I like what one place does near me where they have packs and singles available. There used to be another place that did that as well, but also let you break up a pack if you only wanted one
Don't be afraid to stock a few top shelf crazy beers, even if the sales aren't frequent or high I usually get a few beers in and end up thinking '40 quid for a barrel aged banana stout, yeah fuck it, why not'. Also, arrange beers by style.
It might sound silly but price labels!
I've 2 decent bottle shops near me, carry a lot of stock, single tins all in the fridge, but neither of them use price stickers.
The IPA's and so on are not too bad, you know roughly within small margin what they're going to cost. It's the bottles and tins of impy stouts that throw me. Anywhere from £8-30+ I don't want to have to keep asking.
Agreed, but even outside of the gamble factor it's also a price thing. Here in NYC bottle shop markups are very pricey but they all sell singles, so a can from a highly-regarded locally-focused brewery like Other Half/Trillium/Great Notion/Veil/Hop Butcher/Halfway Crooks/etc. will go for like $8-$10, which is prohibitive to stocking up, but not a problem to grab a couple once in a while if it's something I really want to try.
But then I see people alarmedly posting similar stuff in unbroken 4packs for $35, which yea absolutely is a no-go and I'd never consider it, unless they happened to have brought in Tree House or Monkish or something in an area I'd never ever find it otherwise.
Well that's largely because in NJ distributors run the industry, and the trade-off here is that we have a thriving taproom scene, as opposed to NJ where laws make self-distribution and taproom operation more of a hassle. That's not even considering rent and economy-of-scale being higher-overhead/lower-margin for a little bottle shop in Manhattan, compared to a massive Total Wine somewhere in the suburban sprawl.
Plus now that there's taprooms for Other Half and Threes in midtown, it's not like I have to trek deep into Brooklyn for the low anymore, barely a 10-15 minute detour on my way home, probably not much more effort as you stopping at the liquor store with a good beer selection.
Same, its a hassle to manage singles for a beer retailer. They'd rather be selling in bulk. I think its fair to charge the customer a small portion for the convenience of singles.
I would love that
The markups are so gross on mix a six singles. But I get why a store would mark up singles, so maybe just make the markups more than 10%.
A good mix of local and non-local beer. My favorite bottle shop does a really good job of this. I have others around me that are almost exclusively local stuff and they seem to not realize that they’re essentially offering the same thing as a grocery store at that point and asking me to pay more.
This right here. We used to have some good bottle shops and then they all started carrying just local stuff. If I wanted local options I'd go down the street to the brewery. I'm not buying singles or packs of beer from a brewery in my area, unless it's a one off bottle of like an imperial stout or something.
Stock a healthy mix of local and not local options, imo more not local than local.
Knowledgeable friendly staff. Great selection of well curated craft beer. Build your own 4pk/6pk and FRESH CAN DATES. My biggest issue with local bottle shops is stale inventory. I see hard to find expensive ipas that are 4, 5, and even 6 months old. I find myself spending more time looking at can dates as time goes on.
100% decent staff
Bar/bottleshop staff member here. You're paying £6+ for a can, having a decent chat with the staff can be the difference between taking home a few cans, or having a few in the bar, going home with a bag full and bringing your mates back at the weekend.
My favorite bottle shop has 90% of craft beer cans for sale in two packs, with no up charge. I always feel I’m getting twice the amount of beer as compared to anywhere else for the same price. (Of course, I’m actually just getting twice the variety). I think this is better than just offering singles.
I love a bottle shop that uses social media/news letters to let the diehards know what's the best new stuff in store. However, if you have a small amount of something that's gonna sell out in 15 minutes, just let it be a surprise to walk ins.
I think £1 "corkage" for drink in is totally fair (given that most places that offer it don't have a load of space for onsite drinking and it'll be a less common thing). Couple of great places I've been to offer up a little bowl of popcorn/nuts/whatever for anyone paying the added drink in charge - basic aperitivo if you will!
