How Long Does It Take?

Two weeks ago I posted about how the PLCB inventory accuracy rate is getting worse. As I mentioned then, I wrote them an email with the link to the story, explained what their mistakes were, and gave them the official government regulations that explain how to determine what spirits should be called. If I gave them any more help, I would have to fix the inventory myself.

Anyone with moderate typing skills could make these corrections in about three minutes. Two weeks should surely be enough time, even with supervisory oversight. Let's see how that worked out.

PLCB - third-rate data entry.

1. 510608 Berkshire Mountain Distillers Bourbon Whiskey - This one is pretty easy. If it's a bourbon, it's not a blend: it's a bourbon.
NOT FIXED: The PLCB still calls it a bourbon, but still categorizes it as a blend.

2. 153 Brixton Bourbon Whiskey Mash Destroyer - I could almost forgive this one, because it's a 'blend' of bourbon and rum; where do you put that? But they couldn't even get the name right! It isn't Brixton Bourbon Mash Destroyer, it's Brixton Mash Destroyer. Why do they constantly add words that aren't there? Put this in SPECIALTIES, but it's not BLENDED WHISKEY.
FIXED: While still in the Blended whiskey section they did fix the name and changed the description enough to show that at least an effort was made.

3. 31328 Clyde May's Bourbon Mash Whiskey - There is no Clyde May's "Bourbon Mash Whiskey." The Clyde May brand has a Straight Bourbon -- which is a bourbon -- and a "Alabama-style Whiskey" -- which is bourbon with apple added, which makes it SPECIALTIES -US, or WHISKEY...
FIXED: Amazingly, the PLCB not only corrected the description but put it in the correct category too.

4. 608012 Crater Lake Rye Reserve- Again, not blended. It's RYE. Pretty simple. Who's making mistakes this simple and stupid? Sorry/not sorry: there's no other way to describe that.
NOT FIXED: The PLCB didn't do anything.

5. 559141 George Dickel Whiskey Single Barrel - Reading comprehension and product knowledge required; no wonder the PLCB got it wrong.  If it is single barrel, what are you blending it with? Imagination? There should be a TENNESSEE WHISKEY category. Most other Tennessees are in WHISKEY, which is such a catch-all it's all but worthless.
TOSS UP: They didn't fix it...but they didn't keep the listing either. The item has disappeared.

6. 528555 Hooker's House Organic Rye Whiskey - There is no record of a "Hooker's House Organic Rye Whiskey" on the Internet...except connected to this mistaken PLCB record. Again, why are you adding words that aren't even there? In any case: RYE, not a blend. Okay?
NOT FIXED. Is two weeks just not enough time? This was one of the easy ones!

7. 34278 Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select Tennessee Whiskey 90 Proof - Given their track record, is anyone really surprised that there's a Jack Daniel's bottling on this list? I've been mentioning this particular one for a few years now. Jack Daniel doesn't make blended whiskey, but that doesn't stop the PLCB from getting it wrong for the past 3 years.
NOT FIXED: Was there any doubt the PLCB would continue to screw up this entry? It is part of their DNA to have at least one Jack Daniel's product wrong.

8. 504228 Jim Beam Eight Star Kentucky Whiskey 8 Year Old - They almost got this one right: it is a blend! But as I mentioned over a year ago...it is not 8 years old. Where is that on this very simple label? Nowhere that I can see.
FIXED! I wonder who had to read the label and make the command decision that it doesn't say 8 years old.

9. 446 Wigle Phil's Shadow Rye Whiskey Finished in Maple Syrup Barrels - Not a blend. Again, at the very least, a RYE.
NOT FIXED: Not one of the three ryes on the list were fixed. Does Rye confuse the PLCB?

It's ONLY been two weeks!

Pretty weak track record. Two weeks, ten whole work days, and only three entries fixed, four if you want to be generous. I guess none of the managers are the "hands on" type, and not very good motivators. Typical PLCB.

There are undoubtedly THOUSANDS of bad entries in the PLCB inventory; I haven't even looked at the wines. If they can't fix even half of a small sub-group when given all the information...imagine how badly they are doing when they have to find out and correct these things through their own means.

This access to 'all the wine and spirits in the entire system' is supposedly one of the advantages of the State Store System of Stores. You don't have to chase supply and price through hundreds of individual stores, like in those terribly disorganized "free" states. If the database is so badly disorganized that you can't find what you're looking for...where's the advantage?

There is none. Privatize now.

The Gift That Keeps On Taking

Giving and getting booze as a gift in Pennsylvania is no easy feat.

Given the police-enforced monopoly that is Pennsylvania's wine and spirits marketplace, you might expect that there are laws to fence off all possible ways around those restrictions; for instance, no "gifts" of booze (that are then surreptitiously reciprocated with cash). But if you thought there was a one bottle or a case exception for honest gifts, you would be wrong. You still have to give the state its cut, even on a gift.

And you know who is responsible to pay the fees, taxes, and unknown markup on that bottle? Not the person giving, but the person receiving. A good friend of the blog recently quizzed the PLCB about all the steps necessary to give some hard to find, not available in PA no way no how, honest to goodness collectible booze to a PA resident. Here's what they learned.

