Beer and wine bargains satisfy shoppers - Beverages - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, May 5, 2003

Private label is a strategy that is emerging in beer retailing after getting a lot of attention in wine, where Trader Joe's Charles Shaw vintage, nicknamed Two-Buck Chuck for a $1.99 price point, has caused a ruckus.

The time and climate seemed right for 7-Eleven to look at private label in the beer category. Scheduled to roll out in June, Santiago is brewed for 7-Eleven by Cerveceria de la Constancia of El Salvador and will be priced at $5.99 a sixpack. That's well below the price tag the convenience store chain typically puts on imports, usually from $6.99 to $7.49, said Dana Manley, a company spokeswoman. Private label wine will follow.

The brew was developed to tempt Hispanic and import beer drinkers. "We think it will have a broad appeal," she said. "We are constantly looking at innovation and new products in all of our categories. We wanted to look at doing some sort of private label. We've seen a lot of growth in imports. And definitely, we have seen an increase in our Hispanic customers."

Private labels and closeout merchandise are attractive to an new breed of bargain hunter. Eric Schiffer, president of 99 Cents Only stores, said his company also has received a lot of attention for selling $15 bottles of wine and two-fors or three-fors of imported beer for a buck. Trader Joe's, 7-Eleven and 99 Cents Only stores may be very different 'retailers, but the consumer who loves to ferret out a deal seems to transcend retail and economic lines these days. "Out best store for wine is right next to Beverly Hills. People buying wine there seem to be the fanciest of our customers," Schiffer said.