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About Thrifty Beverage Center

The Beverage Store is open Monday through Saturday. Our hours are from 9AM to 7PM.
**We are CLOSED on Sundays**

We're not just a store, come bring your bottles & cans to recycle! We all love getting a little extra change in our pockets almost as much as we love recycling!

Our Redemption Center is open Monday Through Saturday 9AM to 6PM.
**We are closed on Sundays!**

**Please keep in mind if you're planning on bringing your recyclables in to our establishment they MUST:

- Include a 5 CENT NY redemption stamp. NO EXCEPTIONS!
-Be sorted in CLEAR plastic bags by type (plastic bottles, metal cans, & glass bottles)
-Be counted before you arrive, it's faster for both you and our team members!

For each can or bottle (piece) you bring in, you get $0.05 cents, so grab whatever empty bottles/cans you have laying around your house & come on down!



In 1951, two brothers opened a retail store along the Culver-Narrows rail line on McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn and aptly named their place of business the "Culver - Narrows Beer Distributor".

In those days, Schaefer and Rheingold were the most popular beers whose breweries were located near The Brooklyn Navy Yard. Beer was not the only beverage sold, you could also purchase seltzers by the case in thick glassed bottles that featured a "spritz" top for serving this bubbly beverage as opposed to the "twist" tops used today.

Who could forget Hammer Soda that was also sold here with their tasty varieties of Cream, Root-Beer, Ginger Ale, and Black Cherry, also coming in those thick glass bottles? There were also chocolate and vanilla syrups, as well as Coca-Cola syrup, for those wishing to make soda at home, do you remember Egg Creams?

Soon, the neighborhood was buying most of its beverages from Culver-Narrows. You could cash and carry, or get your purchase delivered, thus getting the nick name of a "Home-D". Everyone having a party, barbecue, or wedding could satisfy their beverage needs at Culver-Narrows. Kegs of Beer with taps to serve were not uncommon!

Not only did these brothers provide a service, they provided a place of employment for local residents full-time, as well as summer employment for teens attending school. Over the years, hundreds could boast of working at "the beer distributor"!

The brothers worked hard at the business over the years and when their children were old enough, were brought in to help out after school and during the summer. Eventually, in 1986, one of the sons became sole proprietor of the establishment.

Prior to this, the brothers joined in a collective advertising and purchasing enterprise of over 50 independent stores known as "Thrifty Beverage Centers" , who would run adds in local newspapers featuring sales of the week on many different brands of beer and soda sold at these stores. Culver- Narrows, never changing its name, through these ads , became known to many as simply, "Thrifty.”
990 McDonald Ave Brooklyn, NY, 11230
Brooklyn NY
beerstore990@gmail.com
Mon-Sat: 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
Sun: Closed