As a rule it is generally unlawful for anyone, other than the PLCB or the holder of an importer’s license or a direct wine shipper license (or a sacramental wine license), to "import" any liquor (including wine) into Pennsylvania. 47 P.S. §§ 4-491(8), (11).

No problem, you think, I'm not bringing it in, someone else did and gave it to me. Ah, but it is also generally unlawful for anyone, other than a manufacturer, the PLCB, the holder of a sacramental wine license, or the holder of an importer license, to possess or transport any liquor or alcohol within the Commonwealth that was not lawfully acquired from the PLCB, a PLCB-licensed limited winery, a PLCB-licensed distillery, a PLCB-licensed limited distillery, a PLCB-licensed direct wine shipper, or a PLCB-licensed retailer holding a wine expanded permit. 47 P.S. §§ 4-415, 4-488, 4-491(2), 5-505.2, 5-505.4.

OK, so how do you LEGALLY get that bottle into the state so you can give it to somebody? Short answer: you can't. In a moment of supreme bureaucratic idiocy it was decided that the recipient has to do all the work. Why?  All I can come up with is that the PLCB can't screw an out of state person like they can screw a PA resident.


So if you go ahead and just illegally give that bottle to somebody in PA? Here's what they have to do, if they want to legally keep it and not just flush it down the toilet and deny all knowledge when the BLCE comes busting in.

BLCE!! HAND OVER THE GRAPPA! NOW!!

First, they have to know exactly what you are giving them...ahead of time (which kinda ruins any surprise if that was your intent). Then they have to fill out an application for importation and an application for the payment of tax on the liquor to be filed with the PLCB’s Bureau of Product Selection by the intended gift recipient (i.e., the person importing the liquor). (40 Pa. Code§ 9.51.) No word on how long it takes to get that information (because nobody in their right mind has ever done it).

Once it has been decided by the Bureau of Product Selection what fees and markup and service charge (remember that this is a SERVICE to allow you to bypass the incompetents in Harrisburg) to apply, you then have to contact the Department Of  Revenue, because the state taxes on the liquor would be levied by the Department of Revenue, and they have to determine the amount of taxes that would be owed on the gift, if any. If they're confused by this, tell them the PLCB sent you.

(By this time, you may be wondering: if Revenue is collecting the taxes, and the BLCE is doing the enforcement...if we got rid of the State Stores, what would we need the PLCB for? Good question.)

If you want to try and figure out approximately what the fees are yourself, before committing to this mindstorm of bureaucracy - be prepared to wait. It took two weeks to drag the info out of the Bureau of Product selection. They finally sent a reference to 40 Pa. Code § 9.52. Why did that take fourteen days? Probably because nobody in organizational memory had ever been asked the question before. You know...because an ordinary citizen would just give their friend the bottle of booze and be done with it. 

Once that is done, hopefully before you are too old to enjoy your gift, you have to go back to the PLCB’s Bureau of Product Selection and turn in your application for importation and an application for the payment of tax on the liquor (which Revenue gave you). Now even though you have paid the tax, the fees, the markup, and the service charge, the Board can still say no because they have monopoly power and there is no legal recourse for you to appeal to if they are feeling a little bitchy that day.

Think you are done? Of course not! Your friend can't just drive across the border with with his gift. Horrors! The world will come to an end. No, the State has to maintain CONTROL by having you hire a Transporter for Hire Class A or Class C licensee to bring it to your residence. Yeah, really. And by the time this is all over, you'll want to remember to tell your friend to please never bring you another gift.

By the way, if you decide you don't like the gift and want to sell it -- because it is, after all, your legal property -- then just turn it in to any State Store and they will take care of it for you. "But what about the money?" you ask? Don't worry, it won't cost you a penny! Really. You don't get any proceeds from the sale...but your conscience will be clear knowing you didn't break the law. I'm not sure what happens if you sell a bottle when you are out of state but I'd bet the PLCB has some way to screw you if you do that too.

More Pennsylvanians than this buy or drink bootleg booze every day

Suppose this just was too much and the giver decides to say screw it, it is too much trouble for my buddy to go through, I'll just bring him some beer. Guess what? There are NO EXCEPTIONS for beer at all. No jump through the hoops while you kiss our ass paperwork hurdles, no forms to fill out, no taxes to pay. It is illegal, period, to bring beer into the state.

Don't believe me? Here is what the PLCB has to say about it: "The importation of malt or brewed beverages is governed by different sections of the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. §§ 4-431, 4-492(8), and no exception currently exists that would allow for the importation of gift malt or brewed beverages outside the otherwise authorized channels of distribution."

So I urge you to put on that mask, and join the tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians who say, 'Up Yours, PLCB!' every day, and bring that cheaper beer, nicer wine, and better liquor in over the border in as much quantity as youu need as often as you want. Be an outlaw, be a Hero for Freedom of Choice. Perhaps I'll see you on the border.

Privatize.

Smuggler's Blues from Michael Dewey on Vimeo.

