dwmckee

Well, I have to say I ane utterly inspired by the

How Many Bottle Openers?

thread.

So now I am curious. Our shop offers free beer and free whiskey half-shots to customers over 21. No purchase necssary. We have a whiskey bar behind the checkout counter and a free beer refrigerator on the shop floor under the watchful eye of our head mechanic (which may not be our best idea). We cannot sell it so we offer it for free. Do you know of any other shops that offer similar complimentary refreshments?

Troul 

niiice!
Only free items i know of are coffee & greetings as you walk in.

Andrew R Stewart 

In NY State mere transfer of a substance constitutes a sale. Ask me how I know

The other though I have about this thread's topic is that of liability. I sure hope that the shop is legally permitted and insured. Andy

Crankycrank

I'm no teetotaler but giving out alcohol to customers who either have to drive or ride away is a bad idea. I know you said it's only one half-shot of whiskey or a beer but it isn't the best thing. You'd be better off offering free cigarettes. I've ridden with a couple friends who would have a few beers (yeah I know, not the same as a half-shot or single beer but after getting hammered they would probably also visit a shop giving away free booze on the way home) and they could hardly unlock their bikes without nearly falling down but thought they were perfectly fine to ride home. They weren't. Anyways the liability should be enough to scare you away from doing this with so many willing to sue due to their own stupidity. I don't get the popularity of the "Beer Crawls" you see in cities either where people are encouraged to get on their bikes and sample all the local breweries.

Troul 

Anyone that is of age should take it under their own responsibility to make the appropriate decision of the acceptance for such consumable products. No one is forcing the guests or customers to consume the complimentary items. If someone stumbles in to the store, slurring words, asking for white castles & the business decides to still serve the freebies, well... there's an obvious answer in their, & I shouldn't have to spell it out.

Crankycrank

Except too many people don't take responsibility for their actions and their victims get sent to the hospital or morgue as a result not to mention some people hide their inebriation well and have lost their ability to think rationally. I used to work as a waiter and the laws were very strict for us about serving obviously drunk customers. I still wasn't 100% certain all the time who was OK and who wasn't. That's the reality. 10k people are killed in drunk driving car accidents every year. That's a lot of irresponsible drunks.

Koyote

OP hasn't been back to address these issues, so I will chime in; I hope he doesn't mind.

OP's shop is in PA, where it is perfectly legal for a retail establishment to give out free drinks. You can look it up.

And since I have been to OP's shop, I can't imagine him letting anyone get hammered (or more hammered). I mean, it's a bike shop. And OP seems like a reasonable person.

Trakhak

The "Gotta be a modern 29er" school of thought makes sense for high-speed technical trails, of course. But then there's Tom Ritchey, who began riding off-road in California on his sewup-tire road bike in the mid-1970s. The last time I came across a mention of his off-road riding, maybe 8 years ago, he still enjoyed riding the same road bike on the same trails.

Gresp15C

The shop giving beer to the customers is the opposite of how it's supposed to work.

blacknbluebikes 

There is clearly a bad bad guy in the 'Burg. Shame shame.
Can I stop by next time I'm out there? Sounds like my kinda place.

Geepig

Well, I don't even have any beer in my workshop. No point, really, what with having no mates, or at least any on this continent, so I drink with wifie instead.
At our new place the workshop will also be on our property, so I might get some beer in, and invite wifie in.

Retro Grouch 

I'm betting this, if true, is going to be a short lived policy.

squirtdad

In a similar vein....I used to go to a butchers shop that had a beer keg in the walkin and a tap outside....good beef and beer and I was surprised when I tried a new place for a haircut....that was not guy hair cut focused by any means, and they had a beer tap also

both long gone it is sad to say

diphthong

not to that extent. i drop off a six-pack of good stuff every three weeks or so at my lbs. it's theirs to do with as they please. i've
had two beers there in 6 years but been offered beer maybe 3-4x a year. it's a pretty small place and seems like it's offered
to good customers or perhaps upon a new bike/big purchase. it's not like i've stopped/been there on any visit and a brewery broke out.

Troul 

I treat business & customers that I've known like family with a appreciation of what they will gladly accept on there own conscious. Makes for a good day, whether for them or I, someones gotta be happy in this day & age.

dwmckee

Thanks for the comments all. We do use a lot of judgement with who we offer to of course as means to maintain control. We do have a regular customer who we will not serve, but is still a very good customer. We have similar mixed reaction from customers and of course we never push anything on people and maintain control with anyone possibly under 21. Soon we will be offering free coffee, tea and soft drinks as well. It certainly is not a raucous crowd drinking heavily at the shop.I can assure you!

Troul 

If it helps, I noticed a lot of free Gatorade zero and other zero cal beverages being a hit at most sport activity related businesses.

conspiratemus1

I thought this was going to turn out to be:

”Free beer and whiskey!

...Tomorrow!”

veganbikes

We do coffee, tea, juice and water during non-covid times. The problem with beer and whiskey is keeping a good track of it and also keeping it away from our younger employees and the ones legally allowed to drink who could be tempted to drink while working. The idea is fine though so long as you keep it reasonable which it sounds like OP is doing. But it is a tough thing to control well and it can get to be a big expense if you buy decent quality whiskey and stay busy.

mack_turtle

Yeah! And that's relevant here.

thehammerdog

winston63 

Wow, you'd get my business in a heartbeat! I'm positive that would be illegal here unfortunately (British Columbia)

AeroGut

This is a bit ironic given how difficult it is to buy liquor and beer in PA.

Rage

Would happily patronize this establishment lol.

Troul 

just thought of another leisure item that some might appreciate. Cigars. Noticed a Cigars Coffee Cycling shindig take place pre2020, & nothing negative came of it.