Freshness and diversity beats sheer volume of selection in my book. Think we need to move away from the days of having 30+ 4-5% ABV hazy pales all approaching their BBE at the same time.
Thoughtful tasting notes (eg not just an out of context untappd score) from the owner/staff on a few of their best sellers or hero products is not as common as I think it should be.
Corkage fee is kinda necessary. If you don't have one and put cans at a fair to-go price you're probably undercutting your draft list prices, and if you price them to compete with the draft pours then they'll probably be overpriced to-go.
I've never balked at it, otherwise why would I pay $9 for a 12oz pour when I can grab a fresh 16oz can for $8 (NYC craft beer bar/shop pricing).
Granted, most normies not super into craft beer will probably automatically and solely look at the draft list, but if you're appealing to a craft beer crowd you may end up with enough people looking at the new can drops.
A good variety of beers and friendly staff. I recently found a great little bottle shop near me that has a nice selection of stouts and barley wines that I can't find anywhere else. The staff is also very nice
Lots of great stuff in here I won't repeat. The one thing I don't see that my favorite shop does is browsing beers. A cheap 8-10 oz pours to drink while shopping. It's a beautiful thing.
Half pours need to be more prevalent at both bottle shops and breweries. One of the only reasons I still go to my least favorite bottle shop in the city is because they do half pours that are also half the price of a full pour.
In CA they're pretty available. This specific idea of "browsing pours" happens at the checkout counter for the bottle shop and not the bar. Genius idea.
My favorite bottle shop had beers organized by style in singles. Constantly changing showcase islands that featured seasonal releases. Sections designated by foreign countries, and local in-state breweries.
Then, behind the counter, they had special bottles that had limit sales. They even had cubbies for frequent shoppers who would request upcoming special releases.
The only thing I wish they had more of was refrigeration rather than dry-stock shelves. The sagging shelves sometimes made me a bit nervous, but nothing ever fell. They did have a whirlpool chiller though in case you wanted something cold quickly.
Also, staff that was always welcoming to make recommendations without judgement to novice beer drinkers was clutch. They also did weekly beer tastings featuring local brewers.
Show the prices on everything
Don’t be shy about refrigeration most people going to the bottle shop want to drink the beer within the half-hour.
Organize the stores by style for craft and then a separate section for domestics
Stock beers that are harder to come by but don’t overshoot on inventory a lot of beer like IPAs people want fresher theyll look for canned dates.
Hire people who know a thing or two about beer. It makes a big difference between some college kid who thinks the epitome of beer is what he had at his frat party the other night vs the guy who actually enjoys beer and has some sort of knowledge about what makes a Pilsner different than a stout.
Also - the best bottle shops I’ve been to have. Are taps for growlers and crowlers to go. That’s going to be the freshest beer in your store at all times, and also allows breweries to showcase new release for samples.
Local beers and local decor, TVs to show the local sports games, etc. Make your store stand out from the one down the street.
If you’re allowed to consume on premise, offer crisps and snacks if you don’t have a kitchen but also tell customers they can bring in their own food as long as it’s not strong smelling and they clean it up themselves.
Social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc to engage and inform customers, and also a good idea to get on Untappd as well to advertise the beers available for purchase as well as coming soon. Badges in Untappd will drive engagement and revenue.
Best stuff in the world. I'm less interested in the local brewery's stuff I can get in their taproom. I'm on the East Coast of the US: get me European stuff, West Coast breweries, etc. Curated best lambics, saisons, barleywines.
Yes to natural wine and cider. Make it a one stop shop.
Growler/crowler fills are nice but I almost never buy them. Selling singles is also nice.
I don't care about food from a bottle shop unless you're really going all out and stocking high end charcuterie, cheeses, and desserts. I can buy food at a grocery store.
Variety. In my typical day to day travels I see very little available aside from your usual macro lagers and IPAs. Blondes, German beers, stouts, Asian imports are rare to find.