We can't do wine (but we can't do whiskey, either!)

We recently did our annual look at how the PLCB did supplying the state with the top ten picks from Wine Spectator. But whiskey drinkers get screwed just as badly by the PLCB's inability to pick the best. Whisky Advocate is rolling out their best-of picks for the year; let's see how well the PLCB did in picking the hottest segment of the spirits industry.

If we don't have it then you don't need it.

Craft Whiskey of the Year 
Bainbridge Yama American Single Grain Barley Mizunara Japanese Oak Cask -- Not in PA, no SLO 

American Whiskey of the Year 
Booker’s Rye -- On-line only - Sold Out  

Canadian Whiskey of the Year 
Crown Royal Cornerstone Blend -- In Stock! Wow!

Irish Whiskey of the Year 
Redbreast Lustau Edition -- Not in PA, no SLO

Japanese Whiskey of the Year 
Yochi Single Malt -- SLO only

World Whiskey of the Year 
Amrut Spectrum -- Not in PA, no SLO

Blended/Blended Malt Whiskey of the Year 
Ghosted Reserve 21 year Old -- Not in PA, no SLO

Speyside Single Malt Whiskey of the Year  
Glenrothes Vintage Reserve -- Not in PA, no SLO 
(To me, as a Scotch drinker, it is unbelievable that the PLCB doesn't carry this.)

Islay Single Malt Whiskey of the Year 
Lagavulin 25 year old -- Not in PA, no SLO

Highland Single Malt Whiskey of the Year 
Brora 38 year old -- Not in PA, no SLO

Lowland/Campbeltown Whiskey of the Year 
Ailsa Bay -- Not in PA, no SLO 

So what do we end up with? One whiskey in stock, and actually on the shelf. Another that was online only, and one that you might be able to get SLO. Three for eleven is nothing to brag about -- especially for the PLCB's oft-touted vast buying power -- and further proof the bureaucrats in Harrisburg aren't very good at selecting what the entire state has to choose from. The PLCB claims to be "world class;" that might be true, as long as that world isn't the one of private retail.

When something doesn't work, or doesn't work well, and hasn't for 83 years, you replace it.  Pretty simple, really.

Good ol' boys instead of real businessmen

In their continuing effort to change as little as possible (unless forced to by the threat of privatization), the PLCB appointed a bureaucrat lifer with no real world business experience to...ahem...lead them for the next two years (or until Wolf leaves office, whichever comes first). Charles Mooney, newly appointed as the PLCB's COO in July has been named the new Executive Director ("please don't call it CEO, we had one of those"), replacing John Metzger. With 37 years at the PLCB, you know he doesn't have an original idea in him; they've all leaked away years ago.

While the press release makes it sound like he was responsible for all improvement in the last decade, he was also around to agree with the wine kiosk debacle. Perhaps he will claim credit for the year it took to move the Mountaintop store 50 feet and the five years it took to put a store back in Renovo. He should also claim going against the wishes of the citizens in Lewisburg and Lock Haven.

In reality, as recently as 2013 be wasn't even listed as a Director in the PLCB Annual Report for 2012-2013. In fact, the only reason he even was promoted in FY 2013-2014 was that Jim Short (Director of Marketing and Merchandising) was found guilty of taking bribes. Dale Horst (Director of Retail Operations) moved over to that position (even though he had zero experience in marketing), and that left his position open. Just one more chance to get qualified people in the agency, ignored by the puppets on the Board. I guess they needed a "Yes" man instead of a business man.

Now that the PLCB has some breathing room thanks to McIlhinney's Mistake, the "Four Bottle Folly", the PLCB can go back to doing what they do best: as little as possible.

They certainly won't make things more convenient for the consumer (756 stores in 1973, 603 now, a 25% reduction); not using their buying power to keep prices down (as reported here and here). What they will be doing is using "variable pricing" to actually raise prices (as I noted here and here), and generally screwing the populace in order to keep themselves afloat (remember, they still owe almost $240 million and who do you think has to pay for that?)

A PLCB insider who hasn't done anything that isn't 50 years behind what the private sector has been doing is not an improvement. Privatize and rid ourselves of this fiasco of a business and fake business people.

Five years & Two Months

Well, I have to give the PLCB credit.  They said that they were actively looking for a spot to put a new store in Renovo and after 1,887 days they managed to do it. Now that is the customer service we have come to expect from the police enforced "we know better than you" socialist nanny state Liquor Control Board.

SOP for the PLCB

Of course, it is only open 4 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday Saturday) for 7 hours (11AM-6PM) - must be part of the expanded hours "modernization" that was talked about. No Sunday sales here - can't have too much convenience all at once you know.

So congrats Renovo and surrounding area, you have been deemed worthy of buying a legal product freely available in 42 other states without government sales. Enjoy it while you can because if they took it away before, they can take it away again.

Numbers, numbers, numbers

Numbers you won't see in the PLCB Annual Report

A look at some State Store numbers that are always missing in the PLCB's annual report.

