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Good trade: Kalamazoo Beer Exchange

Kalamazoo Beer Exchange

If the economic slump has you swearing off the stock market, bring your trading prowess to Michigan’s Kalamazoo Beer Exchange, where the beer menu looks more like a NYSE ticker than a tap list. All 28 Michigan-leaning drafts are priced according to real-time sales: When several patrons buy a particular pint, they drive that beer’s price up; beers that aren’t in demand fall, and daily “market crashes” sink beers to basement lows. The system drives drinkers to consider, say, swapping a popular Dark Horse or Founders selection to a lesser-known, lower-priced draft like Round Barn Oaked IPA or B. Nektar Zombie Killer cyser. “You’ll walk in and see Bell’s Two Hearted for $3, and Bud Light for $3.50,” says founder James Flora. “Where else in America would you see that happen?”

Published March/April 2012
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