Gopuff Gets Beer Permit, Offers Groceries By App
November 5, 2021 at 12:48 a.m.
Gopuff Gets Beer Permit, Offers Groceries By App
By David [email protected]
Attorney David Rothenberg represented GB License LLC, doing business as Gopuff, before the Kosciusko Alcohol and Tobacco Commission Thursday, seeking the transfer of a beer and wine dealer permit for a grocery store.
Rothenberg said GB License is a division of GoBrands, doing business as Gopuff. GoBrands is an international company and in May 2020 they acquired from the United Kingdom a company called Fancy Delivery Inc.
“So now they’ve got locations in the United States, Great Britain, France and Spain. They’re in 650 U.S. cities right now. Their valuation in the last round of raising capital was $15 billion, and this was started in 2011 by two college students,” Rothenberg stated.
A spokesman with Gopuff, clarified later in a telephone call that Gopuff is in over 500 locations and serving more than 1,000 cities. It started in 2013 and is a provider of everyday needs, from food and drinks to medicines and “a wide range of items. About 30% of our products can’t be found in convenience stores.”
In Indiana, they have eight active alcohol permits already with two in escrow. Rothenberg said they have about 10 sites operating or signed to operate without alcohol permits, just simply because of quota. He said they’ve operated in Indiana since 2017 with no violations.
“So, basically, what this is, it’s a micro-fulfillment center. I guess the best way to think about it is sort of like Amazon where you can order on an app on your phone or mobile device or your computer, whatever. Their goal is to deliver within 30 minutes. But they don’t carry everything Amazon carries. They carry basic groceries, chips, things like that. I think they have motor oil. Things that are more like convenience store-related but a lot more of them than a convenience store would be,” Rothenberg said.
The spokesman said what sets Gopuff apart is its vertically integrated model, meaning all the products on its website and app Gopuff owns.
“Those items are in stock, so we can pack and deliver items to you in 30 minutes or less,” the spokesman said.
Rothenberg said the way to access that is that there’s an app and a person enters their zip code on the app. A person can then access the inventory that the fulfillment center closest to them carries.
Not all items are available at all locations, he said. “So it’s geared really toward the specific area of your zip code, the delivery area,” he said.
There is a slight delivery charge, which Rothenberg said was $1.95. The spokesman said that was a flat rate, but may be a little more for alcohol items. Prices are comparable to what one would find in their local market.
So who would use the app to have convenience store groceries delivered? Rothenberg said, “You’d be surprised at people who are 30 and under who are ordering these things. It’s hugely popular.”
Indiana does require – because it is a grocery store – an open storefront for the public.
“So, you can walk in, but when you walk in, you’re not going to see any shelves or anything. It’s just going to be a lobby,” he said. “When you walk in, you’re going to order through your phone on the app and they’re going to bring out to you. So you pay through the app and order through the app, you’re not walking down the aisles. The public doesn’t have access to the things on the shelves.”
As far as alcohol delivery, Rothenberg said all drivers are 21 and older and undergo training.
“When an order is placed, it gets listed on the slip. When they deliver it, the names have to match for the people that ordered it because you have to show ID at the door before you get delivered that. Those people have to be over 21 years old. The ID has to be scanned, there’s no way the driver can override that,” he said.
The only way to override that is to call the manager and have them override that, but Rothenberg said, “That just doesn’t happen. It’s too big of a risk.”
For any reason, the driver can refuse a delivery and won’t be penalized for that.
Only warm beer can be delivered.
“I know for up here it’s a new thing, you don’t have one yet. But, as I’ve said, I think Indianapolis has three. There’s one in Bloomington, one in Lafayette. There’s one in South Bend. So they started with the college towns because those are the kids that are going to order this stuff, but now they’re really expanding to other places,” Rothenberg said.
The spokesman couldn’t provide information on the Warsaw location’s open dates, but once it opens they would be looking to hire locally.
“When we open a location, we connect locally. We hire locally,” he said. Positions include associates, general managers and delivery partners.
Commission member Alan Alderfer asked where the beer and wine dealer permit was being transferred from. Rothenberg said the Phillips 66 gas station on Center Street.
