Top 10 Best-Selling Sodas

If you're reading this, you probably already know that Old 52 General Store stocks 300+ varieties of unique and retro soda (our inventory list currently reads in the mid 340's). It can be overwhelming for new visitors and fans to start looking at our entire line-up, so many newcomers ask us which sodas are our top sellers.

For this post, I'd like to do a quick rundown on our Top 10 Best-Selling Sodas, based on sales in our Sabin, MN, Old 52 store and our 11 MAC'S Hardware stores in ND, SD, and MN (our MAC'S stores stock varying selections of the glass-bottled sodas, so to see the full line up your best bet is to visit Old 52 in Sabin).

#1 - REMOVED
Due to a request, #1 has been removed from this list. It is a soda only available at our Sabin store, so stop by the store, ask us what our #1 seller is, and we'll be happy to point it out to you. :)

#2 Coke from Mexico
Like #1, this is a classic version of a mainstream soda, properly presented in a glass bottled and sweetened with cane sugar. Unlike #1, we are able to ship Coke from Mexico to anywhere in the US via UPS Ground, so if you can't make it to the upper midwest, hit up our website to snag some.

#3 Nehi Grape
Just like Radar used to drink on M*A*S*H! This soda is our top-selling grape flavored drink for a reason: it boasts a classic, not-too-sweet flavor with a brand name that's been around since 1924.

#4 Dr Pepper
Another mainstream soda served up in glass: this one lists "sugar and/or corn sweetener" on the ingredients list, but customers tell us it still tastes different than the Dr Pepper soda found in plastic or aluminum containers. Dr Pepper has been serving up its unique blend of 23 flavors since 1885.


#5 A&W Root Beer
After success with a drink stand selling root beer during a 1919 parade, Roy Allen decided to take on Frank Wright as a partner, and in 1922 Allen and Wright combined their initials to name the beverage A&W Root Beer. This old time favorite offers a perfect blend of carbonation and sweet for a full-bodied flavor.

#6 Dad's Root Beer
Developed in Chicago in 1937, Dad's combines the classic root beer ingredients of wintergreen, licorice, and vanilla for an old-fashioned, premium flavor. Caffeine free, Dad's brings nostalgia to young and old alike with its timeless packaging and smooth root beer taste.

#7 Dublin Dr Pepper
This one was always pretty popular--it's made only in Dublin, Texas using a special recipe that features imperial cane sugar as the sweetener--but after news that Dr Pepper Snapple had filed a lawsuit against Dublin Dr Pepper, more customers have been snatching it up in fear that it may not be around in the coming years. Lawsuit or not, we'd recommend giving it a try for a slightly unique spin on the already interesting taste of Dr Pepper.

#8 Nesbitt's Orange
An American classic, Nesbitt's Orange has been a local favorite since we brought it into the stores a few years back. The Nesbitt's Fruit Products Company was founded in 1924 as a soda fountain syrup manufacturer, and in 1938 they began bottling their famous soda. Orange is their original flavor, a candy sweet soda that finishes smooth with no sticky aftertaste.

#9 Leninade
"Get hammered and sickled...A taste worth standing in line for!"
"Drink, Comrade! Drink! It's This or the Gulag!"
Leninade is truly a one-of-a-kind soda, offering a sweet citrus-orange-berry mix made with real cane sugar. Although many people first buy this soda for its fun "Communist" packaging, most are impressed with its flavor upon trying it. This comes highly recommended as it's one of my (Jess's) favorite sodas!

#10 Squirt
Increasingly hard to find in certain areas of the country, this version contains the same great Squirt flavor you know and love served in a glass bottle and sweetened with real sugar for an authentically sweet taste. We import this from Mexico, where bottles are still recycled and refilled like they were here in the USA in decades past, so part of the fun of this soda is seeing the differing Squirt logos on each bottle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did your favorite glass-bottled soda make the Top 10 list? Tell us in the comments section!

What is birch beer?