1.) The average amount of non-tax revenue returned to the state per unit (single bottle or box) of wine or liquor - 73 cents

2.) Not counting the actual cost of the item, what PA spends to put one item on the shelf - $3.06

3.) What PA spends to put an item on the shelf, including the average cost of the item - $11.40

4.) What it costs with taxes to put one average item on the shelf - $15.21

5.) Average rental cost per store (2015) - $1432 a week

6.) Industry average profit margin 8.1%; PLCB 2015 profit margin 6%

7.) PLCB Effective markup, not counting any taxes - 45.36%

8.) U.S. state and federal government workers average benefits as percentage of salary - 36.4%.
PLCB benefits as percentage of salary - 85-104% (as stated by Board members during the Appropriations hearings in the Senate).

9.) Percent of sales actually checked for proof of age - under 2%

10.) Retail Wine Specialists as a percentage of workers: 1.7%

11.) Retail Wine Specialist as a percentage of TotalWine employees - ~20%


The Proof

1. - $80M returned to General Fund plus $25M for BLCE plus $5M alcohol Awareness plus $1.7M for Drug & Alcohol programs divided by 153.5 million unit sales We are told "Modernization" will increase profits by $180M At 73 cents a bottle...well, you do the math. (Keep in mind that the $80 million is a very flexible number, mostly representing what the Legislature requires from the PLCB, whether it's actually "profit" or not.)
2. - Operating Expenses (minus the cost of wine and spirits) of $470M, divided by units sold. The lower this number, the more efficient the organization is. It has never gone down for the PLCB.
3. - Operating Expenses $1.751B divided by units sold 153.5M. Since the PLCB doesn't negotiate prices on the majority of items, this cost is higher than it should be too.
4, - Gross sales ($2,335B) divided by total units sold. $3.81 for every bottle or box sold is the average sales and Johnstown Flood Tax; more expensive bottles can be much more.
5. - Rental expense for all operating leases $44.9M divided by 603 stores. Of course, this cost will increase as the PLCB tries to move into higher traffic areas.
6. - IBISWorld, May 2013, Operating Income divided by Sales Net of Taxes. With increased pension costs, workers comp, salary, and benefits increasing, this won't improve any time soon.
7. - COGS divided by gross profit. The 30% markup you hear about is only one of the many fees and adjustments made to the price. This fat markup of 45.36% still wasn't going to be enough to cover increasing operating costs, according to August Hehemann, the PLCB's Director of Finance, who last year advised the Board to raise it 5% more. The Board, for once in tune to the politics of privatization, decided against that.
8. - US Dept Of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016 PA Senate Appropriations hearing. Nice gig if you can get it, but does it provide any benefit to the consumer?
9. - 1.3M cardings divided by 65.5M transactions You have slightly better than 98% chance of not being carded (that's a 0.0% chance at private stores like Wegmans), and since the State Stores are never checked by police for underage compliance...how effective are they?
10. - 4654 (3/15/2016) divided by 81 (www.pennwatch) There appears to be no Spirits Specialists in the PLCB.
11. - 5000 employees and 800 Wine Specialists (Total Wine wiki ). Look at it this way: the PLCB has ONE retail wine specialist for every 7.4 stores, Total has SIX at each store.

World Class? The PLCB doesn't even carry the top selling liquor in the world.

Edit: It turns out that the PLCB does carry one brand under the ByeJoe brand name as an SLO (qty 6) and it is listed as "DISTILLED SPIRITS - OTHER (IMPORT)" rather than Baijiu which is the same as listing Jim Beam as Corn Whiskey and not Bourbon. The point of the blog remains true.
******

When you are the arbiter of everything liquor you have to be extraordinarily aggressive at supplying the wants and desires of ALL the population. If you're the only source, after all, they have no other recourse, so you need to go out there and get the products the public wants and not what you feel like supplying!

Or you can just be extraordinarily passive and only do the minimum because you don't have to put forth the extra effort. You don't want to keep track of all those things because you have a hard enough time with what you do carry.

We live under the latter here in PA. Case in point. The PLCB doesn't carry the largest-selling liquor in the world.  Nowhere in the entire state: not on the shelf, not SLO, not on the crappy website. If you visit other states, does every private liquor store carry it? Certainly not, but then, they don't have to fill the wants of an entire state, either. Do other states carry this item that the PLCB has deemed not worthy to offer the citizens? You better believe it. I found it in New England, the mid-Atlantic, the South, and the West without too much trouble; in private stores, I might add. The control states like Pennsylvania fared pretty poorly.

You may be wondering how the PLCB can claim to be "world class" in their selection (which they claim often) when they don't have the wold's biggest-selling category of spirits. Simple: they aren't, since there are hundreds of stores in the country that carry more products on the shelf than any state store. The PLCB fudges their numbers claim by counting items you can order from private distributors....just like anyone in the real world of retail can do too. The fact is that the PLCB's on-the-shelf selection is beaten soundly by many stores all over America including many in other control states.

