Y-NOT Variety has booze

[toastygw.livejournal.com]

Was just at the Y-NOT (corner of willow / morrisson) and they now have beer and wine.  This makes this convenience store even more convenient.

Comments

[snakeyesboy.livejournal.com]

SWEET!

[prog.livejournal.com]

Whoah... I'm kind of curious how this is possible. How are they cleverly squeezing in between the laws that seem to prevent every other convenience store around here from selling alcohol? I am vaguely aware that it's hard for chains (e.g. Cumberland Farms) to do so, but that doesn't account for the dryness of all the one-shot bodegas around town.

[ron_newman]

There are no laws against convenience stores selling alcohol. They applied for a license, got support from neighbors, and were approved.

Pemberton Market (now at Mass. Ave. and Day Street) could be considered a 'convenience store', and it sells alcohol. They sold it for years at their previous location (Mass. Ave. and Rindge Ave.), too.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

the laws that seem to prevent every other convenience store around here from selling alcohol

Those laws were superseded by the laws passed after the November 2006 ballot measure showing support for granting beer and wine licenses to food stores.

Now, convenience stores' access to beer and wine licenses are limited by a) the municipality's willingness to grant said license (as Ron suggests, support of neighbors helps a lot), and b) the number of said licenses already held by other locations of the same company.

[ron_newman]

Hold on a minute -- that ballot measure failed, so the laws didn't change. And the new license category that it would have created would have allowed only wine sales, not beer.

Also, let's not forget

c) the number of package store licenses available (not being currently used) in that municipality. The state limits the total number of such licenses in each city and town, with a formula based on the municipality's population. If most of them are being used by traditional liquor stores, that doesn't leave many for the Y-NOTs.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Hold on a minute -- that ballot measure failed, so the laws didn't change.

Wait, I thought the laws did change, even though the ballot measure failed.

And the new license category that it would have created would have allowed only wine sales, not beer.

Well, I am confused. Everyone just ignore my earlier post. :(

[ethanfield.livejournal.com]

Ron's right that there is no such law barring convenience stores from carrying alcohol. The law that was up for debate in that ballot question says (approximately) that no business that has multiple locations in the state can sell alcohol at more than three of its locations. So you don't see 7-11 carrying it, because only 3 of their bazillion MA stores could sell it, so it's easier just not to sell it as any. (The purpose of this law is to protect mom-and-pop stores from the price-gouging that big corporate businesses can do - the Wal-Mart effect.)

Y-Not has (to my knowledge) only one location, so they're free to apply for a license. Of course, they have to apply for that permit in the same competitive process for licensure as anyone else in the city, so it's no automatic thing. Having been in the room for some of the committee hearings on this very license last spring, I'm kinda surprised that it's taken them this long to get beer on the shelves!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I have no idea how I got so completely confused on this issue.

[klaus-kinetic.livejournal.com]

Is is good beer?

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

until this state starts bringing in Yuengling, there is no good beer, well that's my opinion anyways.

[coeceo.livejournal.com]

Agreed, but is Yuengling that needs to distribute to Mass, I dont think its the Commonwealth's fault.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

This is how rumors get started.

DEVAL PATRICK IS PERSONALLY BARRING YUENGLING PASS IT ON.

[ethanfield.livejournal.com]

Yuengling has a thing about not distributing more than a certain distance beyond Pottsville PA; something about maintaining the freshness of their beer. Which is cool, except you can get it in Richmond VA but not Boston. Grummmmble.

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

Which seems odd, but Boston's at least 80 miles further away from Pottsville than Richmond is. (How is that even possible? It's only an hour past Scranton)

Even more odd: I once drove an architectural model from Boston down to Chapel Hill, and overnighted in Richmond. To wind down from the day's drive, I picked up a couple of bottles of Yuengling at the gas station next to the hotel. Very nice.

[roosto.livejournal.com]

As I understand things it's the Boston Beer Company, the makers of the highly overrated Sam Adams line of *cough* 'micro' brews, that's making it hard for Yuengling to get into New England. They are putting pressure on the beer distributors not to let them in as they will take away a lot of market share from poor old Sammy Adams. This is what my bar manager friends who work with beer distributors tell me at least.

And I've heard of Yuengling being available as far away as South Carolina.

[silveraeroguy.livejournal.com]

Years ago when the Magnolia Wine co (130 Belmont St, Watertown, MA‎ - (617) 924-6040) was know by the name McHugh's they stocked Yuengling. The store has been through some major changes since I was last there but, the current owner is 3rd generation. Perhaps they either still stock it or can remember how to?

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I just thought I'd take this opportunity to correct a popular mis-conception about large discount stores. Someone posted that the beer/wine licensing law prevents the "price gouging that big corporate businesses do". Large stores don't 'price gouge' per se. Distributors sell products with a quantity discount. The more you buy, the less you pay. This is why larger stores can afford to sell for far less than the corner stores. I used to work for a large distribution company, and the difference in price is amazing. The rationale, I guess, is that it takes less man-power, gas, etc., to make one large delivery than to make lots of little deliveries. Just wanted to make that comment because it kind of gets my goat that discount chains are villified for being cheaper!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Large stores don't 'price gouge' per se.

Actually, it's very frequent for large chains to adopt a conscious strategy of underselling single stores and small chains, absorbing a loss in one location if that's what it takes to drive competitors out of the area.

I don't see how that's not "price gouging" but obviously it's a matter of opinion. Still, if you're suggesting that this is never done as a long-term market manipulation, but simply happens to be a factor of bulk purchasing, that's inaccurate.

[ron_newman]

The term 'price gouging' usually means grossly overcharging for something (e.g. milk after a blizzard), not loss-leader pricing.