According to Wikipedia:

"Birch beer is a carbonated soft drink made from herbal extracts, usually from birch bark. It has a taste similar to root beer. Various types of birch beer are available, distinguished by color. The color depends on the species of birch tree from which the sap is extracted (though enhancements via artificial coloring are not uncommon)"

The most common type of birch beer is dark in color, made using oil from the black birch tree.

What's in a name?

Nehi (pronounced "Knee-High") was dreamt up by Georgia grocer Claud Adkins Hatcher.

Why "Nehi"?

“There is an interesting story about the origin of the Nehi trademark that took place in the 1920s. Supposedly, Claud Hatcher overheard a route salesman enter the plant one day and describe a competitor’s tall bottle as being ‘knee-high.’ This phrase falling on the receptive mind of Claud Hatcher became Nehi, which was destined to become America’s best known soft drink flavor line."

From the Hatcher family website
(http://hatcherfamilyassn.com/getperson.php?personID=I468&tree=WmTheIm)

The Pop Shoppe

Originally opened in Ontario, Canada in 1969, The Pop Shoppe line of sodas started life as the star of The Pop Shoppe franchises located across Canada and a selection of states in the U.S. Many people recall the red plastic crates at the store that you could load up with 24 sodas in your favorite combination of flavors (of which The Pop Shoppe had plenty to spare, at one time boasting 26 different kinds!). Unfortunately, the advent of grocery-store brand sodas lead to the decline of The Pop Shoppe: it simply became easier to grab your soda at the same time you were getting your groceries, making a separate trip to The Pop Shoppe stores unnecessary. Accordingly, sales plummeted, and The Pop Shoppe called it quits in 1983 (a few independent stores tried to hang in there for a couple years, but none survived long).

Fortunately for fine soda lovers, entrepreneur Brian Alger began re-registering the trademarks for The Pop Shoppe sodas in 2002, and the brand was relaunched in Ontario, Canada in the summer of 2004. Starting small with just four flavors, Alger stretched the line-up to include eight of the original flavors once cola joined the group in 2006. In 2009--following months of rumors--the beloved stubby bottle made a return, rounding out the retro feel of The Pop Shoppe sodas (which already featured the original logo and recipes). 

The Pop Shoppe sodas are just starting to roll into the U.S., and Old 52 is excited to be among those carrying the full line-up of eight flavors! The flavors, available at our Sabin, Minnesota store and our online store, are:


Black Cherry: An authentic black cherry soda that leans toward the tart end of the spectrum, without having too much bite to make it an easy-drinking soda

Cola: As refreshing as it is delicious, with a rich cola taste that pairs well with anything

Cream Soda: This lipstick-pink soda tastes like velvet out of a bottle with its smooth mouthfeel and rich flavor

Grape: Packs a powerful grape punch without being too sweet

Lime Ricky: With an explosive citrus flavor to match its intense neon color, it's delicious on its own or as a mixer

Orange: Boasts a full-bodied orange taste, without that too-sweet, sticky mouthfeel some sodas have--guaranteed to remind you of the idle summers of your youth

Pineapple:The perfect blend of tang and fruit, you'll be looking for real chunks of pineapple floating in the bottle (but don't worry: there aren't any)

Root Beer: With a creamy flavor straight out of the bottle, this was highly praised during our The Pop Shoppe soda sampling at the office

All of the sodas are delicious (trust me: I tried each one several times!), and everyone at the office had a different favorite. Kelsie LOVED the root beer ("this is the best root beer ever!"), KayLynn was partial toward grape ("it's just a really good grape flavor"), and Chuck couldn't choose between orange or grape. 

My (Jess's) favorite was the cream soda because of its smooth vanilla flavor, although root beer was a close second: its taste reminded me of sitting on my grandpa's old green-and-gold floral print couch after a large Sunday supper--sipping on root beer--and watching wrestling on TV (before I was old enough to understand that it was all staged). The Pop Shoppe soda will do that to you: conjure up memories of yesteryear while quenching your thirst with a solid line-up of delicious flavors.