Have you figured it out yet? You may have: the mystery product is Baijiu, the largest-selling liquor in the world not only by volume, but value too. It's acknowledged as the national drink of China. There are seven times as many ethnic Chinese in Pennsylvania as there are ethnic Japanese, but you'd never know that looking at the shelves of the state stores. Perhaps Chinese restaurants, of which there seem to be quite a few around, might want to serve traditional liquor with their meals...just not in Pennsylvania where they have no selection, no choice, no freedom, and no voice in changing things.

Sorry, you'll have to go to Jersey. Again.

Lack of selection and market knowledge is one of the many prices that Pennsylvanians pay for by keeping the PLCB. Another is agility or the ability to spot trends and market forces and react to them. When you are a government agency more interested in how many more years you have to hang on until retirement, keeping up with or leading your competition doesn't enter the picture. You have no competition and don't care if you keep up with the private sector, because your citizen prisoners can only buy what you decide to let them buy anyway.

You'll get what we allow you to get when and if we allow you to get it.

The time has come to rid ourselves of this third-world class mistake and let the free market satisfy the wants and needs of the consumer, like they do for almost everything else you buy.

Why Its Not Safe To Go Into The Woods - A PLCB Horror Story

Not satisfied that their stupid laws, random enforcement, idiotic "interpretations," and never being checked for underage sales are killing enough citizens, the PLCB figures that having more stores open with longer hours for the start of hunting season fits their goal of  "...an exercise of the police power of the Commonwealth for the protection of the public welfare, health, peace and morals of the people of the Commonwealth...:

So while DUI, Underage DUI, DUI Fatalities, Underage DUI Fatalities, Binge Drinking, and Underage Binge Drinking is worse in PA than most of the border states, apparently drinking, driving to game lands, and hunting is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged by the PLCB.

They are getting sneaky about it too. In my first blast at this insane policy in 2013 they put out a separate announcement stating that these stores would be open early just for hunting season.  I'd link to it but the PLCB no longer  has it listed. In 2014 they combined it with the Thanksgiving holiday extended hour increases as shown here. Now they are trying to just outright hide the fact they are expanding store hours for hunting season by not listing it at all.  When you look at this year's announcement there is no mention of  Holidays or Hunting Season. All you get now is a flat "The following stores will have extended store hours in late November." However, if you look at the stores that are open or have extended hours on November 30th it is only because of hunting season.

So if you find yourself in the woods on November 30th, remember that the PLCB did their best to make sure all those people with guns were able to get liquor. I wonder how many cows would survive if they didn't ?

"PLCB Modernization" means "PLCB higher prices"

Another installment in our ongoing series of revelations about why "modernization" is a scam.

We always hear about how the "PLCB Modernization" plans will make so much more for the state! But what they won't tell you is that they all work by taking more money out of your pocket. Here is one of sneaky little things they want to do that will cost you more. You don't see much about this item, as the PLCB has buried it pretty well. Well-hidden or not, it is one of their many ideas that will cost you, the consumer.
 

Because it's the PLCB way!

In the liquor industry there are specials that are offered called SPAs  or Special Purchase Allowances. By current law these SPAs have to be passed on to the consumer (that's you!), which is why you see  those sale tags on the shelves. The PLCB isn't making any less, as none of that reduction comes out of their pocket; they are just passing on the SPA.

However, the PLCB doesn't want to do that anymore. In sworn testimony, the PLCB said "With flexible pricing, the Board would be in a position to retain, and ultimately remit to the Commonwealth, some of the savings afforded by the Board's suppliers" In plain English? 'We aren't satisfied with making the exact same amount on sale items, we want to make more and have the citizens save less.' (I did a post last year about "flexible or variable pricing" if you want to review that.) In a worst case scenario, which is without a doubt what the PLCB will do, they could get an SBA, adjust the pricing upward and pocket 80-90% of the savings that were supposed to be yours.

Now, in the free market, a store will leverage those SPAs by not only using the reduction in their cost but by also cutting their margin to lower the price even further in order to attract customers away from other businesses. That is why sale prices elsewhere are more of a bargain than the sale prices in PA. The PLCB doesn't want to do that, though, because they need more money to cover their ever-expanding operating costs.

In 82 years, we have never seen anything done to change the liquor code to save you money. Benefiting the consumer is not what the Almighty Liquor Code is for, after all, unless it's about free drinks while playing slots. They have no problem with that.

It is time to END IT, not mend it. Get the state out of the alcohol business and into regulation where it belongs.






For parts 1-4 of this series see :
Part I,
Part II
Part III
Part IV 

Why can't the PLCB put out financials in a reasonable amount of time? Real business does.

The fiscal year ended on June 30th, and with it, the PLCB year. Here we are, about a month later, and not a peep from the PLCB about how they did.

A real business would have been filing quarterly reports, but I guess we citizens, the so-called 'owners' of this public nightmare, aren't important enough to rate that consideration. It isn't like some clerk is Harrisburg is sitting there with a pull-down adding machine waiting for the mail to be delivered. This is the age of computers. The day after the fiscal year ends, they know what they made within a few tenths of a percent, they know what they spent, and they know what is owed to them. So where is it?

PLCB - Moving at the speed of early 20th century business.

