Other PALCB Questions

[mrbigjas]

so i figure, since you're around, dierdre, and don't seem to mind answering questions, maybe i would start a thread for random other (non-wine-bargain-related) questions we have--things we can't find in the stores, questions about getting those things, general policy, whatnot.

is that OK? i hope so. so anyways, i'll start:

what prompted me posting was this: i was at the 12th/chestnut store this weekend looking to replace my bottle of noilly prat which is nearly gone, and there wasn't any--and there wasn't any label on the shelves as if it was just temporarily out. i was in a hurry so i didn't ask anyone, but i went home and looked it up, and it's on closeout. so my question is: is the LCB not carrying it anymore?

thanks.

Edited June 9, 2005 by mrbigjas (log)

[CherieV]

so i figure, since you're around, dierdre, and don't seem to mind answering questions, maybe i would start a thread for random other (non-wine-bargain-related) questions we have--things we can't find in the stores, questions about getting those things, general policy, whatnot. 

is that OK?  i hope so.  so anyways, i'll start:

what prompted me posting was this: i was at the 12th/chestnut store this weekend looking to replace my bottle of noilly prat which is nearly gone, and there wasn't any--and there wasn't any label on the shelves as if it was just temporarily out.  i was in a hurry so i didn't ask anyone, but i went home and looked it up, and it's on closeout.  so my question is: is the LCB not carrying it anymore?

thanks.

←

Well, I am answering PLCB questions (wine thread) so here it goes. My answer is closeout usually means the PLCB has decided to delist this brand b/c of lack of sales or too many brands with same price point in this category. Jonathan Newman is trying to open up more room for other products by consolidating categories. However, these items will still be available via SLO (special liquor order) on their website. You can order the product and it will be delivered to the store of your preference with a deposit (50%).

[mrbigjas]

thanks cherie!

noilly prat is my vermouth of choice, so it's kinda sad to see it not on the local shelves. oh well, i'll work something out.

[Deidre Costello]

Great idea, Mrbigjas, to start this general questions for the PLCB. I’ll try to find the answer whatever I can, if I don’t know the answer I’ll reach out to whoever I can to get an answer. Just keep in mind that if I don’t know an answer it may take me a few days to respond.

The general reason that products are closed out is what Cherie said earlier. We have certain state wide sales criteria that must be met for us to continue to stock an item. If an item doesn’t meet the sales criteria the state will discontinue an item across the board. This allows room on the store shelves to bring in new items to fill the space vacated. Categories are constantly in flux based on consumer trends. If one category is showing decline we can tighten up that category to allow for room in another growing category.

Our stores also have sales criteria to continue to stock particular items in particular stores. The criteria at the store level are that they basically must have sales history in the past three months or the store itself will discontinue an item.

-Deidre

P.S. There is still plenty in other areas of the state on the Noilly Prat that your store can transfer in for you. If you don’t mind waiting a while for it there is no charge to transfer it in. So you might want to talk to the store manager to bring it in until the supply is depleted.

[cinghiale]

what prompted me posting was this: i was at the 12th/chestnut store this weekend looking to replace my bottle of noilly prat which is nearly gone, and there wasn't any

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I'm assuming you're talking about NP dry (white). I can NEVER find NP sweet (red), which beats all other vermouths big time for my drink of choice -- negroni. I'm forced to get it at Canal's. Why is only NP dry stocked?

[mrbigjas]

P.S. There is still plenty in other areas of the state on the Noilly Prat that your store can transfer in for you.  If you don’t mind waiting a while for it there is no charge to transfer it in.  So you might want to talk to the store manager to bring it in until the supply is depleted.

thanks for the info.

(dammit, i KNEW i was spelling deirdre wrong, too)

i saw you have a few bottles left at the 41st & market store, so i'll just swing over there and pick one up.

[mrbigjas]

OK i've got another question: if we want something that's not in the state store system at all, is it possible to order it somehow, or are we out of luck?

i'm wondering because of other things that i like that are not available.

take for instance plymouth gin. that company makes a fruit cup thing--kind of like pimm's--nowadays. (click here if you wanna read about it) and i want to try it.

but i realize, really, how many people would buy that? i bet you'd sell like two bottles (one of them would be to me, and i'm guessing there is probably one other weirdo out there who likes this stuff enough to buy a bottle). so it makes sense that it's not on all the shelves.

but is there any way to get it legally? or other things like that, that aren't in the system at all?

just curious.