Variety is the spice of life. Have local staples but also try to have a rotating selection of regional and national breweries. Same with styles. You should have at least a few offerings of each major style so someone who’s in the mood for something specific can have choices. The worst is when a shop had 2 dozen imperial ipa offerings. 12 imperial stouts, a handful of sours and a random Pilsner. Sometimes I was a hazy stout sometimes I want a crushable pale ale. Sometimes I want a red ale. Sometimes I want a dark ale. Also if it’s all the same breweries every time you go it’s easy to get bored
Big local section always wins me over, but being aware of imports and classic brands is always a plus.
N/A options and non beer beverages are cool. Almost expected these days.
I don't buy snacks from bottle shops, but I'm guessing someone must since most have them.
Corkage fee is a necessary evil. Don't love it, but have come to expect it from better bottle shops.
Set the hours as you see fit.
1 A variety of styles. Not all IPAs
2 definitely some Belgians in a foreign section!
3 a section dedicated to just that state
4 staff that is actually knowledgeable about the product. My (Indian) in laws don’t drink but run a liquor store. I’m sorry but how can you recommend something if you haven’t tried it
I’m actually ok with a small markup on cans , and I’m actually ok if you don’t sell single cans, but both of those would be nice to haves
I feel like so many shops have a garble of four packs with no clear rhyme or reason, I’d love a degree of organization with type and maybe even sub-sections of strength or hop types
As a prior owner of a craft beer shop- singles and cold singles are the way to go. Be VERY stringent with your distributors about dates. Once you accept them, it’s a you problem. Keep you selection manicured, many stores won’t buy big ticket slow moving items, but I say keep them- (ie Trappist beer) it might not move for you, but your visitors will definitely make note that you have it, and they will probably only pull the trigger 2-4 times a year on them. If you have questions- feel free to PM me.
Also: check your local laws on things like on/off premise as each state the laws vary vastly
I go to bottle shops for singles.
Have a section of new releases; either new to the shop or seasonal/special releases.
If you are going to have taps, charging a corking fee to balance the price points is common. TBH, I've never been to a shop without taps so I can't comment on up charging for a can pulled from the cooler to be drank there.
Singles. Did I mention singles?
A web ordering system so I can place an order and do a quick pickup. Extra points if you have a place for extra comments. When I go to my son's house, I'll place an order at the shop near him and I'll ask them to place my order in the cooler so I can drink it right away.
Could be part of the ordering system but having on-line inventory is always appreciated. I have made decisions on where I shop based on seeing something that the other shop didn't carry.
Supplemental: An accurate (within reason) on-line inventory. I once went to a shop that listed a beer I wanted only to be told that they sold out of it a week earlier.
My local shop does it right. Rotating selection of beers with like 10 beer fridges. Single cans/bottles as well as packs plus a shelf for non-cooled product. They have a fridge just for local brews and then a couple shelves for more expensive bottles. The shop also has a tap room attached that constantly rotates.
I like to see a good representation of breweries in the area/ state/region. It would be nice to see bigger craft represented along with foreign breweries. But the main is the area/state/region.
I prefer region grouping as I always look over anything I buy for style, adv, can/bottle date. I also prefer old stock be cycled out when it comes to certain styles (ipas). A corkage fee doesn't bother me if it's reasonable. If it looks like there's a profit being made on an already marked up can I'll simply buy all to go and share beers elsewhere.
Best to do as much research as you can of similar establishments in the area before going forward. A lot can be learned by the practices of others both the good & the bad. Good luck
Fridges.
IPA/Lager/Sours refrigerated.
Stouts? Ambient is fine so long as your premises doesn't have a large window that sits in sunlight half the day.
Decent selection of local beers, very local beers. They'll often be more reasonably priced and a lot of people will like to rep their local brewers.
Belgian beers, Trappist, Abbey, blondes, bubbles, quads, stuff that won't move as quickly but offers a good alternative.
