The New Retail Thread

It isn't the bars' fault that people will pay $9 for a beer. Beer prices and housing prices have the same problem - the established players have very effectively boxed out newcomers and we all pay the price for it. The only solution is more liquor licences and that takes political will.
 
fattony said:
The only solution is more liquor licences and that takes political will.
Click to expand...

Amen.

We've forced these issues onto ourselves. An increase in liquor licenses would do SO much to revitalize Boston's eating and drinking scene. It really is that simple.

Hopefully the powers-that-be can wake up to this before it's too late.
 
How much of this failure to expand licenses is a result of our mayor's well-known drinking problem? Honest question.
 
Coyote137 said:
How much of this failure to expand licenses is a result of our mayor's well-known drinking problem? Honest question.
Click to expand...

This issue significantly pre-dates Walsh's term and is rooted in Commonwealth law, not city ordinances.

State Law sets a per-capita liquor license cap for every city and town in Massachusetts (one license per 1,000 residents), but it then specifically sets Boston's cap to be lower. This rule is left over from the days when the Brahmins on Beacon Hill didn't trust the Irish than ran Boston to control their alcohol. There have been some recent changes, but the underlying Commonwealth-imposed caps largely remain.

The Commonwealth cap should be abolished in its entirety, and cities and towns should be entirely free to issue as many licenses as they see fit. Once that is done, Boston should increase its number of licenses significantly. The fees obtained by granting new licenses can be used to partially reimburse existing license holders for the drop in value of their licenses.

One of the strongest forces pushing back against the expansion of liquor licenses is, you guessed it, existing license holders. See, e.g., here.
 
JumboBuc said:
One of the strongest forces pushing back against the expansion of liquor licenses is, you guessed it, existing license holders. See, e.g., here.
Click to expand...

This is precisely the reason Redd's in Rossie citied for closing last summer. Restaurants pay a fortune for the licenses and increasing the supply devalues the current licenses (which can go for $400,000+). So Redd's made the decision to sell its license before the value took a hit. I'm all on board with the expansion of liquor licenses, but I do understand where these guys are coming from. From our perspective it's a growing pain for a long term greater good. From a restaurant's perspective, it's a major financial hit.

Also, Redd's in Rossie closed last summer in case that hasn't been mentioned in this thread. Also also, the former Redd's owner opened Dragon Pizza in Davis and it's delicious.
 
Coyote137 said:
How much of this failure to expand licenses is a result of our mayor's well-known drinking problem? Honest question.
Click to expand...

None. Also, Walsh attempted to get later last calls and more licenses but the state controls that and he was unsuccessful.
 
fattony said:
It isn't the bars' fault that people will pay $9 for a beer. Beer prices and housing prices have the same problem - the established players have very effectively boxed out newcomers and we all pay the price for it. The only solution is more liquor licences and that takes political will.
Click to expand...

Even taking into account inflation, the cost of alcohol at bars and restaurants is outrageous when compared to prices in the 1970s and 1980s and that applies pretty much everywhere. Is it really worth paying $11 for an Allagash White draft at a restaurant?
 
dshoost88 said:
Several friends and I went to Milk Bar at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas a couple nights ago. I got an espresso and everyone else got an ice cream--the cereal milk soft serve, birthday cake ice cream, shakes, etc.

6 of 8 of them called into work sick yesterday.
Click to expand...

They called out the Monday after getting back from Vegas? Shocking?
 
The Brio Italian restaurant in Chestnut Hill closed suddenly yesterday. Meh food-but always seemed crowded. It's part of a nationwide chain. Interesting that it would close right before Xmas shopping season?
 
mass88 said:
Even taking into account inflation, the cost of alcohol at bars and restaurants is outrageous when compared to prices in the 1970s and 1980s and that applies pretty much everywhere. Is it really worth paying $11 for an Allagash White draft at a restaurant?
Click to expand...

Every transaction is "worth it" to the people involved.

Again, this is the same exact thing as the housing issue. Our supply of publicly-consumable-alcohol is constrained so tightly (compared to demand) that prices keep rising and rising and yet there are always enough people willing to pay the new higher price. Middle class folks can't believe a beer goes for $11, but the software engineer buying the $11 beer doesn't even notice because he makes $10,000 per month after taxes. What's a $50 bar tab when you make that kind of money?

As I have pointed out in thread after thread for many years - there are literally tens of thousands of people in Boston who make six-figure salaries.

EDIT - This website is amazing. There are about 80,000 households in Boston proper with 6-figure incomes. There are 700,000 such households in Greater Boston. I wonder how many bar stools there are?
 
Last edited:
Mongo said:
They called out the Monday after getting back from Vegas? Shocking?
Click to expand...

It felt more appropriate to write 'called out work sick yesterday' (and today) instead of saying they all had runny stool, upset stomachs, and some sort of food poison.
 
navigator4 said:
The Brio Italian restaurant in Chestnut Hill closed suddenly yesterday. Meh food-but always seemed crowded. It's part of a nationwide chain. Interesting that it would close right before Xmas shopping season?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how much holiday shopping is done at Chestnut Hill Square. I am there 3-4 times a week and have been since it opened and from what I can tell most of the shoppers are either headed to Wegmans, Soul Cycle/Equinox, Sweetgreen or the medical facility (honorable mention to Starbucks). I don't see a lot of action at the few retail stores. Oh and that Brio place was pretty lousy when I went. Felt like slightly better quality than Olive Garden for double the price.
 
Pretty cryptic. I'm beginning to wonder if some bars are closing because to exist you have to charge prices that a significant portion of the public can no longer afford to pay.
 
odurandina said:
Pretty cryptic. I'm beginning to wonder if some bars are closing because to exist you have to charge prices that a significant portion of the public can no longer afford to pay.
Click to expand...

Well, when the government imposes an unnecessary cost on entering the market, while also incentivezing less profitable bars to sell out, this tends to happen.
 
Its all the government's fault! -- The guy that just died seemed to run these businesses quite smoothly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top