something, and

3. Flat out weirdest person (may be part of set #2, or vice-versa) who came into your store.

1. Don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I recently passed a police sting in which the attempted buyer was born in 1991. I’ve only had a few underagers actually show ID - they almost invariably say they left it at home. Other than the girl in the sting, I’d estimate about 18 is the youngest.

2. I’ve had several people try to buy who could barely walk, barely talk. I mean, SERIOUSLY drunk, near alcohol-poisoning levels, in my opinion.

3. Too many to list. I get a lot of spun-out meth heads. Plenty of people who seem just utterly insane. I was attacked once when I confronted an insane person - he had picked up an entire coffe urn - like a 3-quart coffee urn - and was just nonchalanly carrying it around under his arm. I told him he’d have to put it back, and he threw a sandwich and some other stuff at me and ran out of the store with the urn.

@lakai

And now from some questions. All store clerks are welcome to answer.

1. When a customer gives you a $100 bill, do you hold it towards a light source to see if it’s fake? If so, how many people reply with a variation of “it’s ok, I just made it”? If anyone thinks that this is a good joke, don’t use it, I hear it from every third customer.

2. If a customer comes in and asks for a good red dry wine, what would you do?

3)Are you allowed to kick out customers? Have you ever done so? What are some of the things customers are usually banned for?

4. How big is the store and how many people work there?

5. Are bars and restaurants in your state allowed to buy liquor from you? Do they? (Here you can only purchase from distributors.

6)How do you guys stock the store? Maybe I can learn something from your method.

1. Yes, and too many comedians. Another one that’s very original is, when I ask if they’d like a bag, they say “Nah, I have one in the car,” referring to their wife. Ha!

2. Tell them we don’t sell wine.

3. I ban customers only for things like stealing, fighting, wiping shit on the bathroom walls, etc. It happens occasionally.

4. A large c-store, but not a truck stop. We have 12 pumps and 7 employees.

5. Dunno, but I doubt it.

6. You’ll have to expand on this - I’m not sure I know what you mean.

Joe

[Lakai]

@wheresgeorge04

6. You’ll have to expand on this - I’m not sure I know what you mean.

Joe

In our store we write down what is missing on the shelves, then go to the back of the store and retrieve what we need to restock the shelves. Cases and bottles are stacked up in the back in categories so that they’d be easier to find. We also have a computer that logs where things are in the store.

Now that I think about it, I don’t think there will be many variations on this method.

[SmackFu]

Do you have rules on how much cash you can keep in the register? I was in the liquor store the other day and one of the clerk’s was busting the other’s balls over having two many twenties in there. Or at least I think that’s what they were talking about…

[TheLoadedDog]

How do police stings work? Are the kids paid for their time? Do they just use the policeman’s daughter or something?

[Ukulele_Ike]

Where am I supposed to buy herbsaint? A liquor store or a fancy food market?

My old college friend who lived in New Orleans for years and now lives outside San Francisco visited last week, and I made him red beans and rice for dinner, and he wanted to make us some Sazeracs beforehand, and he got all pissed because he couldn’t buy herbsaint in our local wineshops and had to get Pernod. “You can buy herbsaint in CALIFORNIA,” he said, and I had to smack him one.

[Woody_Mellor]

@TheLoadedDog

How do police stings work? Are the kids paid for their time? Do they just use the policeman’s daughter or something?

Sorry I haven’t been responding, had to work this weekend.

Usually they use kids that are in a law enforcement class or junior police organization. Sometimes they just use cops that are younger looking. They also will send in a cop that is of age and if you don’t card them you get hit with a failure to card fine. I actually caught a cop doing this one night. I asked him for his ID and when he put his wallet on the counter it flipped open to his badge. He was kind of pissed off when that happened.

Only 12 more days of employment in liquor hell.