In-store displays “are more effective at selling beer” compared to “shrinking” shelf space, Kaumil Gajrawala, analyst for financial services firm Jefferies, wrote in a late June analysis.
More than a year after launching beer deliveries throughout Phoenix, Arizona, Pizza Hut today announced plans to expand the service into 1,000 stores by mid-2019. The national pizza chain, owned by Yum Brands, said it would expand its beer delivery service into five new states — Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina and Ohio — by mid-January.
Cincinnati’s Fifty West Brewing Company has quickly established itself as brand to watch. The Ohio-based craft brewery, which opened its doors in 2012, topped market research firm IRI’s list of new vendors in supermarkets, with off-premise dollar sales of nearly $214,000, for the 27 weeks ending July 8, IRI director of client insights Patrick Livingston shared during last month’s Brewers Association Power Hour.
Buffalo Wild Wings’ presence at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival was merely an appetizer. The chicken wing restaurant, one of the largest chains in the U.S., will be regular menu item at numerous Brewers Association (BA) events over the next two years, including the 2019 GABF, the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) and Homebrew Con. Its presence at additional BA events is part of a three-year sponsorship agreement with the trade group, Buffalo Wild Wings beverage innovation manager Jason Murphy told Brewbound.
Chicago-based e-commerce marketplace Provi today announced the completion of a $3.5 million funding round. Provi, which aggregates distributor inventories and serves as a one-stop shop for retailers to search and place alcohol orders, has now raised $5 million via two funding rounds with an investor list that includes Hyde Park Angels, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Ludlow Ventures, and Sandalphon Capital, among others.
BevMo! customers can now go directly from online to no line with the introduction of a new curbside delivery program being tested at two of the West Coast beverage retailer’s Bay Area stores.
Colorado-headquartered New Belgium Brewing Company is said to be opening a taproom at Mohegan Sun next month, according to a press release issued by the Connecticut casino and resort. Meanwhile, Southern California’s The Bruery today announced that it would open a brick-and-mortar store in Washington, D.C., in November.
Despite the growth in “own-premise” sales, executives from prominent beer-centric retail chains Yard House, Old Chicago (Craftworks Restaurants & Breweries) and World of Beer told a room of industry professionals attending last Thursday’s Brewbound Session that the increasing amount of beer flowing through brewery taprooms wasn’t yet a major concern.
