3 Ways to Unlock Your Beer Cave’s Profit Potential
Is your C-store ready to take advantage of the boom in beer sales?
With beer sales rising in 2023 and expected to continue growing, C-store owners are looking to support the additional foot traffic, summer humidity conditions, and, of course, ever-increasing energy costs.
Ensuring your beer cave can handle these challenges begins at the entrance. After all, the beer cave doors you select will either hinder or improve your ability to provide your best-selling products.
Additionally, since Ontario provinces will allow businesses to sell beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails as soon as 2026, now is a good time to start setting up your C-store to handle the influx of sales.
Whether you’re considering retrofitting your existing beer cave or including one in a new build, there are two door options to choose from: traditional pass-thru doors and modern automatic doors.
Regardless of which type best fits your store, here are 3 things to keep in mind when selecting your next beer cave doors.
1) Dependability for Long-Lasting Performance
Not all doors are built the same.
While typical coolers and freezers use doors with a simpler design, beer cave doors require heavier-duty construction with features that can handle consistent two-way traffic. Beer cave doors should offer reliable convenience but also manage the stress of everyday wear.
Considering the rigors of regular use, features like a stainless-steel or aluminum kick plate and commercial-grade hinges can help protect the life of your pass-thru doors. Other features, like push bars and hydraulic close mechanisms, prevent door damage while adding an extra level of convenience.
Because automatic doors have interior and exterior motion sensors, customizing their opening and closing speeds help give you more consistent performance and a more predictable lifecycle.
For both types of doors, cycle testing offers extra assurance of long-lasting performance. That’s why the drive train on Sylmar, CA-based Anthony automatic doors are tested to 1,000,000 cycles.
Similarly, doors being properly installed from the start is critical in helping you get the most out of your investment. That makes selecting a reputable door provider that offers installation service key for peace of mind that your doors will perform as intended. For example, Anthony partnered with Horton Automatics, Corpus Christi, TX, so automatic beer cave doors come standard with installation from Horton-certified dealers.
While dependability is essential, beer cave doors call for more than sturdy construction and convenient features.
2) Thermal-Efficiency for Product Integrity
Aside from offering a reliable entryway for customers, beer cave doors are intended to keep your products at the right temperature — all the time.
DOE-compliant doors keep cold air inside and warm air outside because they have multiple panes with non-heated low e-glass. That’s what makes them energy efficient.
However, this energy-saving component is less beneficial when condensation gets in the between your products and your customer’s line of sight. After all, you don’t want your customers wondering if there’s something wrong with your beer cave.
With anti-condensation sweat protection, which comes from elements such as door and frame rail heating, you can help control condensation to maximize merchandise visibility for your customers. Beer cave doors with anti-condensation sweat protection should be able to handle an environment with 75°F/55% Relative Humidity (RH) and an ambient temperature of 35°F.
But the value in anti-condensation sweat protection extends beyond visibility.
When condensation accumulates on doors, it can lead to pooling on the floor, which creates a significant slipping hazard at the entrance. This jeopardizes the safety of your customers and your staff, which could lead to legal headaches.
Investing in doors that protect your product’s integrity and visibility as well as help prevent safety risks is crucial, but there’s still one more question to consider.
What about other dangers affecting the success of your beer cave?
3) Security to Protect Your Bottom Line
While safety concerns are always a priority within your store, there’s a nationwide issue that puts your profits at risk every day.
Theft.
It’s not surprising that with the rise in beer sales, shoplifting has also drastically increased in recent years, according to Statistics Canada.
As the entrance to a major profit center of your store, pass-thru and automatic beer cave doors require security and emergency features, such as an industry-grade lock, swing open capabilities and manual operation mode.
But when it comes to theft situations, your beer cave doors should offer extra security, such as a locking mechanism that can be activated remotely with a switch from anywhere in your store. That way, at the first sign of danger, you can address the theft risk without getting in harm’s way. This feature also allows you to eliminate costly aftermarket and surveillance services that may or may not prove to be effective in preventing theft.
With these security features, you can help protect your products while keeping your customers and staff safe.
Unlocking Your Profit Potential
All signs point to sales of beer, ready-to-drink cocktails and even non-alcoholic drinks increasing in the coming years. Will your store be ready?
As a C-store decision-maker, every investment your make, including which beer cave doors to choose, affects whether your customers consider your location a go-to spot or one to avoid at all costs. That’s why you should start planning on how to make the most of your beer cave sooner rather than later.
With durable doors built to handle the demands of thermal efficiency, safety and security, you can create a beer cave that’s good for your products, right for your customers and profitable for your business — day in and day out.
About the Author
Uri Rainisch is the Senior Product Manager for Anthony. Anthony branded products deliver innovative design and manufacturing of merchandising solutions in glass doors, lighting systems, and display equipment for use in commercial-refrigeration display systems. He can be reached at urainisch@doverfoodretail.com
Sources
www.convenience.org/Media/Daily/2024/Jan/16/2-Beer-Sales-Up-in-2023_CatMan
www.convenience.org/Media/Daily/2023/October/17/1-NACS-to-Address-Industry-Crime_NACS
canadiangrocer.com/battle-against-retail-theft-and-loss