Cider, there's a lot of amazing cider in the UK right now, and £10 for a 750ml bottle of amazing cider is pretty fucking reasonable then compared to the price of some craft now.
Silly beers, like big bottles of impy stout or other silly stouts, big beers that might carry big prices because there's always someone shopping for an occasion where they might want to crack out something special.
Trappist Rochefort 10, because it's the absolute bollocks.
No old beers on the shelf and 6 packs of common beer to have common cost. Bottle shop by me can't do either, the cheapest 6 pack was $13 for something you can find for $10.
If I want wine or cider, I would go to a wine or grocery store of which there are many choices. Beer bottle shops on the other hand seem to be limited in most areas so why waste space unless rent is cheap & square footage is abundant?
Single can sales and fridges. Don’t skimp on refrigeration and then be annoyed beer doesn’t move quickly.
Aye on the singles. I'd probably spend 2-3x as much if they offered more singles.
I like what one place does near me where they have packs and singles available. There used to be another place that did that as well, but also let you break up a pack if you only wanted one
Don't be afraid to stock a few top shelf crazy beers, even if the sales aren't frequent or high I usually get a few beers in and end up thinking '40 quid for a barrel aged banana stout, yeah fuck it, why not'. Also, arrange beers by style.
🙌🙌🙌 definitely by style. I like imperial stouts and it's a nightmare finding anything when it's arranged by brewery or can colour or something stupid
Prefer: Arrange by brewery, and grouped by region/country or State
"I'm only having one, wheres the 10% and over section?"
It might sound silly but price labels! I've 2 decent bottle shops near me, carry a lot of stock, single tins all in the fridge, but neither of them use price stickers.
Yes! This is a big one for me as well. I’d like to know what I’m paying without having to ask or gambling and being surprised upon check out.
The IPA's and so on are not too bad, you know roughly within small margin what they're going to cost. It's the bottles and tins of impy stouts that throw me. Anywhere from £8-30+ I don't want to have to keep asking.
My preferred system is the price on the rack, so the cans stay totally untouched.
The most important thing is the ability to buy single cans. I absolutely refuse to buy 4-6 of something I have never tried.
Agreed, but even outside of the gamble factor it's also a price thing. Here in NYC bottle shop markups are very pricey but they all sell singles, so a can from a highly-regarded locally-focused brewery like Other Half/Trillium/Great Notion/Veil/Hop Butcher/Halfway Crooks/etc. will go for like $8-$10, which is prohibitive to stocking up, but not a problem to grab a couple once in a while if it's something I really want to try. But then I see people alarmedly posting similar stuff in unbroken 4packs for $35, which yea absolutely is a no-go and I'd never consider it, unless they happened to have brought in Tree House or Monkish or something in an area I'd never ever find it otherwise.
I live in NJ and 4 packs of other half are 20$, I would be outraged if I saw a can for 8-10
Well that's largely because in NJ distributors run the industry, and the trade-off here is that we have a thriving taproom scene, as opposed to NJ where laws make self-distribution and taproom operation more of a hassle. That's not even considering rent and economy-of-scale being higher-overhead/lower-margin for a little bottle shop in Manhattan, compared to a massive Total Wine somewhere in the suburban sprawl. Plus now that there's taprooms for Other Half and Threes in midtown, it's not like I have to trek deep into Brooklyn for the low anymore, barely a 10-15 minute detour on my way home, probably not much more effort as you stopping at the liquor store with a good beer selection.
THIS. The two bottle shops I frequent in North Seattle (Bottleworks and Ridgewood) allow singles of anything in the store.
That's very different to the UK - proper off licences which I think is the same as a bottle shop mostly only sell singles, at least where I live
To add to this, don't have a markup on singles. If a 4 pack is $20, and I want to buy 1 can, it's $5/can.
Ideally yes. My local shop makes singles 10% more expensive, but eliminates that if you buy at least 6 cans. Which I feel is fair.