I'm not asking for audited results, just for the normal BS they put out in September last year: gross sales, sales net of taxes, taxes collected, what they spent, operating income. I can understand if it doesn't match the audited amounts done months down the road: things change a bit. But unless there is a major accounting screw-up, or costs that they try to hide (remember the $33+ million in computer system overruns), the number will be close enough to give the public an idea of what is going on. Just why does that take 2 months? Could it be because privatization is in play?

Here are my predictions for this past fiscal year:

The PLCB had record sales again. No surprise there with a police enforced monopoly, a growing population and things costing more over time: what else would you expect?

There should be some crowing about record amounts of taxes turned in, but how is that a surprise when sales go up? Tax payments are done by tens of thousands of businesses, but the PLCB is the only one that puts out a press release saying that they did their job. Congratulations, guys.

The PLCB will not have record Net Operating Income or what they call "profits". It went down last year and I'm betting it will go down again this year. You gotta wonder how they can have record sales all the time, but rarely record profits (or 'unwasted use tax', as I like to call it).

Store, Warehouse, and Transportation Costs went up 8% last year and i say they will be up by at least the same amount this year.

Administrative, Alcohol Education, and Support Costs went up 9% last year and they will go up again by 8-10%. Don't even think that was because of the education part, since the total was even more in 2011. Went down after Rep. Turzai started pointing it out and then went back up to what it was. It's going to go up again.

So there you have it.  We'll have to wait and see how well my prognostication did whenever the PLCB can figure out how to work those computers.

Until then - keep buying out of state. It's the patriotic thing to do.

The ISSU decides the PLCB isn't so bad.(for the moment)

Our friends at the ISSU (Independent State Store Union, the union of the liquor store managers) have been fairly quite about privatization, I guess it is hard to side with the PLCB when you have said:

"The PLCB/industry makes a mockery of the control system for the common good when encouraging and incentivizing people...(4/13/11)"

"No other state in the country takes a more derelict approach to alcohol policy."

“With this announcement the PLCB continues to foster a climate of increasing consumption which is incongruent with their responsibility to establish policies intended to minimize the harms of alcohol (4/28/11)"

These were pretty good too:

"And, in pursuit of their delusional effort as a wannabe “world class retailer" , they have also implemented multi-million dollar advertising campaigns for the promotion of alcohol sales" (12/9/11)

"In their lust to act as a ‘world-class retailer,’ the current management with the PLCB has denigrated all past and present employees..."(6/21/11)

"The schizophrenic model of the current PLCB Board and management is anathema to reasonable control and responsible alcohol policy."(6/21/11)

I'm sure if you said the same about your boss you might be looking for a new job.

So in only the third press release in the past few years about privatization the ISSU decided it was better to protect their jobs then to continue to tell the PLCB they are incompetent and came out with the following.  I'll inject some comments as you read it.

SOS...how appropriate.

This may be your last chance to voice your opposition to the bill to your elected officials. Call your state senator and state representative NOW and tell them to vote NO on House Bill 466!

June 29, 2015
In an attempt to provide additional revenue for the 2015-2016 budget, the Senate is poised to consider a bill that would divest the state of the current liquor store system. While it has been widely stated that the current liquor privatization plan will generate an additional $220 million for the General Fund, one aspect of the plan has not received nearly as much publicity - where the additional $220 million comes from.

The simple and honest answer is from the pockets of consumers through higher shelf prices on liquor and wine.

As Senator McIlhinney pointed out Sunday morning on the CBS 21 news show Face the State and again Sunday evening in a Senate Law and Justice Committee meeting, we cannot divest the current liquor system, maintain current revenue and generate an additional $220 million without expecting the cost of liquor and wine to increase dramatically.

So much for the promise of "better prices" under a privatized system as promised by privatization advocates over the last four years of this debate.

Like other retail items you buy, every single one in fact, the price is not the same everywhere.  Mr. Troyan somehow forgot to mention the license fees, business taxes, increased employment, increased sales and reduced border bleed due to greater convenience, the reducing of public debt and the lease of the wholesale business in his letter....I wonder why? All those revenue streams don't exist under modernization and those supporters claimed they could get an extra $185 million without those revenue streams so is $220 million that far fetched?

The PLCB operates on an effective 45.2% markup so that does leave room for profit in a private setting. Will you pay the same for a bottle of JD at a smaller local store as you would at a larger liquor store? I doubt it, but then you pay more for milk in a convenience store than a grocery store too.  Same idea here.

Since the current privatization plan being considered by the Senate will increase the number of establishments selling wine and liquor for off-premise consumption from 600 to nearly 14,000, product selection will suffer as well. Very few of those 14,000 locations will stock the number of items available at the current state stores. The number of outlets will dictate that the overwhelming majority of retailers will limit their stock to the top ten or twenty items.

So, there goes the second major promise - better selection - that privateers have used to win public approval of their privatization efforts.

If only 5% of all stores stock more than the state stores we will still be better off (5% of 14,000 is 700 and the state only has 605 stores now) You can be assured that real superstores will want your business, stores that have more items on the shelf than the entire state does now. Of course not everyplace will have that anymore than every town has a Jaguar dealer. Consumer demand will decide not a bureaucrat in Harrisburg.

