In Erie and Niagara counties, empty counter space at 12 Sunoco APlus convenience stores was retrofitted with beer taps and "Kegerators," allowing the convenience stores to fill and sell glass "growler" containers with small-batch draft beer on the premises.
"Just during this first month, it really has [image-nocss] been a success by word of mouth alone," Joe McGinn, a spokesman for Sunoco, told the newspaper. "It's clear there's interest there."
Growlers are refillable half-gallon glass jugs containing just less than a 6-pack of beer. After they're filled from a beer tap, they are sealed with a sticker to comply with New York State's open container laws.
APlus' most popular growler offering has been Buffalo's Flying Bison Rusty Chain, which sells for $7.99. The most expensive is Wailing Wench, retailing for $16.99, made by Syracuse's Middle Ages Brewing Co. The growler containers themselves are $3.99, but Sunoco is giving them away free for the first month with the purchase of a fill-up, the newspaper reported.
One location sold 30 growlers on its first day.
"I don't think people expect to see beer taps at a gas station," Kim Wilson, sales shift leader at the Tonawanda, N.Y., Sunoco, told the newspaper. "People come in and say, 'Woah! When did that happen?' They are really excited."
Sunoco workers sat through a day of classroom training with Try-It Distributing to learn about safety and sanitation, then visited Flying Bison Brewery to get hands-on practice filling growlers.
Western New York was chosen for the pilot program because it has a large concentration of APlus stores, many of which are large enough to be equipped with beer filling stations, the newspaper reported. Brand recognition, customer loyalty and the capability of local staff also played into the decision, McGinn said.
The company will study sales results here for three months before it makes any decisions about expansion, but so far, the odds look good. "This is something that has the potential to grow," said McGinn.
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