[Deidre Costello]

Hello again. If a product that you are interested in is not carried in any of our stores or not currently carried by special order call 1-800-332-7522 option 1 or 2 for the special liquor order department or e-mail them at ra-lbslo@state.pa.us. They will look into getting the product in for you. For instance the Plymouth Gin is currently available so they would contact the distributor, in this case Future Brands, to see if they can make the Plymouth Fruit Cup available by special order.

Keep in mind that it is the distributor (or winery) that makes the decision if they will make it available or not. In some cases they may quote the product and put a minimum amount that can be purchased for instance by the case only.

If this product were a wine there would be the other option of looking through the licensed direct shippers to see if the product was available through them. Information on licensed direct shippers can be found here

As always hope this helps.

-Deidre

[mrbigjas]

it sure does. thanks!

[mrbigjas]

ok i've got another one. sometimes when looking up liquors on the site, i come up with two or more listings for what appears to be the same thing. are those just different batches, or is it just a matter of the way things are named?

what brought this to mind was that i was looking for a cheaper cointreau alternative, so i checked out marie brizard on the site. i came up with 010807, which is listed as marie brizard triple sec (50.0 pf), a specialty store item at $15.99, and 072271, which is listed as marie brizard triple sec, an SLO item at $23.79. is it that MB makes a couple of different triple secs at different proofs, or is there something else i'm missing?

thanks

[lancastermike]

ok i've got another one.  sometimes when looking up liquors on the site, i come up with two or more listings for what appears to be the same thing.  are those just different batches, or is it just a matter of the way things are named?

what brought this to mind was that i was looking for a cheaper cointreau alternative, so i checked out marie brizard on the site.  i came up with 010807, which is listed as  marie brizard triple sec (50.0 pf), a specialty store item at $15.99, and 072271, which is listed as marie brizard triple sec, an SLO item at $23.79.  is it that MB makes a couple of different triple secs at different proofs, or is there something else i'm missing?

thanks

←

I would bet you were looking at the same stuff entered twice.

I had a similar experience just this past week. On Friday last we checked the inventory looking for Luxardo maraschino. One place it is listed as an "imported cordial" and is listed as SLO. Under the "imported specialities" it shows as speciality. Each a different code, each a different price. We thought we would have to SLO it. Instead we bought two bottles at the store on Ridge pike. It seems it may simply be once something gets in one way it stays that way and can than be entered another. Someone someplace may SLO something because it is not in a store near them even though it may show up somewere else as a speciality.

[Sfuffy]

I wish the LCB had a better way to search for stores which carry a particular item. Instead of having to specify the county, you should be able to do a zip code proximity search to find the closest store with the item is.

They also need to fix the zip code search on the Store Locations search page. Right now, it only finds those stores within the exact zip code you enter rather than listing stores by distance from a particular zip code. For example, when I enter my 19147 zip, I only get the South St. and S. 11th St. locations but not the new Columbus Crossing store even though it's only about 1 1/2 miles from me. And if I'm traveling somewhere I'm not familiar with, I can't find the nearest store if there isn't one in the town I'm in. Very frustrating and not very customer-friendly to say the least.

[KatieLoeb]

ok i've got another one.  sometimes when looking up liquors on the site, i come up with two or more listings for what appears to be the same thing.  are those just different batches, or is it just a matter of the way things are named?

what brought this to mind was that i was looking for a cheaper cointreau alternative, so i checked out marie brizard on the site.  i came up with 010807, which is listed as  marie brizard triple sec (50.0 pf), a specialty store item at $15.99, and 072271, which is listed as marie brizard triple sec, an SLO item at $23.79.  is it that MB makes a couple of different triple secs at different proofs, or is there something else i'm missing?

thanks

←

I would bet you were looking at the same stuff entered twice.

I had a similar experience just this past week. On Friday last we checked the inventory looking for Luxardo maraschino. One place it is listed as an "imported cordial" and is listed as SLO. Under the "imported specialities" it shows as speciality. Each a different code, each a different price. We thought we would have to SLO it. Instead we bought two bottles at the store on Ridge pike. It seems it may simply be once something gets in one way it stays that way and can than be entered another. Someone someplace may SLO something because it is not in a store near them even though it may show up somewere else as a speciality.

