Liquor Den - FAIL

I stopped by the Liquor Den on University today. After browsing their beer selection for less than five minutes I was asked to exit the premises... Here's how it went down.

I was greeted upon entering by a voice from behind the island-counter in the center of the store. I declined assistance, letting the woman know that I'd prefer just to look around a bit.

When I started my counter clockwise lap the first thing that struck me was how empty the shelves were. There were a lot of unused spaces, and in places where brands were stocked, most were only stocked one bottle deep. I was also surprised to notice that most of the liquors they had in stock were rare items that I'd never heard of (this was not a good thing). There were cheap bottles of discontinued schnapps, failed wine-spirit blends, and plastic encased American-made, Polish-labeled vodkas. The wine department was equally shabby, primarily consisting of bargain-bin closeouts and a few varietals each of the standard uber-popular brands (i.e. Yellow Tail, Berringer). The items in the wine and spirits sections that I did recognize were priced high (no doubt in an attempt to compensate for lower sales volume). Finally I reached the beer section. Unfortunately, it was just as bad as the rest of the store. The vast majority of the beers in stock were kept in the refrigerator. Miller, Bud, and a few of the other giants took up the majority of the real estate. There were a few odds and ends six-packs from quasi micro-breweries in the Southwest but little more.

One thing the Liquor Den did not have a shortage of was neon beer signs (although I was booted before getting an exact count, I'm fairly certain that they have more neon beer signs than types of beer).

For what it's worth, they also had a few mildly interesting for-show bottles (an over-priced 'super-premium' tequila in a bottle shaped like a Tommy Gun, a bottle of French vodka in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, et cetera).


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As my lap neared completion I had all but given up on the store when I noticed on a shelf connected to the center island, a Leffe Belgian Ale case. I instantly perked up. What's this!? I though, good beer? I eagerly slid the box to the side to verify the find, and noticed, to my surprise, that the box was completely empty. Weird, I thought.

By this point my behavior had stolen the attention of the cashier away from the stand-up being shown on a flat-screen on the wall. Apparently she had been monitoring my activity on the four-screen security display system behind the cash box for a while and did not approve of my actions:

Her: Wadda ya doin'? Checkin' boxes.......... WADDA YA DOIN?!
Me: (Blank stare) [confused; not sure if she's being serious]
Her: I'd like you to leave the store.
Me: (Blank stare continues) [now utterly baffled]
Her: Bye. [sternly]
Me: Okay... [exit stage right]

And so concluded my review.

For the purposes of rating beer stores I'm going to stick to the standard school grading system (A+, A, A-, and on and so on all the way down to a failing F). This system is self explanatory and make a lot more sense than judging a store on it's balance and complexity :)

The Liquor Den, earns my first, big, fat 'F'

The Liquor Den was devoid of any redeeming qualities. The selection was poor, and the service was downright abrasive (at best). I don't recommend anyone visit unless to see how not to run a liquor store.

-Prost!
D.Lux