Excise Officer April Tackett said, “This alcohol permit was the one at Phillips 66 that we denied that the (state) Commission upheld the denial, and then they came back and said, basically, ‘Instead of revoking it, would you give us the opportunity to sell it, as long as it’s not the same people?’”
Alderfer asked Rothenberg if a local person hired him or if he was hired by a corporation. Rothenberg said the law firm he works for does alcohol beverage law all across Indiana.
Tackett later explained that the big difference between something like GrubHub or Door Dash and Gopuff is, “There is a law that says if you’re going to deliver, the delivery driver has to be an employee of the business. So, for instance, Door Dash, they are an employee of Door Dash but they are going to 10 different restaurants to get your stuff so they could not deliver because they are not an employee of Wings Etc. or whatever. So this group has to have their own employees in order to deliver.”
The Gopuff website for more information is at https://gopuff.com/go/.
Alderfer made the motion to accept the permit transfer, and it was approved 4-0.
Bryan Burcroff, owner of Wings Etc., appeared before the Commission because an employee at the 3416 Lake City Hwy., Warsaw, location received a violation in the spring for serving a minor. That employee was originally fired but then rehired because of her strong work history and in her 15 years of employment never had any other violations. She was fined $500, and Wings Etc. was fined $1,000. Burcroff said the fines were paid.
The Commission approved the renewal of the beer, wine and liquor restaurant permit.
In October, the transfer of the beer, wine and liquor license for Wyndham Garden hotel from Shaffner & Shaffner to Fortune 1 LLC was continued to Thursday’s meeting because of lack of signage. Rajesh Patel, a member of the LLC, said at the October meeting that he never received the orange permit sign so it was never posted.
Patel was again before the Commission Thursday and Tackett said she saw the sign posted when she visited there Tuesday.
The Commission unanimously approved the alcohol permit transfer.
Automatic renewals without violations approved by the Commission included:
• Lassus Bros. Oil Inc., beer and wine dealer grocery permits, 1900 Plaza Drive, Warsaw; 777 Parker St., Warsaw; and 4987 N. Ind. 13, Leesburg.
• Milford Party Pack, 314 N. Higbee St., Milford, beer, wine and liquor package store permit.
• Buffalo Wild Wings, 376 Enterprise Drive, Warsaw, beer, wine and liquor restaurant permit.
Attorney David Rothenberg represented GB License LLC, doing business as Gopuff, before the Kosciusko Alcohol and Tobacco Commission Thursday, seeking the transfer of a beer and wine dealer permit for a grocery store.
Rothenberg said GB License is a division of GoBrands, doing business as Gopuff. GoBrands is an international company and in May 2020 they acquired from the United Kingdom a company called Fancy Delivery Inc.
“So now they’ve got locations in the United States, Great Britain, France and Spain. They’re in 650 U.S. cities right now. Their valuation in the last round of raising capital was $15 billion, and this was started in 2011 by two college students,” Rothenberg stated.
A spokesman with Gopuff, clarified later in a telephone call that Gopuff is in over 500 locations and serving more than 1,000 cities. It started in 2013 and is a provider of everyday needs, from food and drinks to medicines and “a wide range of items. About 30% of our products can’t be found in convenience stores.”
In Indiana, they have eight active alcohol permits already with two in escrow. Rothenberg said they have about 10 sites operating or signed to operate without alcohol permits, just simply because of quota. He said they’ve operated in Indiana since 2017 with no violations.
“So, basically, what this is, it’s a micro-fulfillment center. I guess the best way to think about it is sort of like Amazon where you can order on an app on your phone or mobile device or your computer, whatever. Their goal is to deliver within 30 minutes. But they don’t carry everything Amazon carries. They carry basic groceries, chips, things like that. I think they have motor oil. Things that are more like convenience store-related but a lot more of them than a convenience store would be,” Rothenberg said.
The spokesman said what sets Gopuff apart is its vertically integrated model, meaning all the products on its website and app Gopuff owns.
“Those items are in stock, so we can pack and deliver items to you in 30 minutes or less,” the spokesman said.
Rothenberg said the way to access that is that there’s an app and a person enters their zip code on the app. A person can then access the inventory that the fulfillment center closest to them carries.
Not all items are available at all locations, he said. “So it’s geared really toward the specific area of your zip code, the delivery area,” he said.