References:
The Pop Shoppe website
"The Pop Shoppe pops back" by Renee Alexander (via brandchannel)

Green River

*Welcome HPR readers! Please note that a printing error has duplicated this code for 3 of the Treasure Hunt QR boxes: the next two links SHOULD be:

Link to clue #3

Link to clue #4

You may proceed with those links, then scan the last code on the map to email me (Jess) the four answers. Thanks for participating!

When you read the title of this post, did you think of this?

    Chicago River - from DiningChicago.com

 

 Or this?

 

 

Green River soda was developed in 1919 by the Schoenhofen Brewery of Chicago just as the 18^th Amendment was being passed, forcing breweries to develop non-alcoholic beverages to sell during the Prohibition era. The soda became popular as a soda fountain syrup and was also poured into old beer bottles and sold pre-mixed.

Despite ranking number two in fountain sales (just behind Coca-Cola), Green River became a low priority for the Schoenhofen Brewery after Prohibition ended in 1933, allowing them to resume the brewing of alcoholic beverages.

By the time the Chicago River was dyed green for the first time in 1962, the Schoenhofen Brewery had closed (in 1950 after going broke), and Green River soda was barely hanging on as a soda fountain drink. After going through a variety of owners and distributors that dwindled its presence to a few isolated areas, Green River production was taken up by Chicago’s Clover Club Bottling Corporation. Since then, this sweet, lime lollipop flavored soda has enjoyed a resurgence as a nostalgia item that is especially popular around St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, when the river is dyed a brilliant emerald green as part of the town’s St. Patrick’s Day parade festivities.

Old 52 offers Green River soda in 12oz glass bottles at our brick-and-mortar store located at 23 Main Street in Sabin, Minnesota and in our online store.

For more information about the dyeing of the Chicago River for St. Patrick’s Day, visit http://www.greenchicagoriver.com/ In 2011, the river will begin turning green on Saturday March 12, at 10am.

References:

• DiningChicago.com: http://www.diningchicago.com/blog/2010/03/09/two-rivers-drinking-green-in-chicago-this-st-patricks-day/
• The Soda Depot: http://www.dggpro.com/TheSodaDepot/browse.asp?page=415

Owner's Responses to Questions Posted by Facebook Fans - Questions 26-56

(*This is the 2^nd part of a two-part blog post – the 1^st part can be found here)

For our daily contest on 12-16-10 during the 10 Days of Soda Giveaway, our Facebook fans were asked to leave a comment, questions, or suggestion for Chuck, the owner of Old 52. Chuck loved reading all of the comments and suggestions, and last week, he took some time out of his busy schedule to respond to the questions posed by our fans

Below you will find the original questions from our Facebook fans, along with Chuck’s responses (as prepared by Jess).

Question 26:  From Matthew Paruszkiewicz: “How many visitors a month would you say drop in because of what they saw online?”

Response:  It’s hard to say exactly, but I know that we do get a lot of new, first-time visitors every week.

Question 27:  From Justin Wilcox: “product suggestion diet jolt”

Response:  Thanks for the suggestion – I will check to see if any of our vendors carry it.

Question 28:  From Sam Hanes: “does Cherry Lemon Sundrop come in glass bottles?”

Response:  According to our sources, only regular SunDrop is bottled in glass bottles at this time. Sorry!

Question 29:  From Ralph Munoz: “whats your favorite soda?”

Response:  As I told Sherry Walker, my favorite sodas are NuGrape, SunCrest Orange (this is the only soda that I prefer to drink warm, not cold), Moxie Orange Cream, and Point Root Beer.

Question 30:   From Le Allen: “when did you decide to "retro fit" the store for its current status, and have you found inspiration anywhere for your store?”