That leaves "convenience" as the only remaining argument to justify the divestiture of the current liquor system. Under this plan, "convenience" translates into 14,000 locations offering only the top ten or twenty products at highly inflated prices.

Are your constituents willing to pay the cost for this so-called "convenience"?
Pennsylvania already has the cleanest and safest liquor stores that carry a greater selection at a cheaper price than nearly all other privatized states.

While I know Mr. Troyan is trying to make a point he isn't doing a very good job. Having one place to buy beer,wine and spirits is only "so called" convenience to him for some reason  How many different soft drinks are in your local store? What is a larger seller, wine or soda and which has a higher margin? Do you really think stores will only have 20 items? Just something to think about.

Since PA is the second largest purchaser of wine and spirits in the US  for retail (8th for wholesale) one would think we would have the best prices but here is Mr. Troyan admitting that some private states do better. Maybe not entire states but certainly there are stores surrounding PA that do better on a regular basis. He apparently hasn't been to a Total Wine, Joe Canal's, Moore Brothers, State Line, Binny's, BevMo or a raft of others across the country that have more selection than any 2 PA stores put together. Some are even larger than any 2 state stores put together.

Please OPPOSE HOUSE BILL 466 and efforts to privatize and divest the current state store system.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Troyan, President
Independent State Store Union

Lastly, Mr. Troyan forgot one thing.  GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT BE IN RETAIL AND ATTEMPT TO REGULATE THEIR COMPETITION AT THE SAME TIME.

People should be able to choose what they want and not have the state choose for them. Contact your legislators and tell them to support liquor freedom.

The PLCB - Not taking care of the citizens again

The one liquor store in Waynesboro closed on September 13. On August 20th the PLCB was told by the lessor that the lease -- which ended on September 30th -- would not be renewed. It apparently takes the state store system seventeen days to move the equivalent contents of a largish 4,000 sq.ft. house; yet another thing they don't seem to be very good at.

That means there are four State Stores that remain open in Franklin County, which has a population of 152,000. This closing has the residents of Waynesboro driving 8 miles to Greencastle to the nearest State Store (or 15 miles to Chambersburg, a city of 20,000, which has two State Stores!) or having the choice of over fifteen different liquor stores in Hagerstown, MD, a town of 40,000...only 12 miles away. How big does a town have to be to have more than fifteen liquor stores in Pennsylvania? I'll give you a hint: there are only two cities in the whole state that have that many, they both start with "P," and the smaller one has about 306,000 people.

It's not just quantity that's better in Maryland, either. This is Long Meadow Liquors in Hagerstown. You can bet the Greencastle state store doesn't look like this.

So spacious! So well-organized! So friendly! So non-PLCB!

Fear not, Waynesboro! On January 2nd, it was announced that a new store would open...sometime.  No date given, no month even. Not that it matters to the PLCB; making citizens wait months, or even years for a store in their area is not uncommon at all. (Could be two years, like it was in Mountain Top.) Real businesses take less time to build stores than it takes the PLCB to lease and move into a current location. An ongoing PLCB FAIL. I mean, it isn't like they are a real business that has to take care of their customers or is worried about losing sales to the competition. They have no legal competition.

As you would suspect there are a number of grocery stores -- Giant, Foodland, Save-A-Lot, Martin's -- that would love to satisfy the wants of their customers by selling them wine and liquor, or at least wine. While they may not take the place of a full service liquor store, it would be far more convenient then relying on the one state store. Not every liquor store has to offer everything; not every grocery store does. Choice is always better for the consumer.

So there you have it. 2015 starting out like last year with more lipstick for the state store pig, and just like the 80 years prior, the citizens are left out again.

It's up to the Legislature and Governor Wolf to hear the needs of the citizens. Privatize and reap the benefits of the free market.

PLCB - We only like Veterans sometimes...depends on the place and time.

Unlike for far less important holidays, the PLCB doesn't know what the proper plan for Veteran's Day should be. From the 2014 PLCB Holiday schedule:

VETERANS’ DAY – Tuesday, November 11, 2014 
While most Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores will be open per their regularly scheduled hours, some will have alternate hours or remain closed on Veterans’ Day. Please call ahead.

Without Vets you wouldn't be open any other day.

Support your Veterans. Shop in states that allow you the freedom that they protected and not socialism of the state store system; and tell the new governor: abolish the State Stores, rewrite the Code.

Modernization won't do what the consumer wants. Part IV

Let's look at another failed concept by the PLCB. Although they won't admit it is a failure, when nothing you want comes out of a program it is a failure. Here we have the epitome of customer convenience in the eyes of the PLCB.  Read and then wonder why they ever thought it would work.

Two years ago, in October 2012, the PLCB came up with an eight year plan called "Convenience 2020." This plan was to put a "One Stop Shop" inside a grocery store that already had twisted themselves around to comply with the PLCB regs and then had to overpay to get an "R" license in order to sell beer.  A match made in heaven, since the stores already hate the PLCB for making them go through the added expense and effort of what is a relatively easy process elsewhere.