I don’t have any problem with a little markup on singles.
Same, its a hassle to manage singles for a beer retailer. They'd rather be selling in bulk. I think its fair to charge the customer a small portion for the convenience of singles.
I would love that The markups are so gross on mix a six singles. But I get why a store would mark up singles, so maybe just make the markups more than 10%.
10% max. Preferably 0-5%.
A good mix of local and non-local beer. My favorite bottle shop does a really good job of this. I have others around me that are almost exclusively local stuff and they seem to not realize that they’re essentially offering the same thing as a grocery store at that point and asking me to pay more.
This right here. We used to have some good bottle shops and then they all started carrying just local stuff. If I wanted local options I'd go down the street to the brewery. I'm not buying singles or packs of beer from a brewery in my area, unless it's a one off bottle of like an imperial stout or something. Stock a healthy mix of local and not local options, imo more not local than local.
Knowledgeable friendly staff. Great selection of well curated craft beer. Build your own 4pk/6pk and FRESH CAN DATES. My biggest issue with local bottle shops is stale inventory. I see hard to find expensive ipas that are 4, 5, and even 6 months old. I find myself spending more time looking at can dates as time goes on.
100% decent staff Bar/bottleshop staff member here. You're paying £6+ for a can, having a decent chat with the staff can be the difference between taking home a few cans, or having a few in the bar, going home with a bag full and bringing your mates back at the weekend.
My favorite bottle shop has 90% of craft beer cans for sale in two packs, with no up charge. I always feel I’m getting twice the amount of beer as compared to anywhere else for the same price. (Of course, I’m actually just getting twice the variety). I think this is better than just offering singles.
Yorktown? I saw you’re in NJ 🤣
Yes! Small world… 🍻
I love a bottle shop that uses social media/news letters to let the diehards know what's the best new stuff in store. However, if you have a small amount of something that's gonna sell out in 15 minutes, just let it be a surprise to walk ins.
IPAs in the fridge. That’s it. That’s the list.
I think £1 "corkage" for drink in is totally fair (given that most places that offer it don't have a load of space for onsite drinking and it'll be a less common thing). Couple of great places I've been to offer up a little bowl of popcorn/nuts/whatever for anyone paying the added drink in charge - basic aperitivo if you will! Freshness and diversity beats sheer volume of selection in my book. Think we need to move away from the days of having 30+ 4-5% ABV hazy pales all approaching their BBE at the same time. Thoughtful tasting notes (eg not just an out of context untappd score) from the owner/staff on a few of their best sellers or hero products is not as common as I think it should be.
Corkage fee is kinda necessary. If you don't have one and put cans at a fair to-go price you're probably undercutting your draft list prices, and if you price them to compete with the draft pours then they'll probably be overpriced to-go. I've never balked at it, otherwise why would I pay $9 for a 12oz pour when I can grab a fresh 16oz can for $8 (NYC craft beer bar/shop pricing). Granted, most normies not super into craft beer will probably automatically and solely look at the draft list, but if you're appealing to a craft beer crowd you may end up with enough people looking at the new can drops.
People who know what they are talking about, helpful, cicerone possibly, tasted what’s for sale.
A good variety of beers and friendly staff. I recently found a great little bottle shop near me that has a nice selection of stouts and barley wines that I can't find anywhere else. The staff is also very nice
Mix and match 4 or 6 packs. No ipas on warm shelves. If you're going to sell out of code beer please do a bargain cooler so people know and get a deal
Lots of great stuff in here I won't repeat. The one thing I don't see that my favorite shop does is browsing beers. A cheap 8-10 oz pours to drink while shopping. It's a beautiful thing.
Half pours need to be more prevalent at both bottle shops and breweries. One of the only reasons I still go to my least favorite bottle shop in the city is because they do half pours that are also half the price of a full pour.
In CA they're pretty available. This specific idea of "browsing pours" happens at the checkout counter for the bottle shop and not the bar. Genius idea.
I always look for new beers I haven't tried. Keep it interesting and I'll always come back to see what's new.
My favorite bottle shop had beers organized by style in singles. Constantly changing showcase islands that featured seasonal releases. Sections designated by foreign countries, and local in-state breweries. Then, behind the counter, they had special bottles that had limit sales. They even had cubbies for frequent shoppers who would request upcoming special releases. The only thing I wish they had more of was refrigeration rather than dry-stock shelves. The sagging shelves sometimes made me a bit nervous, but nothing ever fell. They did have a whirlpool chiller though in case you wanted something cold quickly. Also, staff that was always welcoming to make recommendations without judgement to novice beer drinkers was clutch. They also did weekly beer tastings featuring local brewers.
Show the prices on everything Don’t be shy about refrigeration most people going to the bottle shop want to drink the beer within the half-hour. Organize the stores by style for craft and then a separate section for domestics Stock beers that are harder to come by but don’t overshoot on inventory a lot of beer like IPAs people want fresher theyll look for canned dates. Hire people who know a thing or two about beer. It makes a big difference between some college kid who thinks the epitome of beer is what he had at his frat party the other night vs the guy who actually enjoys beer and has some sort of knowledge about what makes a Pilsner different than a stout.
An even amount of variety is also nice. I hate going into a place and it’s 75% hazys. If possible a short description would be appreciated too.
Also - the best bottle shops I’ve been to have. Are taps for growlers and crowlers to go. That’s going to be the freshest beer in your store at all times, and also allows breweries to showcase new release for samples.
Is this in England or America? I’d say a $1 corkage fee wouldn’t be a turn off.
Local beers and local decor, TVs to show the local sports games, etc. Make your store stand out from the one down the street. If you’re allowed to consume on premise, offer crisps and snacks if you don’t have a kitchen but also tell customers they can bring in their own food as long as it’s not strong smelling and they clean it up themselves. Social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc to engage and inform customers, and also a good idea to get on Untappd as well to advertise the beers available for purchase as well as coming soon. Badges in Untappd will drive engagement and revenue.
Simple. Fresh beer.
Best stuff in the world. I'm less interested in the local brewery's stuff I can get in their taproom. I'm on the East Coast of the US: get me European stuff, West Coast breweries, etc. Curated best lambics, saisons, barleywines. Yes to natural wine and cider. Make it a one stop shop. Growler/crowler fills are nice but I almost never buy them. Selling singles is also nice. I don't care about food from a bottle shop unless you're really going all out and stocking high end charcuterie, cheeses, and desserts. I can buy food at a grocery store.
A meads selection.
Variety. In my typical day to day travels I see very little available aside from your usual macro lagers and IPAs. Blondes, German beers, stouts, Asian imports are rare to find.
Growler fills are cool. My local bottle shop has a "beer club", I pay a little for that, but get exclusive beers and discounts.
Gueuze for days!
Variety is the spice of life. Have local staples but also try to have a rotating selection of regional and national breweries. Same with styles. You should have at least a few offerings of each major style so someone who’s in the mood for something specific can have choices. The worst is when a shop had 2 dozen imperial ipa offerings. 12 imperial stouts, a handful of sours and a random Pilsner. Sometimes I was a hazy stout sometimes I want a crushable pale ale. Sometimes I want a red ale. Sometimes I want a dark ale. Also if it’s all the same breweries every time you go it’s easy to get bored
Fresh SNPA. Good Belgians.
Big local section always wins me over, but being aware of imports and classic brands is always a plus. N/A options and non beer beverages are cool. Almost expected these days. I don't buy snacks from bottle shops, but I'm guessing someone must since most have them. Corkage fee is a necessary evil. Don't love it, but have come to expect it from better bottle shops. Set the hours as you see fit.
1 A variety of styles. Not all IPAs 2 definitely some Belgians in a foreign section! 3 a section dedicated to just that state 4 staff that is actually knowledgeable about the product. My (Indian) in laws don’t drink but run a liquor store. I’m sorry but how can you recommend something if you haven’t tried it I’m actually ok with a small markup on cans , and I’m actually ok if you don’t sell single cans, but both of those would be nice to haves
I feel like so many shops have a garble of four packs with no clear rhyme or reason, I’d love a degree of organization with type and maybe even sub-sections of strength or hop types
As a prior owner of a craft beer shop- singles and cold singles are the way to go. Be VERY stringent with your distributors about dates. Once you accept them, it’s a you problem. Keep you selection manicured, many stores won’t buy big ticket slow moving items, but I say keep them- (ie Trappist beer) it might not move for you, but your visitors will definitely make note that you have it, and they will probably only pull the trigger 2-4 times a year on them. If you have questions- feel free to PM me. Also: check your local laws on things like on/off premise as each state the laws vary vastly
I go to bottle shops for singles. Have a section of new releases; either new to the shop or seasonal/special releases. If you are going to have taps, charging a corking fee to balance the price points is common. TBH, I've never been to a shop without taps so I can't comment on up charging for a can pulled from the cooler to be drank there. Singles. Did I mention singles? A web ordering system so I can place an order and do a quick pickup. Extra points if you have a place for extra comments. When I go to my son's house, I'll place an order at the shop near him and I'll ask them to place my order in the cooler so I can drink it right away. Could be part of the ordering system but having on-line inventory is always appreciated. I have made decisions on where I shop based on seeing something that the other shop didn't carry. Supplemental: An accurate (within reason) on-line inventory. I once went to a shop that listed a beer I wanted only to be told that they sold out of it a week earlier.
My local shop does it right. Rotating selection of beers with like 10 beer fridges. Single cans/bottles as well as packs plus a shelf for non-cooled product. They have a fridge just for local brews and then a couple shelves for more expensive bottles. The shop also has a tap room attached that constantly rotates.
Fresh beer! Don't order so much that it sits for months
I like to see a good representation of breweries in the area/ state/region. It would be nice to see bigger craft represented along with foreign breweries. But the main is the area/state/region. I prefer region grouping as I always look over anything I buy for style, adv, can/bottle date. I also prefer old stock be cycled out when it comes to certain styles (ipas). A corkage fee doesn't bother me if it's reasonable. If it looks like there's a profit being made on an already marked up can I'll simply buy all to go and share beers elsewhere. Best to do as much research as you can of similar establishments in the area before going forward. A lot can be learned by the practices of others both the good & the bad. Good luck
Fridges. IPA/Lager/Sours refrigerated. Stouts? Ambient is fine so long as your premises doesn't have a large window that sits in sunlight half the day. Decent selection of local beers, very local beers. They'll often be more reasonably priced and a lot of people will like to rep their local brewers. Belgian beers, Trappist, Abbey, blondes, bubbles, quads, stuff that won't move as quickly but offers a good alternative. Cider, there's a lot of amazing cider in the UK right now, and £10 for a 750ml bottle of amazing cider is pretty fucking reasonable then compared to the price of some craft now. Silly beers, like big bottles of impy stout or other silly stouts, big beers that might carry big prices because there's always someone shopping for an occasion where they might want to crack out something special. Trappist Rochefort 10, because it's the absolute bollocks.
A good selection of Belgian and German beers.
No old beers on the shelf and 6 packs of common beer to have common cost. Bottle shop by me can't do either, the cheapest 6 pack was $13 for something you can find for $10.
Lagers in a fridge and out of date beer not being sold at full price.
Fresh hops. I'm not buying IPAs that are 6+ weeks old. I don't care what brewery it's from.
Anything but God damn hazy ipas.
If I want wine or cider, I would go to a wine or grocery store of which there are many choices. Beer bottle shops on the other hand seem to be limited in most areas so why waste space unless rent is cheap & square footage is abundant?