[seanmcdirmid]

So the top spot goes to someone with less than 10% of the market? That makes sense why it didn't seem dominant even if it was the brand that sold the most. At my local grocery store, it is all craft beers and such, I don't think they sell Bud anything. Is this kind of beer more popular in the midwest and/or south?

[polka_haunts_us]

I gotta think this says more about the types of grocery stores you go to more than anything. I live just outside of Seattle and any random Safeway or QFC (Kroger) is going to have all the generic big corpo American light beers in it. Something more upscale like Whole Foods, less likely.

[seanmcdirmid]

I'm talking about QFC in Ballard, and...no bud light. I guess it is just the neighborhood I live in.

Safeway (Ballard) is a bit more low end, maybe it would have it, but I don't have reason to pass by the beer section there.

[polka_haunts_us]

Interesting, I do my shopping out of the Bothell QFC so that's my frame of reference. It must be a more Seattle proper thing. I guess Bothell is also nominally a college town so maybe it's just students looking for cheap, bad beer. I admit I can't remember the configuration of the beer section of the U Village QFC back in the day, although I know they had a seperate entrance for harder alcohol.

[seanmcdirmid]

> I guess Bothell is also nominally a college town

I haven't lived in Bothell in more then 30 years (graduated from BHS in '93, this is way before UW Bothell opened up, so I went to UW Seattle instead), and...it was more working class. But I don't even remember a QFC being around anywhere, even in Mill Creek (oh, the Safeway at Thrasher's corner, near where I used to live, turned into an Indian grocery store...times change).

The QFC in U Village is much larger than the one we have in Ballard. It is a tiny QFC, so I guess they just need to prioritize. Wine and craft beer make money (they also have a separate hard liquor store, but I rarely see it open).

[seanmcdirmid]

I just checked and they have bud light and other mass produced brands in a back corner of the store, just across from the main beer cabinet. So they have it, just not as visible as the higher margin craft beers (even Modelo and Corona are at the very end of the main cabinet).