Reccomend a liquor store for event planning.

[ExtraSlow]

I got roped into being the "booze guy" for a charity fundraiser. Any liquor stores you'd reccomend who are either a) helpful, b) experienced, or c) cheaper?

I will have a spreadsheet of the required amounts and types shortly. Will be about as much as a big wedding. Estimated 300 guests.

Open to suggestions or tips.

[ThePenIsMightier]

I got roped into being the "booze guy" for a charity fundraiser. Any liquor stores you'd reccomend who are either a) helpful, b) experienced, or c) cheaper?

I will have a spreadsheet of the required amounts and types shortly. Will be about as much as a big wedding. Estimated 300 guests.

Open to suggestions or tips.

Kensington Wine Market are A and B. Plus for a charity thing you will be looking for fancier than 40's of Lucky Extra.
Anytime I've bought >$1k of liquor for an event I've found a store that will agree to knock 5-15% off before I went.

[ExtraSlow]

Had a look through last year's spreadsheet, yeah $2500 spend so no issue meeting a discount threshold. I'll make a couple of calls today and tomorrow.

[msommers]

A Robbie Burns event for 300 people with $2,500 to spend on booze? How much alcohol variety do you need?

Costco is going to be your best bet because the only important part of this equation is (C).

[Tik-Tok]

Anywhere that has a rewards program for you to personally benefit from.

[R-Audi]

Willow Park is great for events and would likely give a decent discount for an order like that..

[ExtraSlow]

A Robbie Burns event for 300 people with $2,500 to spend on booze? How much alcohol variety do you need?

Costco is going to be your best bet because the only important part of this equation is (C).

I never go to costco liquor, because I don't live in the suburbs so it's a long drive, but will that really be cheaper compared to coop/highlander/liquor depot after the discounts? I assume costco doesn't have discounts for these things, maybe that's wrong.

[pheoxs]

Abortion discussion thread followed by "charity" fundraiser advice with tons of alcohol. You okay bro?


I never go to costco liquor, because I don't live in the suburbs so it's a long drive, but will that really be cheaper compared to coop/highlander/liquor depot after the discounts? I assume costco doesn't have discounts for these things, maybe that's wrong.

Deerfoot meadows Costco is relatively easy to get to if you're anywhere not in the North.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Anywhere that has a rewards program for you to personally benefit from.

Yeah this for sure.

[ExtraSlow]

Abortion discussion thread followed by "charity" fundraiser advice with tons of alcohol. You okay bro?
hah, yeah, actually better this year than I've been in a long while.

[flipstah]

Costco ftw.

We also got good deals through 5 Vines near Sunterra at Keynote.

[roopi]

PM me the list and I can quote it for you as well as the date you would need it.

[ercchry]

Highlander, willowpark or Kwm will for sure work with you on pricing and return of any unopened bottles.

[Proyecto2000]

i would highly recommend BSW Liquor on Aviation RD as their prices are awesome.

This past Christmas was the 2nd time that I have used them for my company xmas gifts and my $10k budget goes along way with those guys. A lot of the booze that I bought was 20-30% off. Beat Costco prices on a few items.

by far the worst places would be COOP world of whiskey and ZYN downtown. They will give you 10-15% off but their prices are 20% more than the average liquor store on certain items.

[ExtraSlow]

Good call, NE knows value. I'll give them a shout.

Thanks for the thoughts above everyone.

[Eride]

Andrew at Kensington Wine Market is awesome for charity events, can often give you better prices than you'll find anywhere else. Worth a chat for sure.

[ExtraSlow]

Ended up with coop, they dealt with me over email, and using some flyer specials got me what I wanted. Plus they are both near my home and the venue, so no logistical hassles.
Also had all the beer donated by two local breweries, so that helps.
Final tally was 7 cases of wine, 6 cases RTD, 2 cases cider, 3 bottle of scotch, total with tax and deposit $1440.
I'll take it.

[ExtraSlow]

Thanks to our beer sponsors.
118008

[SKR]

Tablecloths? Pretty fancy.

[R-Audi]

Not that it matters now, but Willow Park = CoOp. They bought them last year, but you dont get credit to your CoOp account there.

[ercchry]

Not that it matters now, but Willow Park = CoOp. They bought them last year, but you dont get credit to your CoOp account there.

They own it, but not equal… being ran as a separate entity, only co-op influence is corp policy shit that’s pissing off the staff

[ExtraSlow]

Also, thanks to everyone who recommended anyone. I didn't end up calling every store, and basically used Coop for convenience once i started running out of time. They were flawless by email and in person for pickup and returns. No issues.

I was also happy to just "shop the flyer" to get the deals.

Also, top tip if anyone needs to do this, for any canned cider, or RTD stuff, try to avoid variety packs, because your bartenders will open extra cases to find specific types, and then you can't return the open cases. Also for similar reasons, you want the smallest cases opf beer and bottles of hard booze, so you don't have a big amount that's un-returnable. Unless you get to keep that personally, then, go nuts. I don't.

[Darkane]

Maybe I’m dense, how does one get donated beer?

[ExtraSlow]

Maybe I’m dense, how does one get donated beer?

You contact a brewery, ideally one you have some form of connection to previously, and give them details of the charity and event and purpose of the fundraising, and they decide.

I think most local breweries do stuff like this quite often. In our specific case, we had individuals with close personal ties with management at two breweries, so that helps. If it's a big event, what you really want is them to be a full event sponsor, and you put up their branding on all the vent advertising etc.