Thanks for the warm welcome, all. This despite the fact that I barged into your forum without properly introducing myself. I sentence myself to two glasses of warm White Zinfandel for such a breach of manners ; -)
This forum 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 selecting racking, a POS system, merchant services and (of course) inventory. Most days I wake up at 6am excited to tackle it all. Other days, like today, I feel overwhelmed and on the verge of tears.
I have a good grasp of business, both through my education and by starting and running a small but successful financial services firm. But, I have no retail experience. And I know that I don’t even know what I don’t know…lol. I stay calm by reminding myself that I was in the same boat when I started my first business.
Anyway, enough anxiety venting! I look forward to getting to know you all better and ask, in advance, for your patience with my many naive questions to follow.
The Costco near me sometimes has folks pushing a particular wine in the store. Always figured it was a distributor/vendor rep, but maybe it was a Costco employee (though I thought they drank beer!)
By “training” does he mean the vodka he snuck out of Costco and drank in the alley? I’m pretty sure they don’t train the staff about wine and spirits at Costco. Although I’m definitely stealing that line for my next cover letter: “I had a ball working with wine.”
PS. Thanks for the laugh–keep them coming. Stupid people make my day.
I was interviewing to hire an auction coordinator/specialist a few years ago and specified that candidates had to have a firm grip on regional and producer-specific information. One candidate told me her favorite producer of Chateauaneuf was Armand Rousseau - then did me the favor of explaining that Dominique-Laurent Ponsot was a friend of hers.
I sincerely appreciate BS artists and recognize they play an important role in our industry - but for the love of God… at least have a decent BS line.