A newly accepted manuscript by UTCSW Cooper-Herron Endowed Professor in Mental Health Dr. Bridget Freisthler, was completed with Honors Undergraduate students as part of a research class when Freisthler worked at Ohio State University. The novel piece is that grocery stores have been increasingly serving alcohol at bars located within the stores and creating events to serve alcohol. It appears that this is a niche market catering to older adults who use it to socialize. This is the first study known to begin to document this trend.
The study indicates grocery stores are creating opportunities, such as a separate bar area and including beer and wine tasting events, to create a unique experience that caters to particular groups of clientele to encourage drinking. The goals of the study were to determine whether assortative drinking (i.e., the process of drinking alcohol in places where individuals have similar characteristics) is occurring at grocery stores, assess drink pacing (e.g. drinks per hour), and observe whether grocery stores engaged in responsible beverage service practices (e.g., not serving alcohol to person who are already intoxicated) during special events and at their bars.
“We conducted unobtrusive observations at four grocery stores in Central Ohio to understand who attended special events and/or drinks at the bars located within grocery stores,” Freisthler explained. “On average, we found that patrons drank 3.8 drinks per hour, although standard drink size could not be determined. Individual stores appeared to cater to clientele in different age groups, gender, drink pacing, type of drink (beer or wine), and whether food was consumed.”
With these findings, Freisthler and her team came to several conclusions. “Our work suggests a need to better understand these emerging alcohol establishments, which may create more opportunities to drink while bringing in new or different clientele to drink alcohol,” she said. “The effects of these locations on alcohol-related problems are an important next step in understanding the full impact of drinking in these locations. For example, one wine tasting event occurred during a very snowy evening where driving conditions were hazardous. Despite this, individuals still drank a significant amount of alcohol, even though some would be driving home”
Freisthler acknowledges that grocery stores are becoming an emerging alcohol establishment that have created atmospheres encouraging alcohol while shopping and/or socializing called “sip and shop.” She explained, “These sip and shop events bring in older customers than normally seen at traditional bars. However, the effects of these locations on alcohol-related problems are unknown and an important area for study. I look forward to conducting more research in this area to find out what long-term effects this new trend is creating.”