A Trip To Railside Beverage

Figure 1

      Located on 544 Ferry Street in Danville Pa, there stands an old rustic building compiled of a seemingly endless array of red brick. As one reaches the front door, they are blinded by bright neon signs hanging from the office windows. They read "Bud Light", "Yuengling", "Goose Island" and, of course, the flashing open sign that seems to welcome the customers, which can be seen in Figure 1.

    As customers walk through the front door, they trigger a motion sensor, "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" and in a blink of an eye, they are greeted by an employee. Jim, who is the manager of Railside Beverage, usually appears from the office door with a red Alabama football tee-shirt along with a "Roll Tide" hat to greet everyone with a big smile and a "How can I help you today sir/mamn". Jim is a tall and built man, highlighting his previous years as a professional weightlifter. 

    "When I'm in this store, only two things matter, beer, and football!" Jim chuckled. "I hope to make everyone's day better by helping them find the perfect drink, I know I enjoy sitting, watching the game, and cracking open a cold one. I'm just happy to help people get to that bliss." 

    As customers check out the abundant amount of beer in the saleroom, Jim never fails to find something in common with them.  "Alabama needs to do better. No way we can lose again!" he says to a man wearing an Eagles shirt. Even though the customer had no signs he was an Alabama fan, Jim remembered this detail from a conversation long ago and made the customer feel seen. 

Figure 2

Figure 3 

    The showroom floor, as seen in Figure 2, has pallets of Miller Light, Keystone Light, and Coors Light stacked as high as the eye can see. As customers make their way to the left side of the store, they will see shelves jammed packed with craft beers: IPAs, sours, domestics, and many more options that seem to be endless (Figure 3). This section is the most vibrant corner of the whole store, With bright colors and fun designs, these drinks are created to catch a glance. If a customer finds their way to this section, they will almost always pick a drink because "It looks cool!" as this corner seems to be the gathering point for customers to converse about what beer to try next. 

     That's just all the warm beer customers can choose from. As customers wander up to the massive refrigerators, they are met with even more options of beer: ciders, malts, domestics, spiked teas, and more. If any questions arise during their browsing, such as "Is this good?" or "Where are the Vizzys?", Jim used his sixth sense and appears, practically begging to satisfy his customers, as he's always trying to make everyone happy.

Figure 4

As customers decide on what beer their buying, they make their way down the handmade ramp that leads to the office by the front door. The office door is white with paint chipping off it as it looks like an old farmhouse door. (Figure 4) As the door opens it's very squeaky and also sets off the “ding dong”. The two doors are close in proximity. The office where customers pay is surprisingly clean for a building that has been around for decades. There is not a trace of dirt on the floor and the counter is shiny and smells of lemons. There is an overall smell of cleanliness in this space. If shopping for beer sparks an appetite in his patrons, Jim also has an assortment of snacks available for purchase where customers pay. While checking customers out Jim continues always making small talk with every customer and shows off how much knowledge he has of them. When the customer leaves the store,  the “ding dong” plays again as they walk through the parking lot to get to their car. All that's left is Jim standing there with a big smile on his face waiting for the next customer to greet!