BJ’s Restaurants is rolling out its Brewhouse Beer Club subscription service today to all of the casual dining chain’s restaurants in California, its largest market by far.
The program will be introduced in units elsewhere during the remainder of 2021, the chain announced.
The Beer Club invites customers to pay a $30 upfront fee for two trailing months of what BJ’s says are $75 worth of exclusive perks.
During the first two-month cycle, the payback includes a 750-milliliter bottle of BJ’s signature Imperial White Ale and either a 64-ounce growler or six cans of a small-batch BJ’s brew. All are intended for off-premise consumption. Founding subscribers also get a reusable 20-ounce beer glass for home drinking.
During every two-month cycle that follows, members receive two types of beers that are available exclusively through the club. The brews are usually provided in four 16-ounce cans or one 750-milliliter bottle.
The benefits also include unlimited upgrades of 16-ounce beer orders to 20-ounce servings at no extra cost, both for on-site consumption and where to-go beer sales are permitted. Members can refill their take-home growlers for just $5, with a limit of one per visit.
To encourage onsite visits, members are also entitled during every two-month cycle to a free appetizer or P’zookie dessert, and can take home one deep-dish pizza at no extra charge.
All recruits are automatically enrolled in BJ’s frequent-guest program, with $10 in points awarded for every $100 that’s spent on food and non-alcoholic beverages, apparently for takeout as well as dine-in service.
BJ’s had been testing the program at a handful of units in the northern half of California, one of the states where an alcohol-subscription program is permitted.
Similar programs, where consumers pay one big upfront fee for a goods and services delivered on a cyclical basis, have proliferated during the pandemic. Many view the model as a carryover from the meal-kit business, where patrons commit to a series of meals they order ahead of time.
BJ’s program has been one of the more ambitious initiatives.
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