Business & Tech

St. Louis Park Beer Guy Challenges Law to Sell T-Shirts, Too

The state prohibits liquor stores from selling their own branded merchandise, but the owner of a local craft beer shop is hoping to change that.

Jason Alvey sells beer—lots of it. The owner of the , a craft beer store in St. Louis Park, routinely stocks between 650 and 750 varieties of beer from around the world on the shelves of his small shop.

But there is one thing Alvey can’t sell that he would like to—Four Firkins merchandise.

State law currently has a particular list of 13 things liquor stores may sell, and store-branded merchandise is not on that list. With the help of two local legislators, Alvey is looking to change that. Sen. Ron Latz and Rep. Steve Simon, both of St. Louis Park, have introduced bills that would add merchandise as item No. 14.

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“This seems reasonable,” Simon said. "Very reasonable."

The current law is one of a handful in Minnesota that strictly regulates alcohol sales and related activity. Alvey found this out first hand when, shortly after opening in 2008, he produced a mass order of Four Firkins T-shirts. He wanted to sell them, but quickly learned doing so was illegal. He wound up giving away many of those original shirts as part of one promotion or another.

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Alvey said he wanted his store and customer base to grow before he challenged the law. Three years later, Four Firkins has established itself as a unique destination in the Twin Cities, so a few weeks ago, Alvey contacted Simon and Latz.

“As a newbie, I couldn’t really do anything about it,” he said. “Now, we have a bit more leverage.”

It certainly helps to have the two legislators on board. Simon even has experience passing similar legislation—he introduced a bill several years ago that ultimately legalized “pedal pubs,” and was responsible for adding the 12th line to the same law he's looking at amending now.

“(Liquor laws) find their way to my desk,” Simon said jokingly. He is confident this proposal will also pass.

Alvey will do his part to see that it does. He’s preparing to testify at the Legislature in March, when this and other alcohol-related proposals will likely come up as part of an omnibus bill.

The change would allow stores to only sell merchandise branded with their own names—not Budweiser shirts, for instance. This should allay potential fears, Simon said, from clothing stores that might see the proposal as intruding into their market.

Alvey said he expects that he and other liquor store owners will see many of their customers buying branded shirts and hats. In the meantime, a hopeful Alvey said he would continue working on a number of “cool ideas” he has for merchandise.

“We have lots of regular customers who would be proud to wear a Four Firkins T-shirt,” he said. “We want to be able to sell to them.”


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