I’ve been working in retail shops during O-N-D over the years. 7 holiday seasons to count, plus 3 more seasons pouring samples in the broadmarket/big grocers. I’ve taken a break this year. I’ve heard from sales reps friends in Texas that things continue to be sluggish in their account territories. Sales Reps roles have opened up as some folks have decided to move on to other things. What are you seeing in your shops, routes/accounts and areas? What’s working and what is not working for business?
October and November were very soft, December looks to be okay. Oddly enough my sub ~$15 wholesale business is thriving while the premium side has seen a slow down based on price increases and creep outside of the comfortable BTG range. I am a strictly OP supplier for reference.
1 Like
I heard December was soft too outside usual Holiday week to make it all worth it. Service and hospitality gigs and accounts have taken a hit. Server and bartender friends in downtown Austin noting 30% decrease 2023 over 2022. At least for their wallet stash.
The solid reps out there are fine and there are plenty of pivots available in Austin area territory. There will be some closings and then openings. Fortune favors the sales rep visiting their accounts.
Austin has a very healthy crop of thoughtful lists and curations. More concerning, every friend/contact I have who own and run bottle shops are looking to pivot, sell or take up a better job and keep their store running to see how 2024 begins to unfold…
Boutique bottle shops are a grind, they have to run margins that make them uncompetitive against online retailers for those that actively collect and purchase in quantity. They’re fine for folks wanting to grab a bottle here and there, but you need repeat case customers or be able to sell BTG to be comfortably profitable. They end up having to put significant resources towards social media and other value adds to justify the often egregious mark ups.
2 Likes
Now that it’s done - Mixed. It’s interesting, and maybe this is the area I work in, but despite all those statistics about wine sales over all going down and yet an increase in 15 and up wines being bought/premiumization taking up most of the pie, I had the opposite experience. Comparing numbers, people bought more in December this year than last year…but bought cheaper things. Certain high-priced items I anticipated selling in the holiday season did not. People want to spend less.
I’m a buyer for a fairly large and unpretentious/non-boutique-y store in Manhattan.
3 Likes