Thinking about Expanding your assortment.......how about Booze?

I came across an article a few weeks back regarding a New Zealand OP dealer's efforts to expand their product offering and found it very amusing. There has been lots of talk about dealers in our business expanding into non-traditional areas.......maybe they should consider this?

From the New Zealand Herald

An office supplies company's request to deliver beer and spirits to customers has been rejected.

Auckland's "Gem Office Products Depot" wanted to deliver alcohol alongside fruit juice, stationery and cleaning supplies to office workers.

Under the Sale of Liquor Act, local licensing authorities can grant off-licences if they think alcohol sales are an "appropriate complement" to other goods a business sells.

Neither police nor the Medical Officer of Health opposed Gem's application, but Auckland's district licensing inspector Stephen Galvin claimed booze was not an appropriate complement to other goods Gem sold, which were overwhelmingly office supplies.

Gem disagreed, saying it was developing its business into a "one-stop shop" for customers.

Gem said it was reasonable to expect some offices to order drinks, including alcoholic ones, when ordering stationery and office supplies.

Judge John Hole disagreed with the company.

"In this case, the sale of alcohol has nothing to do with the kind of goods sold by the applicant. Non-alcoholic drinks constitute a very small part of the overall business of the applicant."

Judge Hole also pointed out other firms had made similar bids, and failed.

One earlier case involved an application from an Ashburton company Combined Rural Traders Society, which wanted to sell beer, wine and spirits from its site as well as a range of rural merchandise. The High Court turned that request down.

Hey, what with the dealer community trying to expand their assortments from A to Z as a total solution for everything - maybe we here in Canada should try this? Think the beer companies need an agent to put this together?