Weeks after circulating an internal memo detailing a "Do Not Sell" list, Craft Beer Cellar ownership is attempting to soften their message regarding the brands they'll allow on franchise shelves and those they will not.
Rather than explicitly telling 28 franchisees that the brands they aren't allowed to sell, they will instead be sending out a list of approved beers that, according to spokesman Mark Goodman, will number in the "thousands."
CBC owners Suzanne Schalow and Kate Baker made headlines last week after their memo, intended for internal purposes only, was made public via Twitter. The memo, among other things, named three Massachusetts craft breweries as "unfit for consumption" and, accordingly, unfit to be stocked at any of their locations.
Now, they appear to be taking a different tack.
"That list no longer exists," Goodman told me during an interview Wednesday. "We did some thinking over the past two weeks and decided to take a different approach to how we'd like to see beers be offered and purchased."
As part of this new approach, he said, CBC ownership will be forming a product evaluation team. The group, comprised of some 15 people, will meet monthly to make additions or subtractions from the approved beer list.
I spoke with one franchisee, who wished to remain anonymous, about the change in messaging. In strong language, the response was clear: This is not a reversal of the "Bad Beer List" approach; this is simply calling it by a different name, the franchisee said.
Despite an approved beer list containing thousands of beers franchisees are allowed to carry, that also means that those beers not found on the list can't be stocked. This list will be part of the official Operations Manual, which Goodman told me will be sent to all store owners by Jan. 1 at the latest. The approved list, like the initial memo, isn't intended to be made public.
"Anyone can interpret it in their own way," Goodman told me of the approved beer list. "We are just trying to support amazing beer."
Goodman wouldn't comment on whether the breweries initially outed on the "Do Not Sell" list – Hopsters, Bent Water Brewing Co. and Down The Road Brewery – would appear on the approved list or not. He did say they've had a constructive conversation with one of those breweries about how best to move forward.
A remaining question now is whether any legal action will result, either on the part of the breweries named in the memo or CBC ownership in response to the leaked memo.
An article this morning from the Boston Business Journal quoted Lee Cooper, founder of Hopsters, as saying he's considering legal action and if he went that route, "we have good grounds to push forward." In an interview this morning, however, Cooper told me he no longer intends to pursue any legal action. (Goodman wouldn't comment on this by the time of publication.)
"She acquiesced a few days ago," he said, referring to Schalow and the apparent dismissal of the "Do Not Sell" list. "So unless something happens that I am unaware of, I will not sue her."
Image via Flickr, AdamChandler86
