A store that only sells root beer – the concept seems a little wacky even to its customers, says The Root Beer Store owner Corey Anderson.

“Customers come in and say, ‘How in the world are you making money doing just root beer?'”

Anderson tells KIRO Radio’s Seattle Kitchen Show that he got into the root beer business after sitting down and really trying to figure out what he enjoyed doing.

“I just sat down and took a personal inventory and said, ‘What do I want to do with my life? What do I enjoy?’ And I just enjoyed that experience with my father growing up making root beer, and I said, ‘Let’s try and put out our own brand.'”

As he started down that path, he soon discovered just how many different brands of root beer actually exist, and he adjusted his vision a bit.

“I kind of changed my model, instead of making my own brand of root beer, I decided just to sell everyone else’s. It’s a lot easier.”

He says there are about 350 active brands of root beer out there today. The Root Beer Store has over 100 available for sale on its website and at its Redmond and Lynnwood locations.

Some of the brands are traditional and some have little extra notes to give them a unique taste. “There are a lot of different flavorings. We’ll have a black licorice flavoring or a clove,” he says. There are also creamy varieties and some with more of a bite.

Anderson says they also offer a variety of single root beverages.

“When you have a single root drink, it’s like a Ginger beer or an Apple beer or a Sasperella, and so it’s that specific name.”

The Root Beer Store even offers a Root Beer of the Month Club. You can either join for free to receive their root beer news updates, or you can pay for a monthly membership that will ship you a six pack of the root beer flavor of the month.

While the focus now is on selling other brands, Anderson says he hasn’t given up on his initial dream of coming out with his own variety.

“We’ll get our own going, too, some day.”

For now, there’s a huge inventory available for shopping at The Root Beer Store in Redmond, Lynnwood, or online at therootbeerstore.com.

Seattle Kichen with Tom Douglas and Thierry Rautureau can be heard on KIRO Radio on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m. Available anytime ON DEMAND at KIRORadio.com.