Story by Dave Eckert
As retail stores continue to shutter across the country, there can be no debating the impact online shopping has had. Its ease, pricing, and delivery right to your doorstep is tough for brick-and-mortar stores to fight. A surprising online option that is having its day is adult beverages of all ilk.
I recently chatted with three locals who make their primary living selling and marketing wine, beer, and spirits online, including one who just made the jump.
Photo courtesy of Local Liquid
Meet John Couture, the former owner of Bier Station, and the current founder of Local Liquid, an online retail marketplace. “After we sold Bier Station to City Barrel Brewing in March 2023, one thing I really missed was interacting with the local beverage community. I also realized after Bier Station that I had to drive all around the city to get my favorite local craft beers. When I combined that with this city’s very intense sense of ‘KC pride,’ it made me wonder if we could create a new concept working almost entirely with local beverage producers to create the first curated, online marketplace dedicated to supporting KC’s small business beverage community. I did about six months of consumer research to refine that idea and that’s when Local Liquid began,” Couture shared. Couture obviously can’t say if Local Liquid will quench Kansas Citians’ thirst, but he can say after talking to dozens of local companies across a variety of beverage categories, that our post-Covid environment is very much still online.
So, how does one use Local Liquid? “Local Liquid is an online marketplace supporting KC’s beverage community. So, essentially, if it’s a drink (alcoholic or NA) and it’s made in KC, we’ll likely carry it. We don’t have a storefront or walk-in shopping. What we have is a bright, fun online store experience. Customers place their beverage orders online and pick their items up at our warehouse on 65th St between Rockhill Road and Troost Ave, Noon-6 p.m. Monday through Friday. We will continue that throughout the winter with some delivery tests sprinkled around. We plan to roll out a regular home delivery option by early spring to KCMO. Customers can place their orders online and either pick them up at our warehouse or look for when we deliver to their area and order for delivery. We plan to grow our delivery zones organically by demand, so it may take some time to hit some of the further out Missouri suburbs,” Couture told me.
You can find this new online marketplace at localliquid.com
Jake Barnett is another local who migrated from retail to online. I first met Barnett when he worked at Harry’s Country Club, stayed in touch as he moved on to Restless Spirits, and was eager to catch up and hear about his transition to the online world of Big Thirst where he works as a business development specialist. “We help spirits brands to sell their products on their websites to consumers across the country. We also offer additional marketing support and consulting services like new product development, and sales/distribution management. I love the spirits industry and the folks that work in it. I am lucky to get the opportunity to work with a variety of craft brands both domestically and abroad and help them reach a broader audience for their spirits,” Barnett explained.
Like Couture, Barnett says the online trend is real and growing. “We are certainly seeing a steady increase in the amount of spirits purchased online year over year. For consumers, there’s the obvious convenience factor, but it also gives them ability to get their hands on bottles that aren’t distributed in their markets. The increasingly widespread adoption of e-commerce by spirits brands of all sizes will also help sales continue to grow. There has been a huge increase in online-only releases, subscription whiskey clubs, and even spirits brands that are exclusively selling online,“ Barnett stated.
You can learn more about Big Thirst at bigthirst.com
Finally, let me introduce you to Brian Schellenberger and his place of employment-Palomino Beverage Group “Palomino is a consulting agency for new and emerging brands. Through distribution strategies, regulatory and compliance management, research, and innovation, we provide brands the tools and resources to break into their respective markets and succeed. For consumers, we focus on giving our brands an equitable and competitive advantage, which, in turn, gives the consumer the opportunity to make a purchase that they can feel good about. That’s what I enjoy most about what we do. When things work like they should, everybody wins,” Schellenberger stated.
You can get all of that insight and more at palominobev.com
