Flanagan’s Stop & Shop

As of late I have learned to avoid this store. I used to come on a weekly basis for their weekly specials and rebates. But recently their prices have gone even higher than the grocery stores. And the selection of rare liqours has gone down, if they have it at all.
There have been a few times where the shelves were empty of what I’ve been looking for and the price per bottle was $ 1-​$ 5 higher.
The rebates and deals they offer are pretty straight forward and are sometimes offered at other stores. That said I’ve had issues with getting my rebates due to their generic receipts only saying liqour or beer and not specific names and quantities.
There are better prices and varieties at other stores, with better and friendlier service. Unless you don’t want to go out of your way to go to said stores, then this store with work in a pinch.

Huge wine selection. Good craft beer selection.
Whatever you need you can find it (or something like it) here.
They also have some of the weirdest liquors I have ever seen… Salty Watermelon UV? Wasabi Vodka? I even found bacon flavored vodka!

The positives for Flanagan’s: they might have something new beer-​wise for you. The negatives: everything else.
The staff is neither friendly nor helpful. Not rude by any means, but the type of employee that will wave vaguely in the direction of the item you’re looking for instead of taking you there. That’s fine, it’s a liquor store, I don’t need you to be first in customer service, I guess.
What I absolute will not abide is garbage masked by the word «savings». Maybe it was my mistake to assume that the margarita mix discounted during the Thanksgiving weekend was not expired. (It was, by several months. Gross.) Maybe it was my fault to assume that if a business heavily advertises the mail-​in-​rebate on their vodka, that they will give you a receipt that allows you to, you know, get the rebate. (They don’t.)
Stop in here if you’re desperate and in the neighborhood. I got burned and am never going back. This also means I won’t be patronising the restaurant either. I don’t want them to have any more of my money.

I visited Appleton over summer and helped my parents throw an anniversary party. Our caterer recommended contacting Flanagans to handle the bar. I will say that they worked on a tight deadline, brought out a wide selection of beverages, helped set up and the bartenders were good with the guests. Those were the good things. I only wish that our dealings with the owner Pat could have been better.
Here’s what happened. At the outset, most of our dealings were with a middle manager. She was pleasant in quoting us some various prices on beverage costs and labor. However, our requests for a formal quote were ignored, and at the end of the day, we ended up being charged $ 1,000 more than the estimate I calculated for myself based on the prices I was given, about a third more!
Several wines I requested were swapped out for others without notice and the substitutes were not as good. In one case, we were charged double the price I was quoted for one variety of wine (e.g. they failed to charge the sale price that they promised at the outset). Additionally, the labor expense ended up way higher than quoted, and the incidentals, like ice, cups, bus tub rental, etc., which were never quoted on the front end, came out much higher than one would reasonably expect. FYI, they also add 18% on top of everything for gratuity. It wasn’t clear if this went to the servers or to the business, however such a high mandatory «gratuity,» especially when the bill comes out higher than expected, makes it really hard to use the tip as an expression of satisfaction with service to guests.
In an effort to come to some middle ground between our quoted prices and what we were ultimately charged, we pointed out the surprises on the bill and discrepancies between some of the initial quotes and final charges. In a call my father had with Pat, Pat got angry, threatening and hung up on him. Ultimately, after several more exchanges we paid the full bill just to put things to rest.
Pat’s a gruff guy and seems to lack some of the basic courtesy and professionalism needed to keep customers returning to a small town business. It’s too bad that such a fine party had to be tainted by a dispute that dragged on afterward and made us certain that we wouldn’t bring any more business to Flanagans until they fix their policies regarding up-​front estimates and their to approach customer service.

I was in the town, visiting family unexpectedly. When foraying into foreign territory (I’m from Kentucky, y’all), I always enjoy finding local or regional beer offerings. I treaded slowly and quietly away from my family obligations (read: in-​law visit) and found this place nestled in a downtown shopping district. I had but minutes to spare, but the selection of craft beers was extremely good, causing me to hyperventilate because I simply didn’t have the time to read each label and make the difficult decision of which bottles to buy. However, I finally made my selections and purchased a New Glarus sampler pack as well as a smattering of other bottles that represented a variety of breweries and styles. The lady who checked me out was helpful and friendly, and I left with beer: end of transaction.
This may have possibly been the final time that I will visit this establishment in my lifetime (long story of why we were in Appleton at all, but that’s both irrelevant and downright uninteresting). I appreciate a liquor store that has a good beer selection, and I rarely look at anything else. I don’t like hard alcohol, and know about as much about wine as I do about nuclear fission (you don’t know me so I guess I should tell you that I don’t know much about nuclear fission). So, this place was great for me. Visit it if you like craft beer, wine, spirits or fission. Oh by the way, the entrance is in the back of the store now.

I’ve been going to the Stop and Shop for nearly my entire life. Back in the day, they used to have their own special dirty party favors section. Well those days are gone and so are the packages of fake vomit and nudie-​girl lighters. What’s left is a chintzy liquor store with a terrible wine selection, but a beer selection that’s somewhat redeemable.
All these years, i’ve never thought of Flanagan’s as a place to buy anything other than a giant bottle of brandy, a six pack of high life and some ting. But fine wines? After their renovation years back, much of the store is taken up by their massive wine selection. The problem? It’s such a horrendous wine selection, I can’t even go in there anymore without my eyes bleeding!!! Well, I guess this is when my pretentious wine-​snob side is in full effect. The fact is, I love wine, work in the industry and like to think I know a thing or two about the grape and it’s delectable juice. Every time i’ve gone into Flanagan’s looking for a decent bottle, i’ve walked out with a six pack of beer. The fact is, there is a delicate art to crafting a good wine selection. Variety is key. You want a vast amount of great and unique wines from all over the globe in every price range, but mostly in the $ 9 to $ 30 range. From each country, you should have a couple of big dogs in $ 50 and up category for those big spenders. Also, you want a knowledgeable staff who can point you to the exact wine you would like. The arrangement of wine is also very important. If you go by country, at least have them arrange by grape varietal, or very least, price. At Flanagan’s, it’s a very sporadic collection, heavily dominated by new world Californian wines. It’s very possible that you may see a disgracefully old vintage of Kendall Jackson Cabernet for $ 12 next to a bottle of Flora Springs Cab for $ 75. What? Try to find a good wine from Argentina, I dare you! The Italian selection is made up of ultra expensive chianti’s…which no one really even drinks anymore. I find more people want stuff like Barbera, Aglianico or Nero d’Avola. Wicker bottles of Chianti are pretty much automatically filled with shit wine and should be used for display only. Every time I go in all of the bottles are dusty… that, combined with the old vintages tells me that they don’t have that much of a turnover, which is never good. The blaring heat in the winter is also a terrible sign… I can’t even imagine how cooked and corked a lot those bottles are. Also, the staff almost never really knows what they’re talking about.
Nonetheless, they have a great beer selection with a ton of micro brews. You can even mix your own six pack out of a plethora of singles, which is cool. The walk-​in beer cooler is fun.
Overall, a decent store in a pinch. The beer selection is good. Their wine buyer, on the other hand, needs to be fired!!! What they’re doing with that valuable wine real estate is sad!