Response:  Like I told Maria Harsh, after opening the general store as a service to the locals in Sabin, I decided to try to find a way to attract locals from the surrounding areas, so I brought in three flavors of glass-bottled soda (Dad’s Root Beer, Green River, and Bubble Up) and sold those off our counter. The response was great, so we started bringing in more and more retro items, and that’s when the retro theme started to dominate the store. As for inspiration, I like the impression of variety, and I want the store to have bold colors to make it eye-appealing and fun to look at. I like to keep bringing in new items and moving items around to keep the store fresh.

Question 31:  From Le Allen: “What is Chucks favorite retro item carried by Old 52”

Response:  The Fisher Price Music Box Record Player – I have had a lot of people tell me they use those records as Frisbees!

Question 32:  From Kristi Jacobson: “The apple beers I saw on your site last night looked delicious - does it taste anything like apple cider?”

Response:  Yes, somewhat. It tastes like an apple cider/ginger ale combination.

Question 33:  From Justin Wilcox: “whats on your christmas wish list”

Response:  Enjoying time with my family in Florida and a wireless printer for the iPad

Question 34:  From Lee Turpen: “can Old 52 be found retail in Indiana?”

Response:  The only brick-and-mortar store we have is in Sabin, Minnesota. We do sell all of our products online at shopOld52.com, and we would be happy to ship them to Indiana for you to enjoy.

Question 35:  From Jenilee Holbert: “I think there should be giftcards or gift certificates to buy online for those who live out of state. Also can you guys offer free shipping for people who spend a certain amount? Also I was wondering, where do you find the vintage soda?”

Response:  Thank you for the gift cards/certificates suggestion: we will look into whether that would be possible on our current website. As for free shipping, we are unable to offer that because of the expense of shipping such heavy items. If we decided to offer free shipping, we would have to raise the prices of the soda to cover the shipping cost, whereas the current system we use is fairer to the customer because it charges the customer based on the zip code the item is shipped to instead of charging a very high amount per item to everyone. In internet retail, there really is no such thing as “free shipping” because if a company is able to offer free shipping, it means their profit margins are already high enough to cover the cost of that shipping, meaning you are likely overpaying for that item. We would rather keep our prices lower and use accurate shipping costs based on the customer’s selections and shipping location. As far as finding the soda, as I told Tom Gould, we find new products based on peoples’ requests, internet searches, browsing blogs, and traveling and seeing other sodas. When someone requests a new soda, we search to see if the soda is being made, and, if it is, we try to find out if we are able to order some of the product for our store.

Question 36:  From Cori Dunn: “I am wondering about your take on why glass-bottled soda is so much more tasty than canned or plastic bottled soda.”

Response:  There are a few reasons I think it tastes so much better: it doesn’t taste like can, it has a longer shelf life so it tastes fresher, it’s usually made with cane sugar, and it has a nostalgic feel to it.

Question 37:  From Melissa Vosen: “do you have plans to open anymore stores?”

Response:  Not at the time: we actually get a lot of suggestions for cities to open a new location in, but for now we are happy staying in Sabin and having our online store.

Question 38:  From Heather Lorene Tharp: “How do you find everything!?!?!”  

Response:  As was told to Jenilee Holbert above in Question 35, we find new products based on peoples’ requests, internet searches, browsing blogs, and traveling and seeing other sodas. When someone requests a new soda, we search to see if the soda is being made, and, if it is, we try to find out if we are able to order some of the product for our store.

Question 39:  From Jeff Trombly: “When did you first try it [Moxie]? and did you like it at first?”

Response:  I first tried it when we brought it in to sell a few years ago. No, I do not care for it: I think it tastes like Vicks 44 cough syrup.

Question 40:  From Amanda Smith: “have you thought about having like a decade box or just a box of mixed candies and gum.”

Response:  Thank you for the suggestion – we have thought of making a mixed box like that, but then we came back to the idea that our customers seem to enjoy selecting their own mix of items. I will keep your suggestion in mind for the future.

Question 41:  From Gary Matthew F: “What is your fav. Brand of rootbeer? And why.”

