The Responsible Retailers of New York, a joint educational initiative of the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) and the Food Industry Alliance of New York (FIANY) State, has scheduled an upcoming training session for retailers of tobacco and alcohol in Orange and surrounding counties.
It will be held Thursday, June 28, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, Route 207, Goshen NY. Designed for owners, operators and employees of convenience stores, supermarkets, service stations and other establishments licensed to sell tobacco products and/or alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption, the nearly three-hour workshop provides practical, real-life techniques for preventing underage sales.
Using major elements of the national “We Card” program, the course has been approved by both the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Liquor Authority as a certified sales training program. As such, it delivers vital protection for a store’s tobacco, lottery and beer licenses.
The certification, and its license protections, cannot be issued retroactively. The law rewards voluntary action by responsible retailers to pro-actively train and certify their employees before such sales occur. During the past 12 months, at least 3,500 stores have been fined for selling age-restricted products to minors, and an estimated 100 have lost their tobacco, lottery and/or liquor licenses due to underage sales that could have been prevented through training.
The Responsible Retailers course covers tobacco and alcohol laws and penalties, restricted products and prohibited sales, acceptable forms of identification. How to properly examine ID, how to spot fake ID, required signage and license posting, tobacco self-service restrictions, how to confidently refuse sales, how to handle customer conflict, and tools and resources.
Registration for the June 28 training class is $50 per person. There is a $25 discount for NYACS or FIANYS members. To pre-register, call 800-336-9227 or download the form at www.nyacs.org.
