WEDNESDAY,JULY23,2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 11
BEER
Pabstearns blue ribbons at bars
Photo illustration by Brandon Baker/Kansan
Students, residents say Pabst's appeal is cheap price,image
Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer purchases rose 9 percent in the last year. The beer is a top seller at Jensen Liquors,620 9th St., and at the Replay Lounge,946 Massachusetts St., but hasn't found its wav into every liquor store and bar in Lawrence.
By Brandon Baker
bbaker@kansan.com
kansan staff writer
On a packed night at the Replay Lounge, the crowd swarms with young college students, townies and an older crowd that doesn't seem to mind all the noise. As the band, Sons of Hercules, plays, Justin Hulsey, a musician from Nashville, Tenn., heads to the bar for his third can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
"When I come to Lawrence, I drink PBR," Hulsey said. "It just seems like the thing people do here."
According to the numbers, Hulsey might be right.
Tom Morgan, sales manger at Jayhawk Beverage Inc., the company that distributes Pabst Blue Ribbon to Lawrence, said the city had a 9 percent increase in Pabst deliveries during the last year. Morgan said the company distributed 12,000 cases of Pabst to Lawrence in the last six months.
That's an average of 576,000 ounces of Pabst circulating in the city's bars and liquor stores each month.
Neal Stewart, brand manager for Pabst Brewing Company, said he didn't know exact figures on the growth in Lawrence, but the Kansas City area had gone up 22 percent in the last year.
Stewart said the trend started in Portland, Ore., where Pabst is the fifth highest-selling beer, and spread eastward to Lawrence.
The Pabst Brewing Company started making Blue Ribbon in 1844. However, the brew's current appeal here may stem from the difficult-to-define idea of "cool."
Kirk Gullickson, Lawrence resident, said the beer had an appeal with a certain crowd: those who didn't conform to mainstream standards of popular culture.
"Liking things that aren't cool is cool," Gullickson said.
Matt Sully, bartender at The Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., said the unique crowd at the Replay was drawn to Pabst more than any other beer, especially when the crowd was there to see a show. In October, The Replay Lounge will sell its one-millionth can of Pabst, Sully said.
Five blocks west of Massachusetts Street at Jensen Retail Liquor, 620 W.
Ninth St., Adam Hutchison, Overland Park graduate student, has worked the counter for two years. Hutchison said Pabst was the top-seller at the store. He said when the shipment of Pabst came in on Monday, it stood seven feet tall. By Saturday, the stack would only be a foot and a half. He said that was nearly 150 cases sold in a week.
Hutchison said the $6.15 price of a 12 pack — a little more than 50 cents a can — was a major contributor to the amount of sales at the store.
"The hipsters and indie rockers are heavy hitters on it," Hutchison said.
The beer has a cult following, Hutchison said, but the following is not exclusive to hipsters.
At It's Brother's Bar and Grill, 1105 Massachusetts St., Mike Combs, Stilwell senior, said only one guy ever asked for Pabst at the bar. Combs said he lived at the Theta Chi house and occasionally he saw someone there drinking Pabst, but he would rather drink Natural Light if he were going to drink an inexpensive beer.
"Pabst isn't bad for the price," Combs said. "It's a good chugging beer."
— Edited by Ehren Meditz
NIGHTLIFE
Westport businesses enact $1 cover charge to enter area
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Westport business owners want to appeal to older patrons and reduce the crowds of teenagers who like to hang out in the busy
entertainment district.
A $1 cover charge will be required to enter the neighborhood after 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and only those 21 or older will be allowed in because vendors sell beer on the sidewalks.
"Frankly, if you're not 21, it's probably not a good idea to be in Westport late in the evening, whether it's Monday or a weekend night," said James Westphal, president of Promote Westport Inc., a coalition of bar and restaurant owners responsible
for the cover charge.
The cover charge might be extended to Friday nights. Bar owners reported business as usual last weekend, the first Saturday with the cover charge, though the streets and sidewalks were less crowded.