Opening Order in August Without Refrigerated Delivery?

Hi all…this is only my second post to this forum, which has been very helpful to me as I am opening (from scatch) a new retail wine specialty shop here in a small historic town in Southern Colorado…something I have fantasized about doing for a long time. I just received my liquor license and am in the middle of installing racking, coolers, a POS system, merchant services and (of course) selecting inventory.

All of my distributors (except Southern) have told me that they ship in refrigerated trucks from Denver, which is about 4 hours from my town. With Summer temperatures in the 95-100+ degree range (I can only imagine how hot it is inside the truck), I am very concerned about cooking the wine. My concern is not just popped corks, but also the subtler heat damage that can make a wine lose its freshness and fruit; most of the wines I am ordering from them are meant to be drunk very young.

My Southern rep has told me that I worry too much and that they have rarely ever had a problem shipping in August. Because this is such a large and important order for me, I am still very concerned. What would you do? Any thoughts, comments or advice would be much appreciated! TIA

Michelle,

Aside from the time spent in the trucks on the day of delivery, many trucks are packed the night before and can sit outside for hours in the early morning as well.
I’m sure that your night temps are a little cooler but here on the east coast humidity can keep our night temps very warm.

Your weather looks to be in the high 80’s-low 90’s the rest of the week, from a weather standpoint alone, I would not ship. You could have them ship it and refuse it if it’s damaged, but they could very well reship you the same damaged wine a few weeks from now so that doesn’t seem like a good option.

One other view… [stirthepothal.gif]

What, specifically, are the wines? I wouldn’t be too concerned overall about shipping some KJ or CDB Chard, or a $15 NZ Sauv Blanc that will turn over quickly. I wouldn’t be shipping any of my Beaucastel Blanc or White Burgundies, though.

Michelle, welcome aboard.

My mom was born right across the border in Raton.

Hi Brent…thanks for the response.

Most, but not all, of the wines will be simple porch pounders. I guess I could leave the pricier/more delicate wines for a later order when things cool down. But still, I’d like even the simple wines (many of which will be new to this town) to show in their best light. All that these wines have going for them is freshness and some forward fruit. I’d hate to lose that. You think they won’t be harmed much at all?

Welcome Michelle and congrats on your new venture.
Oh yes, the perils of dealing w/SWS. It won’t be the only pitfall with them but really maddening. I try to avoid purchasing any product from them but if I must I give them a delivery window so product arrives before the hottest part of the day. If they can’t do it I tell them to keep it. They have no problem accomodating restaurants, there’s no reason it can’t be the same for us.

Hi Bill…yes, Raton is only about 30 miles from here. One of my favorite short drives is over the Raton Pass. Seems like all of New Mexico lies before you!

Carrie,

As Michelle is a 4-5hr drive from the warehouse, ‘accommodating’ her for a delivery time is probably a relative term.

Michelle, I think that Carrie’s first point that you should rely on Southern for as few of your items as possible is the best way to go, especially right now. Also, if you’re a new shop and you’re doing a substantial initial order, you could convince your salesperson/salespeople to rent a reefer van and bring your order to you that way.

Thanks, Carrie, for the welcome and advice. Being four hours from Denver means I could expect no better than noon. But that sure beats 3 or 4pm around here.

Congratulations Michelle -

Don’t be afraid to ask your smaller distributors to deliver the wines themselves - especially if they use common carriers - which are NEVER refrigerated - these small companies need the business and will have no problem delivering your wines for them (if they don’t - don’t use them) -

You will also find that you will be using Southern very little in the long run - Since grocery stores sell wines in Colorado - most of their bread and butter wines are not wines that you will want to promote - Be extra tough on Southern and be prepared to cut them off at every turn - they are notorious for bad service and NEVER believe a word they say -

I have to make a trip up to Northern Minnesota every other week (three hour drive away) for a couple of restaurants that tear through my wines - and refrigerated trucking is just too expensive - so I bring the wines up in my air conditioned jeep - you will find that the best salespersons and companies will more than accommodate you -

Good luck -

Thanks, Thomas, for the words of caution…

Wine is allowed in supermarkets here in Colorado, but only in a very limited way. The rule is one person, one license, one location. So, Safeway can only sell wine in one location, which they wisely chose to be in the Denver metro area. In fact, I benefit from Safeway, as I share the parking lot of the Safeway here in Trinidad…which is one of only two supermarkets in town. So, I have decided to carry a fair number of supermarket brands. I hope to cross sell and upsell to better wines over time. But, if people come into the store and initially don’t see their Menage a Trois or Yellowtail, they may never come back. I’d hate to lose important early traffic because my skus are too unfamiliar.

Now, if only you could get transferred to my region…I’d be all set!

Hmm. Might heat damage improve Yellowtail? [wink.gif]

Michelle,

I wish more retailers shared your concerns because it’s simply a fact that many wholesalers/distributors certainly don’t. In your shoes, I’d try to limit, or even eliminate, Southern from your consideration for the duration of the hot weather; of course their guy told you not to worry, anything else and they’d have to – GOD FORBID! – buy or lease refrigerated trucks (like every other business in America that deals in perishable goods)!


That sounds like very sound business to me Michelle - and a pretty safe way to go - Then you are obviously going to have to use Southern - as others have said, just set a “delivery before noon” time schedule and you should be ok -

Pun intended, Thomas?


Not at all Michelle - you are always better playing safe and bringing in familiar labels at the start in the situation that you are in - especially if there are not many wine outlets in your vicinity - especially if you turn them fast - they pay for themselves - gives you more revenue for the stuff you want to bring in in the long run -

The other plus in bringing in familiar labels is - they are easier to close out when you figure out what is not selling -

Turning dollars and building a customer base is so important those first 12 months - you don’t want to turn your store into a wine museum -

I actually liked the pun, Thomas. Thanks for the sage words, too.

I’m not ITB, but I wonder what condition the wines are in when they arrive at Southern’s Denver warehouse during the summer? Also, is their warehouse actually air conditioned, and if so, to what temperature?

If they allow customer pick up, it might be worthwhile for you to rent a U-haul for your first order and go check things out.

On the other hand, nomatter what you find, and given your very sensible business plan, you’ll probably have no option but to buy from them. Maybe you would be better off not knowing the truth. [wow.gif]

From a “little bird” who told me… as far as temperatures go, SW does not care for the supermarket/lower cost sector internally, either. They have a separate section with controls for the higher-priced stuff (whatever that means within their system).

Thomas,

The Southern warehouse is four hours away from Michelle’s store, so are you perhaps being a bit optimistic to expect that Michelle, an admittedly small, brand new account, will have the clout to demand delivery first thing in the morning, which, given the distances, would probably mean non-stop direct from the warehouse? Then the driver can double back and deliver to all the other accounts he blew past on the way?

Who knew it was so easy to paper train a mega-wholesaler? [wink.gif]

Come on folks. Wines from every winery get transported to every and any account, be it the finest restaurant to the smallest retailer, from every distributor to smallest broker, at all times of the year.

And nobody has keeled over yet. Not even the wines.


:wink: