stang said:
Maybe the re-corking doggy-bag part of this makes sense, but I don't get the bring your own wine part. Can I bring my own steak too?
I own a restaurant and I am think that it may help my place in the short time, but could really hurt some restaurants.
My menu is somewhat similar to what a chain like Kelsey's would have. A little bit of everything to try and appeal to as many people as possible due to variety and value. With my menu I sell very little wine. It accounts for maybe 5% of my total weekly revenues. I think that this might help me in the short term during what I will call the novelty stage. People might bring in bottles for the next little bit, simply because they can. I have no issue with that as I will be charging a corkage fee, so I will still generate revenue from the wine (at zero cost to me), and the key will be to have my staff suggest other cocktails to have before dinner, and then open the bottle of wine just before Entree's arrive. In theory I should actually increase sales.
I would be concerned however if I owned a Steak House or a "fine dine" restaurant. Wine makes up a large portion of their weekly sales, but more importantly weekly profits. The wine margins at some Steak Houses are ridiculous. I am curious to see what some of the high end's charge for corkage. I am thinking $8-$10 for my place. I could see someone like Morton's charging $50-$100.
The other side of this is that this is really just a cash grab by the Government. As a licensee I purchase my products at a slightly discounted price from what it retails for at the AGCO, they also deliver the product to my door (they suck at helping you put it away, sweet union deal). If consumers start bringing their own product the LCBO tmakes more money per sale and also begins to cut down on delivery costs. It's a sweet deal for the govt.
Let's see what happens..................................
