Time to break out of the pattern: now they lost an entire store. Don't believe me? Check their latest Retail Year in Review and try to find Store #6709. Here's the address.
THE CROSSROADS SHOPPING CTR
351 LOUCKS RD, STE F2
YORK, PA, 17404-1740
But it isn't listed any longer. The Retail Year in Review is the PLCB's way of patting themselves on the back by telling us what a great job they do selling products (with the help of a police-enforced monopoly) in a state where they regulate their only competition — beer — and have their own judges and branch of the State Police to enforce it. Record sales every year!! Well, DUH!
Seems nuts that they lost a whole store, though. Maybe they "re-branded it," or it moved, or they did that "store-in-a-store" thing and no one's noticed it's there yet, or they closed it for an entire year to 'remodel' (which has been known to happen, ask the people in Mountaintop). But it's even news to the people working there. Give them a call at 717-843-5800 and ask them yourself. 'Are you there? Because the Retail Year in Review says you're not.' Typical lack of PLCB coordination has the store locater thinking they are still around.
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| Crossroads would be #152 if, you know, the PLCB knew what it was doing. |
Nobody noticed why the numbers didn't add up until The York Daily Record did a story about sales growth in York County and asked why the total from the stores didn't match the total for the county. The PLCB was not able to explain the discrepancy. It took me about 20 minutes to figure it out and I don't have an accounting department or a $66 million computer system.
Some retailers tell you to pay less and expect more. With the PLCB we learn to do the opposite.
Privatize. Before more stores disappear!
Added a picture update showing where the idiots skipped Crossroads completely.
ReplyDeleteWhy do republicans never mention privatization in their ads?! It seems like this liquor control mess is the elephant in the room for republican politicians, do they think none of us except businessmen know or care about the liquor issue?
ReplyDeleteYou mean in their campaign ads? No one campaigns on this; you don't see Democrats campaigning on "I'll keep the State Stores in business!" either. It's a touchy subject, which is why it's only coming up because people are fed up with the current broke-down system.
ReplyDeleteBut the real reason you're not seeing it is that it's not an election year. Governor Wolf is the only Pennsylvania politician who's still in campaign mode.
I also think it is important to look at who is getting the money from UFCW and all of the other unions. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.
ReplyDeletePoliticians campaign on perceived priorities. When they look at polls that say less than one percent consider this an important issue along with other polls that show a very small percentage of the populace drink well over half the liquor it does not make sense to campaign on this. Education, property tax, and implementing a shale tax touch base with a large part of their constituents. Where would you spend your campaign dollars?
ReplyDeleteActually, I won't disagree. Liquor store reform is NOT as important as education, property tax reform, or the question of a shale extraction tax. On the other hand...the fact that it consistently polls as something a majority of the state's citizens want, it's shameful that the Legislature has not found the courage to act on it in 40 years. There's no time like the present for that. But campaign on it? Not likely.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the end of that discussion. It has nothing to do with the post above...save it.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Toby Keith or some other country star do a bottle signing at the Loucks store? Very odd that they would forget to include it in the report.
ReplyDeleteThe Retail Year, like the Fiscal Year ends on June 30th so if the signing was after that this year it would be in next years report....if there is one.
ReplyDeleteNo offense but the store locator you are using is an obsolete one. This is the current one: http://www.finewineandgoodspirits.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FindStoreView?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&langId=-1
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why the old one is still online.
The store locater I am using is just fine as I said. "Typical lack of PLCB coordination has the store locater thinking they are still around." How do you think I verified that the store was still there? I looked them up and called. It is the Retail Year In Review that is screwed up and that still isn't fixed as the picture shows - the 152nd store in the state is missing.
ReplyDeleteIt may be fine but why do you prefer it to the newer, sleeker, more modern current one?
ReplyDeleteWell, for one thing, it's a LOT quicker. Probably because the FWGS site is a turd.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with the FWGS site? I hate state stores but have no complaints about the FWGS site (not that I ever would order anything from it). It is a bit annoying though that it always asks me if I'm over 21 (WHY is that necessary for alcohol websites anyway?) and the store locator does NOT show results in the correct order based on the user's location.
ReplyDeleteIt's slow, it's a bad design, and it recapitulates the problems with the old site as regards searching.
ReplyDelete