Response:  Point Root Beer: we did a blind taste test of 39 root beers here in the office, and that one came out on top. It just has a great taste to it!

Question 42:  From Brenna Mjoness: “Do you carry Faygo in 3 liter bottles?”

Response:  No we do not because we specialize in glass-bottled sodas, and glass-bottled Faygo is only available in 12oz bottles.

Question 43:  From Justin Wilcox: “whats the next in the future for old 52 expansion etc ... another thought i had is t shirts and hats with old 52 logo or something like that or is that already already going on?”

Response:  For Old 52, we will continue to bring in new products based on customer recommendations and new products that become available through our vendors. We have sold Old 52 shirts in our Sabin store, and at the office we have been talking about possibly expanding that to our online store. We also currently offer Old 52 Bottle Opener Key Chains. Thank you for the suggestions.

Question 44:  From Sherri Tate Horton: “I would REALLY love to see one of your stores in south-western virginia.”

Response:   Thank you for your comments – as was told to Melissa Vosen above in Question 37, we get a lot of suggestions for cities to open a new location in, but for now we are happy staying in Sabin and having our online store.

Question 45:  From Michelle Marshawn Borgne: “Chuck, I really love all the on this day posts. They have been very enlightening to me. I also would love to have a store where I live. I'm in Michigan!”

Response:  (Note from Jess – I do the daily posts – thank you for the kind words about them!) As was told to Sherri Tate Horton in the previous question, we get a lot of suggestions for cities to open a new location in, but for now we are happy staying in Sabin and having our online store.

Question 46:  From Lance McDaniel: “any luck with getting more than the grape and pineapple sodas in stock from The Pop Shoppe?”

Response:  No luck yet – I have talked to our vendor, and they will let us know as soon as other flavors of Pop Shoppe become available. Sorry that we haven’t been able to bring those in yet!

Question 47:  From Bill Rushoe: “hey chuck do u drink alot of soda?”

Response:  I don’t think I drink too much, but I do make an effort to try new sodas when we get them in.

Question 48:  From Justin Wilcox: “do u have any words of wisdom that you live by”

Response:  ‘Love God’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’

Question 49:  From Alex Anderson: “when you first got into business what was your main goal? Did you have a Soda show in mind? Or did you have other businesses prior to Old 52?”

Response:  My main goal with Old 52 was to offer a service to the community. As was told to Shelley Thompson Wells, in addition to Old 52 (and before Old 52), I am the President of MAC’S Inc., which is the company of the MAC’S Hardware stores, 11 stores located across the tri-state area of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. The corporate office for MAC’S is located in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is just a five minute drive from Old 52 in Sabin. As a resident of Sabin, I wanted to serve the community by opening the general store as a local source for groceries, hardware, etc., and the retro aspect of that evolved over time as a way to draw people from the surrounding areas to come visit Old 52 in Sabin. I did not have the retro soda in mind as a main draw when I started, but as more customer requests came in, it just kept growing until that became a focus for the store.

Question 50:  From Simone Trombone: “Do you have any word on when/if Jones Soda is coming out in 2 liter bottles?”

Response:  I have not heard this before about Jones coming out in 2 liters. We deal exclusively in glass-bottled soda, so those are the only Jones Sodas that I know about. Sorry I cannot help you out any more – perhaps you could contact the Jones Soda Company and ask them.

Question 51:  From Will Stilwell: “When are we going to see more Moxie?”

Response:  Right now!

Question 52:  From Kyle McClery: “Name some very retro colas!”

Response:  Double Cola has been made since 1933. Red Rock Cola – the Red Rock Company has been around since 1885. RC Cola has been made since 1905.

Question 53:  From Michelle Y. Green: “could you please clone yourself and open up a store in Washington, DC?”

Response:  It’s a good thought, but for now I think I’ll stick with just one of me. As I told Sherri Tate Horton above in Question 44, we get a lot of suggestions for cities to open a new location in, but for now we are happy staying in Sabin and having our online store.

Question 54:  From Adrianne Braun: “any way you could get Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale?”

