HomeMy WebLinkAboutLiquor Task Force
City of Edina 4801 W. 50th St. Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Jennifer Bennerotte, Communications & Technology Services Director
Phone 952-833-9520 Fax 952-826-0389 www.EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City Manager Seeks Volunteers for Task Force
Edina, Minn., Dec. 4, 2015 – City Manager Scott H. Neal seeks volunteers for a task force charged with
generating recommendations on how the City can improve the overall performance and profitability of Edina
Liquor.
“Because the municipal liquor operation was established by a vote of The People and The People tell us that
they prefer the City to stay in that business, what’s left to me is to figure out how to run the liquor operation
so that it doesn’t sell to minors and that it makes a good amount of money for the ‘shareholders’ of the liquor
operation – Edina’s taxpayers,” Neal said. “In response to the rather sudden downturn in the profitability of
our liquor operations, the City has remodeled our stores, invested in retail customer service training for our
staff, directly responded to competitor’s price challenges on high-selling products and compressed our profit
margins in order to be more price competitive overall. While all of that is important to note, we have still
not recovered our previous levels of profits, or even anywhere close to them.”
Neal plans to appoint three to five residents who have some expertise in the hospitality or retail sectors, can
work constructively with City staff and are committed to the purpose of the task force, which will begin its
work in January.
The questions Neal would like the task force to study and resolve are:
1. How can the City increase the profits of the its municipal liquor operations without compromising its
commitment to restricting access to non-adults?
2. What operational practices can the City adopt to control its operating costs, while not diminishing its
profitability and quality of the customer experience?
3. What operational practices can the City adopt to improve the overall retail experience to our
consumers without decreasing profits or increasing net operating costs?
4. What marketing strategies can the City adopt that will increase sales and market share?
5. What management practices and structures can the City adopt that will better inform city
management and elected officials of the municipal liquor system’s operating performance?
Anyone interested in serving on the task force should send a brief email explaining their expertise and interest
to Neal at sneal@EdinaMN.gov. For more information, contact the Administration Department, 952-826-
0364.
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