Stop Leaving Profit
on the Shelf
Most independent liquor stores earn 21% gross margin on their top-selling vodka — and never question it. This simulator shows you exactly what that’s costing you, what one product decision changes, and how your staff can make it happen without spending a dollar on advertising.
How to Increase Liquor Store Profit Margin Without Discounting or Advertising
The conventional advice for increasing liquor store profit margin focuses on pricing tools, POS systems, and matching what competitors charge. That advice is fine for avoiding mistakes. It does nothing to help you structurally improve what your shelf earns.
Here is what actually moves the needle: the brands you choose to carry, and how motivated your staff are to recommend them. Independent retailers who understand this — and act on it — don’t just earn more per bottle. They free up working capital, reduce inventory risk, and build a customer base that returns because of the experience, not just the price.
“The brands that look safest on the floor — the ones with the biggest distributor push and the fastest turns — are often the ones producing the weakest margin returns. Speed of sale does not equal strength of return.”
— Kim Laderer, President, Felene Inc. · The Liquor Store Margin Trap
The simulator below is not a generic margin calculator. This tool shows you what you could earn if you shifted even a fraction of your volume to a higher-margin product, and exactly how many staff recommendations per day it takes to make that shift happen organically.
Liquor Store Profit Growth Simulator
Enter your actual pricing. All three panels update instantly.
No other profitability tool models this — because no other tool is thinking about which brands your staff recommend. That single variable may be the most powerful lever in your store.
| Metric | Felene® | National Brand | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale cost / bottle | — | — | — |
| Retail price / bottle | — | — | — |
| Gross profit / bottle | — | — | — |
| Gross margin % | — | — | — |
| Gross profit / case | — | — | — |
| Minimum order (cases) | — | — | — |
| Min. order cash required | — | — | — |
| Return on inventory cost | — | — | — |
| Monthly GP (10 cases) | — | — | — |
| Annual GP (10 cases/mo) | — | — | — |
What Your Simulator Shows
Enter your pricing above to generate a personalized profitability summary.
Felene is available for wholesale with no long-term commitments, tiered volume pricing that improves as you grow, and direct support from the founding team. Minimum order: 5 cases. No companion SKU requirements.
“Independent retailers don’t need more products. They need better products — ones that work harder per square foot of shelf and per dollar of working capital invested.”
— Kim Laderer, President, Felene Inc.