At the beginning of the semester, John Bagley, the owner of Forest City Wine and Spirits, asked his employees to brainstorm possible promotions for the store. One concept quickly took off in the minds of Bagley and his employees—they would send judges to the University to evaluate parties that served alcohol purchased from Forest City.

A winning party would be announced at the end of the semester, and its hosts would be awarded a cash prize or store credit. After considering the promotion for several weeks, however, Bagley recently vetoed the idea because of the negative reception he anticipated it might have received from both University administrators and the Connecticut Liquor Commission.

“Perceptions kill businesses even if they’re not the truth,” Bagley said. “We didn’t really get serious about [the promotion]. We were just thinking about it, passing it around to the employees to see what they thought.”

He noted that several employees who also attend the University had high hopes for the concept.

“[Wesleyan parties] are all the same,” Bagley recalled one student-employee saying. “This might bring a variety.”

In evaluating University parties, Bagley noted that the judges would have looked at the quality of the party’s music, as well as awarding high scores to parties with live music. Additionally, judges would have included ratings of the party’s alcohol, in terms of its quality and appropriateness to the atmosphere of the occasion.

“If you’re having a formal with Natty Ice you’d get a low grade,” he said.

When Bagley first entertained the idea of such a promotion, he knew he would have to speak to the Connecticut Liquor Commission regarding the plan’s legality. According to Bagley, the government official he spoke with said that although the promotion was not technically illegal, it might be looked down upon by the government considering that many of the students at college parties are underage.

Bagley was also told that it would be illegal to award a cash prize, and that instead the winner would have to designate a charity of their choice to which to donate the money.

Although Bagley never asked the University for its opinion on the promotion, he was correct in predicting that the administration would react negatively.

“For my part, I’m glad that they will not pursue the concept,” said Dean Michael Whaley in an e-mail to The Argus. “I can imagine all sorts of problematic issues with such a promotion, ranging from likely attention from the CT Liquor Commission to the logistics of implementing the idea.”

Members of the student body were largely uninterested by the concept of the Forest City contest.

John Tseng ’11, social chair of Psi Upsilon (Psi U), felt that Forest City’s promotion would not have been enough to draw the fraternity’s business away from its current supplier, Metro Liquor.

He explained that individual fraternity brothers, rather than the fraternity as an organization, purchase alcohol for Psi U parties. Many of these individual members, Tseng reported, have cultivated a close relationship with Metro Liquor.

“Metro has been good to Psi U,” he said. “They provide us with whatever we want and we haven’t had any problems with them.”

As one of 16 liquor stores in Middletown, by Bagley’s estimation, Forest City has found its own place in the market along with Metro Liquor and other competitors.

“We have a lot of micros and import beers that a lot of other liquor stores don’t,” Bagley said. “I’m sure Metro does very good business, as well as all the other stores. They all have they’re niche.”

Regardless of his scrapped plan to boost liquor sales to students, Bagley appreciates the business that the student body brings to his store and Middletown in general.

“Our community is a college town no matter what people think,” he said. “When Wesleyan is in session the whole community benefits from it.”

Despite the cancelled contest, Forest City has several other promotions in mind.

“We’re going to do a tour of breweries,” Bagley said. “That’s more of a service that my store is offering to the community.”

On Nov. 16, Forest City will offer a guided tour of Opa Opa Brewery in Southampton, Mass. For $50 a ticket, alcohol enthusiasts will tour the brewery and sample its beer.

“I’m big into microbrews and imports,” Bagley said. “I want to promote my store in that section.”