Pizza, beer and scratchies: the latest comforts

Where’s everyone spending their ‘fun’ dollar these days?

The following article appeared in Sydney’s Sun Herald newspaper on 8th March.

Australians are escaping their economic worries with beer, fast food and lottery tickets. Brewers are posting record profits, while takeaway food and inexpensive forms of gambling are doing well despite the economic downturn. Commsec chief economist Craig James calls it the cocooning effect, where people are happy to spend on affordable pleasures such as a cheap meal, a six-pack of beer and a scratchie. “People are still spending on pizza and Chinese takeaway and packaged beer to have at home while watching their high-definition TVs,” Mr James said. “In any economic cycle, there are winners and losers.” Lion Nathan, brewers of Tooheys, Hahn and James Squire beers, posted a net sales growth of 7 per cent for the quarter ending December 31. “The market is robust and it doesn’t look like at this stage … it’s been affected, but we need to remain vigilant,” Lion Nathan corporate affairs director James Tait said. According to AC Nielsen, the Australian beer market grew by 2.3 per cent for the last quarter.

Now what goes perfectly with pizza and beer?  Fun!  No one really likes to wallow in their doom and gloom, and a little escapism never did anybody any harm.  Invite your patrons to enjoy a couple of games at the Arcade Table, on the house: “Buy a Tooheys beer, get a game of Galaga on us!”

Call me and we’ll get an Arcade Table out to you within days.  We’ll also provide you with tokens at no extra charge, to promote however you like. 

Bottle shop owners!!  Get an edge over other shops in your area and make yours the place to be!  Any customer stopping by for their carton of beer will be hard pressed to resist playing a few games in store.  Watch the coins pile up!