There is a slight delivery charge, which Rothenberg said was $1.95. The spokesman said that was a flat rate, but may be a little more for alcohol items. Prices are comparable to what one would find in their local market.
So who would use the app to have convenience store groceries delivered? Rothenberg said, “You’d be surprised at people who are 30 and under who are ordering these things. It’s hugely popular.”
Indiana does require – because it is a grocery store – an open storefront for the public.
“So, you can walk in, but when you walk in, you’re not going to see any shelves or anything. It’s just going to be a lobby,” he said. “When you walk in, you’re going to order through your phone on the app and they’re going to bring out to you. So you pay through the app and order through the app, you’re not walking down the aisles. The public doesn’t have access to the things on the shelves.”
As far as alcohol delivery, Rothenberg said all drivers are 21 and older and undergo training.
“When an order is placed, it gets listed on the slip. When they deliver it, the names have to match for the people that ordered it because you have to show ID at the door before you get delivered that. Those people have to be over 21 years old. The ID has to be scanned, there’s no way the driver can override that,” he said.
The only way to override that is to call the manager and have them override that, but Rothenberg said, “That just doesn’t happen. It’s too big of a risk.”
For any reason, the driver can refuse a delivery and won’t be penalized for that.
Only warm beer can be delivered.
“I know for up here it’s a new thing, you don’t have one yet. But, as I’ve said, I think Indianapolis has three. There’s one in Bloomington, one in Lafayette. There’s one in South Bend. So they started with the college towns because those are the kids that are going to order this stuff, but now they’re really expanding to other places,” Rothenberg said.
The spokesman couldn’t provide information on the Warsaw location’s open dates, but once it opens they would be looking to hire locally.
“When we open a location, we connect locally. We hire locally,” he said. Positions include associates, general managers and delivery partners.
Commission member Alan Alderfer asked where the beer and wine dealer permit was being transferred from. Rothenberg said the Phillips 66 gas station on Center Street.
Excise Officer April Tackett said, “This alcohol permit was the one at Phillips 66 that we denied that the (state) Commission upheld the denial, and then they came back and said, basically, ‘Instead of revoking it, would you give us the opportunity to sell it, as long as it’s not the same people?’”
Alderfer asked Rothenberg if a local person hired him or if he was hired by a corporation. Rothenberg said the law firm he works for does alcohol beverage law all across Indiana.
Tackett later explained that the big difference between something like GrubHub or Door Dash and Gopuff is, “There is a law that says if you’re going to deliver, the delivery driver has to be an employee of the business. So, for instance, Door Dash, they are an employee of Door Dash but they are going to 10 different restaurants to get your stuff so they could not deliver because they are not an employee of Wings Etc. or whatever. So this group has to have their own employees in order to deliver.”
The Gopuff website for more information is at https://gopuff.com/go/.
Alderfer made the motion to accept the permit transfer, and it was approved 4-0.
Bryan Burcroff, owner of Wings Etc., appeared before the Commission because an employee at the 3416 Lake City Hwy., Warsaw, location received a violation in the spring for serving a minor. That employee was originally fired but then rehired because of her strong work history and in her 15 years of employment never had any other violations. She was fined $500, and Wings Etc. was fined $1,000. Burcroff said the fines were paid.
The Commission approved the renewal of the beer, wine and liquor restaurant permit.
In October, the transfer of the beer, wine and liquor license for Wyndham Garden hotel from Shaffner & Shaffner to Fortune 1 LLC was continued to Thursday’s meeting because of lack of signage. Rajesh Patel, a member of the LLC, said at the October meeting that he never received the orange permit sign so it was never posted.
Patel was again before the Commission Thursday and Tackett said she saw the sign posted when she visited there Tuesday.
The Commission unanimously approved the alcohol permit transfer.
Automatic renewals without violations approved by the Commission included:
• Lassus Bros. Oil Inc., beer and wine dealer grocery permits, 1900 Plaza Drive, Warsaw; 777 Parker St., Warsaw; and 4987 N. Ind. 13, Leesburg.
• Milford Party Pack, 314 N. Higbee St., Milford, beer, wine and liquor package store permit.
• Buffalo Wild Wings, 376 Enterprise Drive, Warsaw, beer, wine and liquor restaurant permit.
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