SHUT DOWN LOUIE'S

Another winter, and another threat from Cheng-san Chen (owner of Louie’s Superette) to close his convenience store. Last year, following the Cambridge Licensing Commission’s decision to revoke Chen’s license in the wake of his sale of alcohol to minors, Chen painted a dire picture of his store’s finances and threatened to retire early and shut down his store—unless the punishment levied on him was not too severe.

This year is no different. Chen claims his store has lost $150,000 of revenue during this year alone, making retirement a foregone conclusion—unless students will sign a petition and enable him to sell alcohol on Sundays once again. So unless we the students take an active interest in saving Louie’s now, the store may go the way of Budweiser B^E.

I propose we do absolutely nothing.

For years, students have trooped to Louie’s to buy $20 30-racks of Busch Light and 10 dollar six-packs of Dos Equis. The prices were outrageous, but the conventional argument was that Louie’s incredibly convenient location was worth a premium. Cost-benefit analysis always gave Louie’s the one-up. Recently, however, Louie’s even more astronomical prices and the presence of other, more compelling choices for beverage-buying have made beer runs to Louie’s impossible to justify.

In a bid to revive his sales, Chen just hiked the prices of beer further. Now, that same Busch Light 30-rack costs $21, and six-packs run higher as well. Though it is in actuality a small price hike, it is in many ways the straw that breaks the proverbial student’s back. I can buy a 30-rack of Pabst Blue Ribbon for $14 at University Wine, and a 30 of Busch for $16. Psychologically, saving five-to-seven dollars per 30 is worth the walk up Massachusetts Avenue. And that’s not even counting the gain in getting better beer for less.

Other stores, like University Wine, Broadway Market and University Market, have better selections of good beer and much lower prices. If anything, Louie’s closing would give Harvard students no choice but to frequent these other establishments, where better beer comes cheaper and in greater quantity. Freshman now nursing on Busch Light, Milwaukee’s Best—the red-headed stepchildren of real beer—and the occasional uninspiring Corona may one day find themselves exposed to the magic of Sierra Nevada stout and Smutty Nose IPA at a younger age, just because it’s available. Closing Louie’s would be the first step in Harvard students’ higher beer-ducation.

In an ideal world, Cheng-san Chen would realize that the only way to increase his sales would be to lower prices in hopes of moving more volume. With his new diligence in ID’ing students and his higher prices, Harvard denizens have lost the two main impetuses for frequenting his store. They need to be convinced to return to the Superette, not further abused by high prices and a continually bad beer selection. In light of all this, it’s time for us students to exercise our consumer power and take our alcohol expenditures elsewhere. It’ll taste better, cost less, and the longer walk might work off a few of those beer-induced pounds. My advice? Ditch Louie’s, head to Mass. Ave, and get ready to join the ranks of Harvard’s beer-elite.

Alex Slack ’06, a Crimson editorial chair, is a history concentrator in Leverett House.