←

Sometimes it just means that the "Licensee" price (what a restaurant pays) is HIGHER than the Specialty price to the consumer.

I've had this happen to me more than once when purchasing for a restaurant. I find a fabulous product that I must order SLO and the price is 1.5 times higher than the very same wine at the Specialty store. grrrrrr....

By the time the restaurant's markup is applied it makes me look like a thief for the lucky consumer that found the wine at the Specialty store at what is now a small fraction of the "retail" price on my wine list.

I really hate it when this happens.

[mrbigjas]

hey, maybe now that we have jonathan newman and deirdre's ears, you can figure out a way around that problem!

[Capaneus]

ok i've got another one.  sometimes when looking up liquors on the site, i come up with two or more listings for what appears to be the same thing.  are those just different batches, or is it just a matter of the way things are named?

what brought this to mind was that i was looking for a cheaper cointreau alternative, so i checked out marie brizard on the site.  i came up with 010807, which is listed as  marie brizard triple sec (50.0 pf), a specialty store item at $15.99, and 072271, which is listed as marie brizard triple sec, an SLO item at $23.79.  is it that MB makes a couple of different triple secs at different proofs, or is there something else i'm missing?

thanks

←

I would bet you were looking at the same stuff entered twice.

I had a similar experience just this past week. On Friday last we checked the inventory looking for Luxardo maraschino. One place it is listed as an "imported cordial" and is listed as SLO. Under the "imported specialities" it shows as speciality. Each a different code, each a different price. We thought we would have to SLO it. Instead we bought two bottles at the store on Ridge pike. It seems it may simply be once something gets in one way it stays that way and can than be entered another. Someone someplace may SLO something because it is not in a store near them even though it may show up somewere else as a speciality.

←

Sometimes it just means that the "Licensee" price (what a restaurant pays) is HIGHER than the Specialty price to the consumer.

I've had this happen to me more than once when purchasing for a restaurant. I find a fabulous product that I must order SLO and the price is 1.5 times higher than the very same wine at the Specialty store. grrrrrr....

By the time the restaurant's markup is applied it makes me look like a thief for the lucky consumer that found the wine at the Specialty store at what is now a small fraction of the "retail" price on my wine list.

I really hate it when this happens.

←

Didn't Deidre answer this question before? One is the price for an item as PLCB stock, the other is the price if they have to order it - and is set by the vendor (plus markup and Flood Tax, of course).

Essentially, from the Board's viewpoint, they *are* two different items.

[mrbigjas]

Didn't Deidre answer this question before? One is the price for an item as PLCB stock, the other is the price if they have to order it - and is set by the vendor (plus markup and Flood Tax, of course).

maybe she did! i tend to... well, i forget things.

[Deidre Costello]

I wish the LCB had a better way to search for stores which carry a particular item. Instead of having to specify the county, you should be able to do a zip code proximity search to find the closest store with the item is.

They also need to fix the zip code search on the Store Locations search page. Right now, it only finds those stores within the exact zip code you enter rather than listing stores by distance from a particular zip code. For example, when I enter my 19147 zip, I only get the South St. and S. 11th St. locations but not the new Columbus Crossing store even though it's only about 1 1/2 miles from me. And if I'm traveling somewhere I'm not familiar with, I can't find the nearest store if there isn't one in the town I'm in. Very frustrating and not very customer-friendly to say the least.

←

I think when it was decided that there was no reason not to display inventories, the easiest, fastest way to do this was to publish our internal product look-up. (The inventories displaying along with the product lookup only happened within the past year.) I know that this was a ‘patch’ if you will, until they could improve the product look-up as a whole.

Perhaps, our web services development team could implement the store lookup from the e-commerce site into the product lookup on the informational site. (Our e-commerce store lookup allows for a search of the surrounding zip codes already.) Until the are ready to roll out an improved search.

-Deidre

[Deidre Costello]

Didn't Deidre answer this question before? One is the price for an item as PLCB stock, the other is the price if they have to order it - and is set by the vendor (plus markup and Flood Tax, of course).

maybe she did! i tend to... well, i forget things.

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Basically, when you see two different prices 9 times out of 10 the price in our stores will be cheaper than a Special Liquor Order (SLO). Merchandise is being purchased in bulk in many cases direct for our specialty stores whereas, SLO merchandise is purchased in smaller amounts from a vendor or distributor - adding a layer of cost to the bottle.

-Deidre