A recent Boston.com article entitled “’Another learning year’: What the dining scene will look like in 2023” discusses the questions surrounding the fate of the Boston restaurant scene as 2023 commences. The restaurants that did survive the pandemic brought their creativity and adaptability to the table, so-to-speak, and as they embrace what modifications are worth keeping and following the changing landscape of what customers want, they are also considering the threats of an economic recession and what that means for their business. With these constantly shifting factors in mind, Boston.com surveyed industry professionals and readers on what they think – and what they hope – 2023 will bring for the restaurant scene.
To read the full article – check out The Advisor Magazine – Issue 24.
The 2022 Retail Report put forth by BevAlc Insights (by Drizly) offers critical information for liquor store owners, restaurant owners and grocery store owners alike as they determine their 2023 inventory. As inflation struggles continue and supply chain issues linger, owners & operators need to be more conscious than ever on how they stock their shelves, what they offer on their menus, and how they are responding to their customers’ needs.
View the magazine article to take a closer look at Drizly’s reported five key findings and how liquor store owners, restaurant owners, and grocers can make 2023 a success – despite ongoing challenges.
To read the full article – check out The Advisor Magazine – Issue 23.
Classically known as the time for resolutions, the new year beginning each January typically brings forth pledges to make changes for the better, to set goals, and to make the upcoming year better than the one just past. Here at Liquor License Advisor, we urge you to take a close look at your business, whether it be a lottery-liquor store, boutique wine shop, restaurant, or any variation of these, and to get creative to make 2023 the best year for your business yet. We’d like to share a few ideas with you to get innovative, creative – and successful this year, despite the ongoing challenges presented by inflation and the troubled supply chain.
To read the full article – check out The Advisor Magazine – Issue 23.
We had a question and answer session with Dan Newcomb of Liquor License Advisor about the year that’s past and what’s to come for the liquor license industry in 2023.
What was the most common question you got from liquor store owners in 2022? What about restaurant owners?
Over the course of 2022, the most common question that has been a theme amongst liquor store owners is how to maximize the sale price of their store, having sales trending downward since the pandemic. Potential buyers have been requesting 2022 sales because they feel like they reflect earnings before COVID. Since the pandemic, owners have been trying to rejuvenate their business model to stay competitive, and now, with the challenging economy, owners are once again feeling the sense of unsettlement that they had hoped was over. Our team has the knowledge and understanding of the industry, especially during these times, to ensure our clients receive the maximum return on their investment. From start to finish, we help our clients with financial positioning, identifying key team members (attorneys, accountants, etc.), marketing, finding the right buyer, and closing out the sale.
To read the full article – check out The Advisor Magazine – Issue 22.
About a month to go before the historic vote on question #3 for the liquor license industry – vote YES. Tell your friends and family to support local and independent operators.
Holding on to Summer and preserving the 3 tier alcohol system. Not sure what the opposition was expecting but The 21st Century Alcohol Reform Bill is going strong.
An article posted in early July on rebusinessonline.com entitled “Retail, Restaurant Industries Embrace Post-Pandemic Design Shifts” addresses the post-pandemic shifts in consumer behavior, as the ease of ordering online with multiple pickup and/or delivery options has become the norm over the past few years. Although the pandemic is behind us, the behaviors consumers adopted are not, and consumer behaviors and expectations when it comes to shopping, dining, and drinking have changed, and businesses are paying attention. Let’s take a closer look at how restaurants are adapting.
The article identifies Border Foods, one of the largest privately held Taco Bell franchises in America, as one restaurant that has worked to create a new restaurant concept designed around the established fast-food model – but an elevated experience, with two-stories and four drive-thru lanes. Josh Hanson, founder and CEO at Vertical Works and WORKSHOP (the company behind the Border Foods redesign), states that their goal was to offer a “highly personalized customer experience” and that “the pandemic accelerated this expectation, as retailers were forced to connect with consumers in new ways.”
To read the full article – check out The Advisor Magazine – Issue 18.
November 8, 2022 is a date that all liquor store owners should have circled on their calendar as a lot rides on the outcome of a proposed ballot question for 21st Century Alcohol Reform bill.
Most recently, more than 19,000 signatures from the public were filed in support of the reform, which over time would gradually increase the current number of licenses available to a single retailer from 9 to 18 by 2031.
Why is the number 9 so important?
As previously mentioned in Retail Tier Reform: Looming 21st Century Alcohol Changes in Issue #17 of The Advisor, the license cap for the sale of all alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, and liquor under the same license) would be reduced from 9 to 7. Retailers will be allowed more licenses overall; however, the cap for all alcoholic licenses will be lower.
For retailers who are currently near or wanting to capture the 9 license limit, they will have to pick up licenses quickly and start now.
With the cap increasing and the quota remaining the same, simple economics of supply and demand suggest that anyone who has a controlling interest in multiple stores, specifically those with all alcoholic licenses will greatly benefit.
For successful retail owners with great ambitions of increasing their capacity, this is not a time to “wait and see”. Your climb to nine licenses has to start now while there’s still time to get them under agreement.
Waiting around on the sidelines to see what happens won’t work and in fact will be too late. If you need a plan, we’re here for you. Call us any time at 781-319-9800.
To read the full article – check out The Advisor Magazine – Issue 18.
On Friday, July 15, the Mass Pack Association announced to its membership that the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth has confirmed that the Association’s ballot initiative petition (the “Expanded Availability of Licenses for the Sale of Alcohol Beverages”) will appear on the ballot as Question #3 this November. The announcement proclaimed, “Not since the repeal of Prohibition has an issue of this importance within our industry been put to voters. This is historic.”
The announcement, put forth by Ryan Maloney, President of MassPack and owner of Julio’s Liquors in Westborough, MA; and Benjamin Weiner, Chair of the 21st Century Alcohol Retail Reform Committee and owner of Sav-Mor Spirits in Somerville, MA, comes after a year-long process that involved signature campaigns and the tireless efforts of the Mass Pack Association to bring awareness to their membership and to the general public.
The announcement breaks down just exactly what a YES vote in November entails:
(9) to eighteen (18), minus any full liquor licenses owned. Most states allow three (3) to five (5) full liquor licenses. The number of liquor licenses in Massachusetts will be capped at seven (7);
A YES vote also enhances public safety and encourages vigilance by retailers through prohibiting self-checkout of alcohol beverages and by basing the fine for selling to a minor on a store’s total sales and not just its alcohol sales; and
A YES vote additionally supports state tourism and brings Massachusetts in line with every other state in the country by allowing for valid out of state IDs to be relied upon by alcohol beverage retailers.
A July 7 ballotpedia.org article entitled “Two Massachusetts ballot initiatives filed a second round of signatures for a spot on the November ballot” explains the somewhat convoluted process of a ballot initiative becoming a question on the ballot, stating that: “The process for initiating state statues in Massachusetts is indirect, which means the legislature has a chance to approve initiatives with successful petitions directly without the measure going to the voters” and that “[the initiative] submitted the required 3% of signatures in December 2021 and were presented to the state legislature in early 2022. Since the state legislature did not act on the initiatives by May 4, the initiatives were cleared to gather a second round of 13,374 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.”
The Daily News reported on July 9 (and then updated the report on July 13) that “[the proposal] to expand retail beer and wine sales…cleared a final hurdle to the November ballot,” which is positive reinforcement to local liquor stores who believe that small business in Massachusetts is under attack and that they are fighting for their survival by undertaking the ballot initiative, which has now become a reality as Question #3 on November’s ballot.
Support local liquor store businesses by making A YES vote on Question #3 in November!
To read the full article – check out The Advisor Magazine – Issue 18.