Ep. 58 John Lane of Ohio's Winking Lizard Tavern

--- Panel --- Harry is joined by John Lane of Ohio casual dining/bar chain Winking Lizard along with editors Jenn Litz and Jordan Driggers. ---Time-Stamped Contents --- 00:00 Intro - hilarious banter, send harry beer hats.  01:00 john lane of winking lizard tavern.  01:50 tough 18 months, but "we're coming out of it just fine", kinda -- 95-98% back to 2019 levels.  02:15 but traffic is different, extended lunch, late night down. 04:00 on-premise traffic going to be "fundamentally different going forward" unless something big happens.  04:30 closed downtown cleveland store because metro/office isn't coming back in near future. 05:15 challenges in getting labor. "we'd be kicking butt" if they were fully staffed. down ~175 employees from 2019 (!) still open 7 days a week tho.  06:15 jenn: are suppliers keeping you in stock?  all over the board, even liquor cos having bottle shortages.  08:20 pricing outlook for 2022:  wl is value chain, try to hold the line.   09:20 supplier beer price increase timing is terrible (jan/sept).  wl going up dec 1 in anticipation.  dec and july are better for gpi.  10:15 regional craft strong, great lakes turnaround, cans and ipa. 11:10 john still a "core guy" on brands, and it's worked out well.  sierra, nbb, reingest, still pouring strong. big domestic premiums down a little (lack of sports). 12:00 increase in seltzers as sports returns. 12:30 diageo's lone river ranch water launching, doing well. 12:50 maintaining 28-33 tap model, one or two taps left open, little less rotation, focus on core.  14:00 draft or package seltzer?  seltzers rise as sports returned. 15:40 bev mix: beer slower to bounce back after pan, but getting there. wine and spirits holding their own and growing -- more dinner biz, less party biz. 16:30 harry goes on tangent about history of malt coolers. 17:30 prospects on-premise heading into winter.  challenges include vax mandates / labor shortage / cost inflation. 19:30 will we see more on-premise closings after holidays? 21:00 is bario concept easier to operate with labor shortage? 22:00 leaning more into liquor? 23:40 jenn remembers meeting john (via sam calagione). ---About--- Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher joins his editors and other guests 2 times a week as they grok the industry issues of the day.   -Podcast Hotline: Text or call Harry in confidence at:‪ (262) 345-2501‬ -Audio/Video feeds at BeerNetRadio.com -Articles referenced at beernet.com -Twitter / IG / TikTok:  @beerbizdaily