Is the PLCB, since they "interpret" the liquor code to whatever they feel like on any given day, going to somehow put the liquor and the beer in the same area since the age requirements for purchasing are the same? Of course not! This is the PLCB: convenience is a foreign concept to them. They only go through the motions, because otherwise they would have been privatized decades ago.

In this Pennsylvania nightmare you get your cart, shop for groceries and then make a choice. You can either pay for your groceries and take them out to your car and then come back for your beer; or buy your beer first, and then go shop for and buy groceries...at a different set of registers. BUT WAIT! You forgot the wine. Now you can go get the wine first because your cart won't fit in the liquor store, pay for it there, then go grocery shopping pay for those, take everything to the car and then come back for beer (or buy the beer pay for it at the beer register and then pay for the groceries). And just think: if it's a hot day, you can leave the wine in the car and have it get heated up just like in the PLCB's trailers!

The epitome of convenience! You get to pay at three different registers inside the same store.


And they wonder why it isn't working out.


Idiots.

Only 10% of a PLCB managers score is product knowledge. That explains a lot.

Consider this: only 10% (approximately) of the score on the civil service test required to be promoted to management in the PLCB has to do with product knowledge. Hard to believe, but it's fact. [see below for the reference] Since the majority of folks who work in Harrisburg for the PLCB come from the ranks, that means that most have never been responsible to know what they sell.

Imagine if that was the case for your shoe salesman. “Well, it is the color you asked for, and it looks like it will fit, but since you can’t try it here at the Pennsylvania Shoe Control Office (PASCO, "Monopolizing Your Shoe Choices since 1934!"), you’ll just have to believe me. You can return it if there is something wrong, but not just because you don’t like it or if you think it doesn’t match the requirements you gave me. The state absolves us of any responsibility for that."

In that light, I figured that since the people in charge never had to know much about the product the tests they come up with would reflect that fact. To that end I made up what I think is the level of complexity shown on the PLCB Managers test. See how well you can do.

1. Rye whiskey is made from

A. Corn
B. Malted Barley
C. Rye
D. Bourbon
E. None of the above

2. Red wine comes from:

A. Republican states
B. France
C. California
D. Red grapes

3.  Bourbon can only be made

A. In Kentucky
B. In Tennessee
C. In the U.S.
D. In a distillery

4. If you bought a bottle that has 10 year old whiskey in it and kept it for 20 years how old would the whiskey be?
A. 10 yrs old
B. 20 yrs old
C. 30 yrs old
D. None of the Above
E. 2 weeks on Close-out at 55% discount

5. What temperature should the metal trailer be in order to store wine the PLCB way?

A. 80 degrees
B. 90 degrees
C. 100 degrees
D. Unknown, these temperatures are not recorded

6.  Wine should be served at:

A. Room temperature
B. Slightly chilled
C. Whatever temperature the cooler is in the store.

7. How much wine and liquor should be stacked along the front windows in the sun?
A. As much as will fit.
B. Whatever I feel like
C. Only brands that pay for it
D. None of the above

8. Liquor of a given type should be placed on the shelf and grouped by producer/manufacturer/distillery and not by price because:
A. That is how Harrisburg wants it.
B. People only buy their favorite brand.
C. It's not important.
D. Both A and C.

9. Why is Wild Turkey American Honey in the Liqueur section and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey in the bourbon section? They both say liqueur on the label.
A. That is how Harrisburg wants it.
B. People only buy their favorite brand
C. It's not important.
D. Both A and C.

10. Are 11 orange flavored vodkas enough?
A. That is how Harrisburg wants it.
B. People only buy their favorite brand
C. It's not important.
D. Both A and C.


So if product knowledge is such a small part of the job...just what do the store managers do?
They don't order product: Harrisburg does.
They don't hire and fire: Harrisburg does.
They don't lay out the store: Harrisburg does.
They don't control when they are open: Harrisburg does.
They don't control product placement: Harrisburg does.
They don't control pricing: Harrisburg does.
They don't have to pay attention to industry trends - but then Harrisburg doesn't either.
They don't have to keep abreast of the competition - but then Harrisburg doesn't either.
And they don't schedule or make deliveries.

You would think not doing so much of what private store managers do would give them lots of time to be on top of product knowledge. I'm just sayin'...



* Here's the information on management testing. Oddly, the link is no longer working because the page is gone. However, I saved a copy and below is the relevant part.

TESTING

This test will be administered on a computer.  Information about computerized testing is available online at www.scsc.state.pa.us OR in paper form at any State Civil Service Commission office. 

You will have a maximum of 2 1/2 hours to complete the test which will cover the following subject areas:

	Number of Questions by Job Title
Subject Areas	Liquor Store Clerk 2, Liquor Store Manager 1	Liquor Store Manager 2 and 3, Liquor Store General Managers
Customer Service	15	15
Product Knowledge	10	10
Policy and Procedure	25	25
Recordkeeping	15	15
Basic Supervision/Management	25	25
Advanced Supervision/Management	0	15
	___	___
Total	90	105