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Direct Sales to Retailers


Still 173

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Well that's not legal for a regular old micro-distillery in New York. Even farm distilleries (or wineries) are not allowed to charge for samples.

And I've already had the secret agent spies from the SLA show up whining for a drink ("It's my birthday", seriously) and laughing at my equipment ("That still is so small! hahaha). Yes they do that here in NY, it's called their "enforcement unit". Our tax dollars at work.

WI regs say we can't charge for samples either- thats why we sell a "tasting flight" which I've confirmed is fine. Sometimes it's all in the wording and how enforcement interprets it! Are there currently any attempts to get this changed in NY?

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With the completely dysfunctional government we have now in NY, I'd consider that wasted effort. So far they can't even pass a budget.

Ralph Erenzo of Tuthilltown has mentioned in the past that the SLA considers everything illegal unless explicitly allowed in the laws. That may well be unconstitutional, but I for one am not willing to spend lots of money on lawyers to try and find out. The SLA would probably consider the selling of "tasting flights" as operating an illegal and unlicensed bar. And my local State Senator only seems to help his buddies. Too bad he'll be unopposed again this year.

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  • 3 weeks later...

To answer my own post, in Nova Scotia you can either sell from a "store front" on the distillery or you can sell to the NSLC for province wide distribution in the liquor stores.

Also, there is no restrictions on locations with residences. In other words, you can have your distillery in the garage attached to your house.

Case in point is Iron Works Distillery which is both. It was a blacksmiths shop on the end of a residence and it has been converted to a micro-distillery while they live in the attached home. They will sell from their storefront on the distillery when they open in May-June 2010.

I mentioned this site when I went to visit them for help in opening my own micro so I'm guessing they are probably lurking. (Welcome Lynne and thanks again for the info)

Is that in Lunenberg? Home of Canadian International (2 man) Grand Bank Dory Racing? I am in Gloucester. The U.S. side. Welcome Lynne.

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The SLA would probably consider the selling of "tasting flights" as operating an illegal and unlicensed bar.

I'm sure you can charge for a tour. Providing an educational presentation or aspect makes it even more justifiable.

Then it maybe comes down to what it takes to make a gift or somesuch. If you want to do this, don't give up too easily. You may not want to at the moment though.

And my local State Senator only seems to help his buddies.

It's probably a full time job, sort of. Making friends with politicians may not be that hard. Perhaps a bottle of your product in a nice gift box would be a start. I'm sure he would remember it.

Too bad he'll be unopposed again this year.

Not making friends now, LOL!

Was the difficulty in providing a taste to the SLA because it was on premises? You could do that in your home, but not on site because it's harder to prove the bottle was payed for ( taxes etc. )?

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No, the NYSLA operates on the principle that if something is not explicitly allowed, it is disallowed. And that means if caught doing such things, your license is subject to revocation. I'm not even testing those waters.

The State Senator sends out flyers promoting the wonderful things he's done for the area. I remember one recent one where he was touting how he kept drunk drivers off the roads. (I'm thinking, single-handedly?) Now that's a good thing, but my impression is that he's anti-alcohol. He had no interest in assisting me with my stalled application at the SLA in 2008.

Sorry, but I can't bring myself to try and suck up to sleaze politicians. So no free booze for them! laugh.gif

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  • 6 years later...

Has anyone used or heard of Park Street?     http://www.parkstreet.com/

Apparently they are able to serve as an in-between option that is sort of a hybrid of self-distribution and classic distributorship.  They handle all of the delivery/warehousing logistics, paperwork, and back office detail, but the distiller is still responsible for making the sale.  They charge a much lower percentage compared to a traditional distributor.

Given that the liquor brands still need to foot their own marketing budget and maintain account contact because traditional distributors DGAF about the little guys, this option seems like a great alternative.

Thoughts?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/13/2010 at 0:00 AM, Still 173 said:

I'm researching which states allow sales from distillers to retailers - it looks like:

New York

Colorado

possibly Illinois and Florida?

If you have links to legislation - you would include it?

Thanks

Nate

Still 173 Distillery

Florida DOES NOT allow direct to retail. In Florida you are at the mercy of distributors and very limited retail to the public. Its assinine.

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On 12/15/2016 at 4:59 PM, RCHagemann said:

Has anyone used or heard of Park Street?     http://www.parkstreet.com/

Apparently they are able to serve as an in-between option that is sort of a hybrid of self-distribution and classic distributorship.  They handle all of the delivery/warehousing logistics, paperwork, and back office detail, but the distiller is still responsible for making the sale.  They charge a much lower percentage compared to a traditional distributor.

Given that the liquor brands still need to foot their own marketing budget and maintain account contact because traditional distributors DGAF about the little guys, this option seems like a great alternative.

Thoughts?

You are Jersey correct?  Why not just do all that yourself?

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21 hours ago, Silk City Distillers said:

You are Jersey correct?  Why not just do all that yourself?

I am, yes :)  The plan is to self-distribute in NJ initially, but I'm considering Park Street for the order fulfillment work I'd need in NYC (and ultimately for when we get big enough in both states that it would be difficult to manage it all by myself).  Trying to determine if the actual ease of working with them is worth the cost...

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