It’s been a crazy summer here in the San Juans and it’s put a cramp in my writing production. The thing about writing is that you need to do it all the time to keep the creative juices flowing. It’s sort of like running. If you stop for a period of time, it takes a ton of willpower to start up again. Writing to me is as difficult if I don’t keep at it consistently. So, if you are not enjoying this particular piece, it’s because I’m starting up again and things may be a bit slow.
Susie (my wife) and I were talking about the wine department last night. I have developed the department over the years and as a result, it is very busy. The concept of having a full-time sommelier in wine departments has slowly disappeared. It seems that a lot of chain stores believe that a central buyer can make informed decisions on purchasing for many different stores with quite different demographics. Sad to say that because of this, many wine departments in grocery stores are weak at best. How can a person let’s say from Seattle, make an informed wine purchase for a store in Darrington WA? The demographics are the yin and the yang and unless you live in Darington and understand your customer, you are not going to be able to purchase wine for the store that will sell. Sure you can fill the shelves with Barefoot and Robert Mondavi wines and probably sell some. However, if you have someone in the department that knows their customers and their palates, that person will be able to make informed wine purchases and develop a following. That is the key to success for independent and chain stores.
One might argue that Costco has tremendous success in the wine department and has a central buyer that makes decisions for all the stores. Costco, of course, is all about price. They run on a slim profit margin and because of that, many wine drinkers go there for a bargain. That being said, they run the risk of someone buying an inexpensive bottle and not liking it, because there wasn’t someone at the store to guide them. There are the Costcos of the world, and I admit that their model of low profit and huge volume works. All I’m saying is I hate to see the disappearance of wine stewards in the grocery stores. A good wine guy or girl can make all the difference, and I hope that some of these chain stores wake up and understand the value of personal attention that a good wine steward can bring.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