Response:  Thank you for the suggestion – I have not heard of that one before, but I will check with our vendors to see if it is available.

Question 55:  From Tom Dolan: “The one thing I'd like to see for mail order is gift packs. It's hard to order several items that may come in a case or multiple quantities when you would like a 6 pk cola, candy bar of one type and a candy bar of another plus another singular item.”

Response:  Thank you for the suggestion. We do have soda sampler packs that make great gifts. Beyond those, each of our online items is sold as an individual (with the exception of penny candy, which is sold in small bundles) so that you can create your own gift pack. You can also include a free gift message by typing your message into the comments section of your order on shopOld52.com. We have found that our customers prefer to pick their own 6-pks of soda, so that is why we sell our bottles individually so that you can build the perfect 6-pk for whatever occasions you are shopping for. Since we do not manufacture the items ourselves, any gift pack we “create” would just be us picking out items and selling them as one single unit instead of letting you pick them individually. Instead, we want to allow you to pick the items, so that is why we even list our candy bars as individual items instead of selling them by the box as most companies do.

Question 56:  From Le Allen: “What about getting extra large glass bottles of coke? I think there a quart?”

Response:  I have not heard of a quart size bottle of Coke being produced anymore – there may be old glass bottles that come in that size. Our vendors only offer the 12oz or 8oz sizes of glass-bottled Coke. Sorry!

Once again, thank you all for questions, comments, and suggestions for Chuck during our 10 Days of Soda Giveaway contests!

Owner's Responses to Questions Posted by Facebook Fans - Questions 1-25

For our daily contest on 12-16-10 during the 10 Days of Soda Giveaway, our Facebook fans were asked to leave a comment, questions, or suggestion for Chuck, the owner of Old 52. Chuck loved reading all of the comments and suggestions, and earlier this week, he took some time out of his busy schedule to respond to the questions posed by our fans

Below you will find the original questions from our Facebook fans, along with Chuck’s responses (as prepared by Jess).

Question 1:  From Heather VanDusen: “Was wondering if you have or know if it is possible to get grape Nehi.”

Response:  We do currently carry Nehi Grape.

Question 2:  From RustyGeorgiana Strouth: “Is there any chance that there are any Zaps candy or the Betcha Life candy bar?”

Response:  According to our sources, both of those types of candy have been discontinued. Sorry!

Question 3:  From Jen King: “Any chance you might stock Pineapple Fanta in 2011?”

Response:  I would stock it if I could ever get it. I tried Fanta Pineapple while in Africa, and I loved it! I have been unable to find a source for it.

Question 4:  From Soo Hom: “Can you get Hires root beer?”

Response:  Hires Root Beer is not for sale in glass bottles at this time, so we do not carry it. Dr Pepper Snapple Group owns Hires, and it is reportedly still being produced in cans and/or plastic bottles, but reports online show that customers are having a hard time locating this soda, so it must have a limited distribution.

Question 5:  From Janet Brennan: “I was wondering what is your favorite soda from your childhood?”

Response:  Rondo, which is no longer made. My favorite childhood soda of those still being made is Pepsi.

Question 6:  From Albert Rapheal O'Neil: “whats your favorite type of ice cream?”

Response:  Mint Chocolate Chip

Question 7:  From Jared DePoppe: “Chuck whats it like being named Chuck?”

Response:  I don’t know too many Chucks, so it’s kinda unique and different. As a kid, I thought I was the only Chuck in the whole world.

Question 8:  From Jeff Trombly: “Do you have Pop Shoppe?”

Response:  We do carry Pop Shoppe Pineapple and Pop Shoppe Grape: I have tried to order more Pop Shoppe flavors, but they are not available to us at this time. If more flavors become available, I will bring them in.

Question 9:  From Bill Jensen: “wut made u invent this soda?”

Response:  Good question, but we actually do not invent or make this soda ourselves – we just find it and bring it to our store to sell.

