ST. FEUILLIEN SAISON FARM HOUSE ALE - clearance @ Crossroads

Frere Ambroise · Post by **Frere Ambroise** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 9:30 am

Folks,

Sorry for the late post as these might already be gone ....

There were 4 bottles @ $2 each at Crossroads LCBO Clearance section.

spinrsx · Post by **spinrsx** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 11:56 am

this has got me thinking.. I've never seen a clearance section at any of my lcbo's.. what do they do with beer that is past the expiration date? Send it back to the breweries?

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 12:02 pm

spinrsx wrote:this has got me thinking.. I've never seen a clearance section at any of my lcbo's.. what do they do with beer that is past the expiration date? Send it back to the breweries?

I have seen markdowns about 20-25% off to clear out stock. It seems arbitrary and two nearby stores may do different things, so it's not like a system-wide promo price you can scoop the same deal everywhere.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 12:03 pm

Frere Ambroise wrote:FRe: ST. FEUILLIEN SAISON FARM HOUSE ALE - clearance @ Crossroads (4)

This SF Saison was or IS available at The Only Cafe @ Danforth & Donlands if you just want to try one for a friendly price.

They also have Saison Dupont for 7.50. Favorite of mine.

tuqueboy · Post by **tuqueboy** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:09 pm

spinrsx wrote:this has got me thinking.. I've never seen a clearance section at any of my lcbo's.. what do they do with beer that is past the expiration date? Send it back to the breweries?

The stuff at the crossroads store isn't expired. It's usually stuff like a private order that someone's cheque bounced for, or a few too many cases came in, etc.

spinrsx · Post by **spinrsx** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 5:41 pm

aside from that, I'm just curious about random expired beers on their shelves

Frere Ambroise · Post by **Frere Ambroise** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:25 am

After November 1st, you can maybe find a few discounted single bottles that were part of a larger gift pack that had a "breaker". The staff (sometimes rookie Xmas rush staff) don't know the value and will sell at $2 each as a default. So some thrifty finds can be found in the next couple months.

You'll find some smaller stores in January will mark down product that they were 'forced' to sell during the holiday periods. I've picked up some Fuller's Vintage Ale and Mill St. Barley Wine, Panil and a few others at 25% off - mainly because the stores don't know / don't care and want the product off their inventory. Meanwhile at a bigger store down the road, the same beer is priced at full value. Trouble is - the website doesn't tell you which stores are discounting what.

Again in March, you will see more clearance so that the stores can reduce their onsite inventory as much as possible before their 'year-end' on March 31st. Each store manager is measured on profitability and product on the shelf is considered a "no-no". So they were try to clearout as much as possible.

Frere Ambroise · Post by **Frere Ambroise** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:28 am

aside from that, I'm just curious about random expired beers on their shelves

The stores are supposed to destroy the product that is expired. Or they contact the agent/brewer and let them know the product is expired and can it be removed/exchanged for current stock.

SteelbackGuy · Post by **SteelbackGuy** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:19 pm

Frere Ambroise wrote:
aside from that, I'm just curious about random expired beers on their shelves
The stores are supposed to destroy the product that is expired. Or they contact the agent/brewer and let them know the product is expired and can it be removed/exchanged for current stock.

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esprit · Post by **esprit** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:15 am

The stuff that ends up in Crossroads is basically seized Consignment stock which the agent could not sell in the allotted time period. Stale-dated product is not offerred. I hate to admit it but one or two times in the past 20 years I had stock seized and I rushed to Crossroads to buy it and in fact made a better profit...not that this was ever my intention but there are bargains to be had there occassionally.

rejtable · Post by **rejtable** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 3:00 pm

I had no idea it was legal for anyone (agent, restaurant or individual) to buy something off the shelf of an LCBO and then re-sell at a profit.

Is that restricted to just agents? Can bars see a deal on a shelf, snap it up and resell at a profit?

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:36 pm

Where do you think bars buy their beer, wine and liquor?

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:53 pm

rejtable wrote:I had no idea it was legal for anyone (agent, restaurant or individual) to buy something off the shelf of an LCBO and then re-sell at a profit.

Is that restricted to just agents? Can bars see a deal on a shelf, snap it up and resell at a profit?

Well licensees sure aren't getting any beers wholesale, the LC makes sure EVERY Ontario sale goes through them at a retail price - doesn't matter if it's a walk-in store. You will see bars buying stock at big stores like Cooper Street and Summerhill, partly because it's cheaper than same beers from a private order.

If anyone is wondering why some bottle prices in bars are ridiculous, it is because they are marked up from the same full retail you or I would pay in the store (on top of which the added tax and tip can be close than the value of the product.)

I feel less sorry for my wallet than I do for for bars trying to make a go of it in this racket.

rejtable · Post by **rejtable** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:05 am

midlife crisis wrote:Where do you think bars buy their beer, wine and liquor?

Haha, yeah my question sounds pretty stupid.

I phrased my question wrong. I was thinking about the actual mechanics of buying partly, and stuff on sale more specifically.

I had never really thought about sale stuff specifically, and the idea that a bar could scoop it up like that. I thought, as Belgium points out above, that they had to deal with retail prices, but I hadn't really considered the sale price as a "retail' price.

And also, I hadn't really imagined that a licensee could actually walk in and buy right off the shelf. I always assumed there was some kind of sales process for those people outside of the cash register that you or I use.

So, yeah, sorry for questions so poorly.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:17 pm

rejtable wrote:
And also, I hadn't really imagined that a licensee could actually walk in and buy right off the shelf. I always assumed there was some kind of sales process for those people outside of the cash register that you or I use.

So, yeah, sorry for questions so poorly.

Not a poor question at all (especially when talking about the 'BO!) - if you spend enough time at a store like Cooper St you see guys with cartloads of hard liquor on a Tuesday morning - unlikely that's for personal consumption, usually!