Just like laying off 5% is not a reasoned argument...It's pure BS and they don't need to do it to survive...
Sounds like they overextended themselves with capital expenditures. New breweries in VA and Berlin, a hotel in Escondido, and expanded distribution. Seems like too many big expenditures at the same time.
I think they are priced too high here in WI. I can get world quality IPAs from all over. What makes Stone's IPA worth $10 for a six pack?
I'm no economist (nor an expert), but I would think when the craft beer market contracts, those who expanded too quickly will be the first to feel it. I'm wondering if this is a leading indicator of what's to come.
Not that I'm worried about it. I think the market will sort itself out and weed out the bad and strengthen the good. That is unless AB Inbev comes in and muscles out all the shelf space with their brands in the interim. Then we're in trouble.
You think $23 for a 12 is bad? A six of Stone Delicious IPA goes for $18.90 here (in Toronto)!
And laying off employees is just the eb and flow of business. Happens in all industries. [...]
Look...Stone management got them in this situation...but it is the workers at the bottom who have to suffer for it...it's that way with most companies...management refuses to take the hit for their miscalculations...Have you tasted that spin off AB brewery AB...
That's your defense? Management sucks and every armchair manager and worker bee out there knows their company better than they do? You mean the same management that built that company from nothing to worldwide distribution? The same management that has kept thousands of people employed for years? The same management that knew what it was like to struggle before they became big? The same management that brought in an extremely intelligent individual with a track record of success that most people could only dream of to run the day to day operations exactly because they were smart enough to know when they had reached their knowledge and experience threshold??? Is that the management to which you refer?
Then again don't know why I bother, these kinds of discussions are never ones of equal intellect.
That's your defense? Management sucks and every armchair manager and worker bee out there knows their company better than they do? You mean the same management that built that company from nothing to worldwide distribution? The same management that has kept thousands of people employed for years? The same management that knew what it was like to struggle before they became big? The same management that brought in an extremely intelligent individual with a track record of success that most people could only dream of to run the day to day operations exactly because they were smart enough to know when they had reached their knowledge and experience threshold??? Is that the management to which you refer?
Then again don't know why I bother, these kinds of discussions are never ones of equal intellect.
Me too, the local brewery I support is as good and it's very local and $0.35 a glass
Well...Us working folks from the holler could never hope to be on equal inteelect with you gentle folk from up Chicago way...And yes that is the management team, I'm calling out for their miscalculations...and I'm entitled to my opinion that most people who throw the inteellect card shouldn't...
Lol kinda made my point for me..... I'm not now or ever have been from anywhere near Chicago.
That's your defense? Management sucks and every armchair manager and worker bee out there knows their company better than they do? You mean the same management that built that company from nothing to worldwide distribution? The same management that has kept thousands of people employed for years? The same management that knew what it was like to struggle before they became big? The same management that brought in an extremely intelligent individual with a track record of success that most people could only dream of to run the day to day operations exactly because they were smart enough to know when they had reached their knowledge and experience threshold??? Is that the management to which you refer?
Then again don't know why I bother, these kinds of discussions are never ones of equal intellect.
...are you getting paid for writing this?
Since you brought up the issue: Regurgitating empty slogans and marketing/management dogma and trying to shift the burden of proof certainly underscores your intellectual superiority.
Please tell me where in the Newark area beer is $0.35 per glass.
35 cents!?
I'll be there. Tomorrow!
Ha, nope. I just have spent my life working my way from worker bee to upper management in my profession, educating myself in business and have a clear understanding of what it takes to work, create and survive with a business. My responses may have been a bit snarky, and for that I apologize. I just have a low tolerance for people that don't truly understand, nor TRY to understand what it takes to keep a consumer driven business running and growing. I have been taught to look outside of oneself and see the whole picture. I am loyal to, and believe in, the concept of the American dream. Albeit naive, it's how I was raised and is my opinion. Many have stated theirs, and I applaud them for that, I simply ask that we discuss these issues with open minds.
With that, for my part, I am done discussing an issue that is neither ours to decide, nor Stone's to justify/prove. They made a business decision and our reactions to that decision are ours to decide individually. No different than the current political situation, all I ask is we base those decisions/reactions on (somehow) unbiased information.
And laying off employees is just the eb and flow of business. Happens in all industries.
Behavioral economics has shown that it's better for moral to layoff 5% of employees than to reduce overall salaries by 5% and keep all staff.
If you reduce salaries it leads to an overall decline in moral and unhappy staff as a whole versus the layoff.
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Sorting replies, that's two beers in the top 80 on our own webpage.
Again, they're not my favorite, and I'm not going to try to speak for anyone else's preferences. But clearly, they do make good beer.
Miller Lite wins a ton of awards too. So...
What craft beer are you buying that costs less than $10 for a six pack?
My parents are in a bowling league down in North County SD with a bunch of Stone sales reps, drivers and some brewery workers, many of them having worked for Stone for 10+ years. Last week they went to league night and half of the guys didn't show cause they were laid off. My parents said one of the guys that remained has been working in distribution for them for 15 years and he thinks this coming week will be another whole round of layoffs.
It's a bummer when a "good company" that these guys loved to work for does them dirty like that. That's business I suppose.
I'll update if they get anymore pertinent info as to what's happening.
It makes sense that Stone would be suffering because of the massive numbers of new breweries, who hope to take advantage of the craft beer craze, popping up everywhere. Many of them are selling mediocre products at inflated prices, and many of them will probably go out of business in a few years after things die down. Stone is practically an institution among craft breweries, they aren't going anywhere.
I don't get that. All I hear about is how rocking the craft beer industry is. If competition is seriously putting that much of a dent in Stone's sales wouldn't that imply that Stone is falling behind as an industry innovator, thus not staying relevant to craft beer drinker's tastes?
I don't get that. All I hear about is how rocking the craft beer industry is. If competition is seriously putting that much of a dent in Stone's sales wouldn't that imply that Stone is falling behind as an industry innovator, thus not staying relevant to craft beer drinker's tastes?
That or the industry is hitting the ceiling on the market and Stone is adapting to it.
Not necessarily. The better (which is a bad term for me to use since we're talking about personal taste) product doesn't necessarily win. Even if you love Stone, you see three new IPAs on the shelf you've never tried before, odds are you might give 'em a shot. Even if you go back to Stone, that's putting a dent in their sales.
We've also been seeing a rise in people paying attention to where their food is coming from and aiming for local sourcing, same seems to be true for beverages as well. I have to go to the good beer stores to get more than two different Stone offerings. Wasn't the case years ago, but there are more breweries than shelf space these days.
Stone brewery replied to the lay-offs
http://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/news/stone-brewing-sends-two-statements-layoffs-one-specifically-richmond-rumors/
What makes Stone's IPA worth $10 for a six pack?
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