r/drinkcannabis

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I used to work as a sales distributor for a local craft beer company for a couple years, so I spent a lot of time talking with liquor store owners across Massachusetts. One thing I heard consistently was that alcohol sales have been declining year over year since the post-COVID boom. During lockdown, many stores had their best sales ever, but after that, sales started slowing down.

Interestingly, a lot of owners said the only category that gave them a noticeable boost recently was hemp-derived THC beverages. One store owner even told me those drinks accounted for around 18% of their sales at one point. Then Massachusetts regulators stepped in and essentially pulled the category from liquor stores by threatening licenses if they continued carrying them.

Personally, I think the traditional liquor store model feels a bit outdated now. A lot of traditional liquor stores feel transactional and haven’t really evolved much from a customer experience standpoint. The stores that seem to thrive are the more modern specialty/provisions-style shops. Places that combine craft beer, wine, artisanal foods, coffee, sandwiches, non-alcoholic beverages, and a strong community feel. It’s more of an elevated retail experience than just rows of bottles.

I could absolutely see cannabis beverages fitting naturally into that kind of environment long term. Online delivery is convenient, but there’s also something satisfying about discovering a drink on a shelf and grabbing it on impulse.

Part of the reason I became interested in building Bongos Mixtails is to watch these shifts happen in real time and realizing cannabis beverages does have a place in a more community-oriented retail spaces. Curious where everyone else thinks?