Question 10:  From Justin Wilcox: “i think there should be 70s through 90's toys”

Response:  Thanks for the suggestion – what exactly are you thinking? Do you have specific toys in mind, or do you mean we should have a category for each decade and then list the toys from that decade?

Question 11:  From Rachel Paulus: “any chance of getting caffeine free dr pepper from you guys?”

Response:  I have never found that in glass bottles, so we do not carry it. Sorry!

Question 12:  From Holly Lynn Merrill-Hilton: "do you have a blue cream soda?”

Response:  Yes, we have several blue cream sodas: Dad’s Blue Cream, Frostie Blue Cream Soda, Jack Black’s Blue Cream Soda, and Moxie Blue Cream.

Question 13:  From Eric Larson: “Have you heard of the soda "Kentucky Nip"? … I am looking for a place to buy it again.”

Response:  Unfortunately, Kentucky Nip has been discontinued for some time. However, Sioux City Cherries ‘n Mint is the “new” Kentucky Nip because it has been formulated to taste exactly like Kentucky Nip. We normally carry this soda, but it happens to be out-of-stock right now.

Question 14:  From Bonnie St. Denis: “are any of your ginger ales/ginger beers the 'hot&spicy' variety?”

Response:  Yes, we have Pangleheimers Ginger Ale, Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew, Sprecher Ginger Ale, and Vernors Ginger Soda.

Question 15:  From Katie Kelly: “what's the most rewarding thing about your job?”

Response:  The most rewarding part is hearing the comment “Oh my goodness, I haven’t seen this since I was a kid” and seeing a smile on one of our customer’s faces. When this happens, I know that I helped give someone a few seconds of remembering a time when life was not so complicated. I love seeing the joy on peoples’ faces.

Question 16:  From Rebecca B: “have you guys looked into having a New Jersey location?”

Response:  We actually get a lot of suggestions for cities to open a new location in, but for now we are happy staying in Sabin and having our online store.

Question 17:  From Maria Harsh: “What made you decide to open the general store?”

Response:  I decided to open Old 52 as a service to the community: as a small town, Sabin does not have its own grocery store. For any real shopping, Sabin residents had to spend an hour our of their day (20 minutes driving to the nearest store, 20 minutes shopping, and 20 minutes driving home). I had the idea to open a local general store where people could pick up groceries, basic hardware items, etc. I surveyed the community to see if they would support such a store, and the response was encouraging, so I went ahead with the idea. Then I decided to try to find a way to attract locals from the surrounding areas out to Sabin to visit our store: I brought in three flavors of glass-bottled soda (Dad’s Root Beer, Green River, and Bubble Up) and sold those off our counter. The response was great, so we started bringing in more and more retro items, and the rest is history.

Question 18:  From Brittany Lee Akin: “Would you say that it's an overall rewarding business to own a general store? What are some things that reminds you every day why you have the job you have”

Response:  Owning Old 52 is very rewarding because it offers a chance for me to bring joy to our customers (see response to Question 15 above). It also gives me a chance to serve the community by offering a local store where they can find grocery items they need or hardware supplies that they would otherwise have to drive upwards of 20 minutes one way to purchase. Another thing that reminds me why I have this job is the fact that I love the variety – this business changes every day, there is always something new coming across my desk, and that keeps it interesting.

Question 19:  From Philip Cannon: “Do you ship? I need FAYGO cola real bad nowadays”

Response:  We do ship all of our sodas - you can order online at shopOld52.com. Since we specialize in glass-bottled sodas, we only carry the varieties of Faygo that are offered in glass bottles. Unfortunately, Faygo Cola is not one of these - we do carry Faygo Orange, Grape, Rock & Rye, Red Pop, Vanilla Creme, and Root Beer.

Question 20:  From Tom Gould: “how do you guys go about finding all the product that you stock in the store?”

Response:  We find new products based on peoples’ requests, internet searches, browsing blogs, and traveling and seeing other sodas. When someone requests a new soda, we search to see if the soda is being made, and, if it is, we try to find out if we are able to order some of the product for our store.

