One day those logs will have something to say about this.
The store is actually to the right; straight ahead is a … um
… cemetery…
In light of the recent news that The Root Beer Store is
moving all operations to Idaho – that, and the fact that it’s been well over a
year since I made this trek – it’s probably high time I finish writing this
post…
Let us harken back, if you will, to oh-so-long ago when life was simpler (um ... not really) and the
Missus and I were in the Pacific Northwest for a wedding (yes, really). As luck would have it, said wedding just happened
to put us on the path of a couple different root beer-related field trips that I’d
had my eye on for a while. We’ve already
covered the first one (an exciting update on that one is coming soon!) (who am
I kidding; nothing happens “soon” any more around here) (let’s just say, “an exciting
update on that one is coming … eventually … before the sun supernovas and our
solar system collapses … hopefully … and if it doesn’t, we won’t be around to
worry about it anyways …”), and the second should be a required pilgrimage for all
who number themselves amongst the root-beer-inclined.
Corey Anderson first opened The Root Beer Store in Redmond,
WA in 2010. At the time, he was already
a successful small business owner, having spent the past 2 decades running
several enterprises including a janitorial service and a wholesale feather
duster distributor, the latter of which’s office would become the flagship Root
Beer Store (which is the one I visited) [2016 Update: Per Corey’s newsletter regarding
the impending move, that feather duster operation has actually been floating
the root beer operations for some time now, factoring largely into the decision
to move]. Having also grown up making
root beer at home with his family, Anderson had originally set out to create
his own root beer label. During an
educational excursion down to California to learn from industry
professionals / to take a root beer making class, however, Anderson discovered
several dozen different root beer labels already in existence, and thus decided
to focus on bringing those already-varied brews to the public instead. The first Root Beer Store started with around
30 different root beers, and has since then expanded to offer, by their own
estimate, over 100 varieties in their brick-and-mortar stores and their online
operation (sources: 1, 2 this link might be dead,
3).
Pocket Pooj ponders a plethora of pop.
Some of the shelves were partially empty during my visit, which was slightly disappointing since I was hoping to pick up a couple of the out-of-stock labels that had been on my list for a while – not sure if this was due to the fact that it was close to closing on a weekend, or that those items just aren’t available any more. On the whole though, it was a very successful outing, the highlights definitely being a very helpful “tour guide” finding a bottle of the 30th Anniversary special edition Sprecher for me that wasn’t even on the shelves (!!!), and finding the can of Hire’s that I already posted about. There was probably somewhere around 50 different brands of root beer available, with probably 30 more non-root beer varietals, as well as an archival wall of maybe 60 labels (root beer an non-root beer alike) that are out of production. Non-beverage items included root beer flavored candies and BBQ sauce (no root beer themed feather dusters, to my knowledge...).
Not quite 100 brands today, but still a heck of a lot.
And for the record, yes, I did ship more soda and glass back to CA than a logical person should have, and yes, I did get a membership to the Association of Root Beer Enthusiasts. Said membership also came with root beer (naturally), a license plate frame (kind of random, but still amusing), root beer barrel candy (always good), and root beer taffy (very good, I might add). Also, given how late I’m posting this, said membership has also since expired. …but at least I still have the license plate frame …
Best of luck with your move, Root Beer Store – see you
someday in Idaho…!
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