Question 21:  From Jeri Griffin Buboltz: “One of my favorite sweet treats from my childhood was foil-wrapped, chocolate candy cigarettes. … If you could locate them and start carrying them in your store, I would certainly buy a bunch!”

Response:  I don’t believe foil-wrapped chocolate candy cigarettes are being made anymore. We do carry Chocolate Candy Cigarettes wrapped in white paper that may have a similar taste to those you remember from your childhood.

Question 22:  From Jerry Calhoun: “My only suggestion is you need to do something to lower the shipping costs.”

Response:  (This response is from Jess and was originally posted on Facebook) Thanks for the comment to Chuck, Jerry, I can actually answer this one myself because I get asked it a lot. Unfortunately, our shipping costs are as low as they can be at this time (the only way they would go down is if UPS lowers their rates, which I do not think would happen). There are a few reasons that shipping costs are what they are for our products:

(i)      Glass-bottled soda is heavy. It has 12-16oz of liquid inside, plus the glass itself. Add that to our packaging, and you equal anywhere between 1.5-2lbs/bottle (a typical box of 12 sodas weighs in at 18-20lbs, more for the 16oz sodas). This automatically drives up the cost.

(ii)    We cannot use any of the priority or flat-rate boxes because they do not allow for the type of protective packaging we need to get our glass bottles to you in one piece. We use custom styrofoam holders to keep the bottles cushioned during shipment, and this is the only way we have found to fully protect the items from breaking. This does increase the size of the box required as well as slightly increasing the weight (which all drives up shipping costs), but it results in a very low rate of breakage as opposed to bubble wrap or other shipping methods.

(iii)    To determine shipping costs, each item you add to your cart has a weight attached to it, the total weight is then calculated, and that weight is used to pull a shipping estimate from the UPS website based on current rates for the destination zip code. On top of the UPS quote, there is a very small charge added for packing materials and labor, but that charge is minimal.

(iv)   I hope you understand that I (we) understand your question and concern about the shipping costs, and that is why I try to fully explain these details to anyone that asks. It's unfortunate that shipping is so expensive, but that's just the nature of shipping heavy, extremely fragile objects. Also, please note that we do not add on charges to make a profit on shipping - on larger orders we actually typically end up under-charging the customer for shipping vs what we actually pay to UPS.

Question 23:  From Shelley Thompson Wells: “What made you start up the General Store? Is this always been your career, or did you do something else before opening the Store?”

Response:  See my response to Question 17 above for what made me start Old 52. In addition to Old 52 (and before Old 52), I am the President of MAC’S Inc., which is the company of the MAC’S Hardware stores, 11 stores located across the tri-state area of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. The corporate office for MAC’S is located in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is just a five minute drive from Old 52 in Sabin. As a resident of Sabin, I wanted to serve the community by opening the general store as a local source for groceries, hardware, etc., and the retro aspect of that evolved over time as a way to draw people from the surrounding areas to come visit Old 52 in Sabin.

Question 24:  From Dave Basey: “i believe you should consider a northern michigan location. You should stock more jones flavors.”

Response:  Thanks for the suggestions. As was said to Rebecca B above, we get a lot of suggestions for cities to open a new location in, but for now we are happy staying in Sabin and having our online store. As for the Jones flavors, we are currently carrying all of the Jones flavors that our vendors carry, but I will keep an eye out for new flavors the next time we order.

Question 25:  From Sherry Walker: “what are your favor sodas and candies?”

Response:  My favorite sodas are NuGrape, SunCrest Orange (this is the only soda that I prefer to drink warm, not cold), Moxie Orange Cream, and Point Root Beer. My favorite candies are Broadway Rolls, Chiclets, and Aero Mint Bars.

This is only about half of the questions asked during the contest – stay tuned for another blog post with more questions and answers!

*UPDATE*

The 2nd part of this blog post has been published and can be viewed here