Originally published on December 31, 2008.
Before Frankly Wines, I was a bit of corporate girl, so every once in while I succumb to the urge to use Power Point or have a debrief. Who am I kidding – I still use Power Point all the time. But the debrief urges, those are much rarer. But I figure, the start of a New Year is a good time to have one.
NEW YEAR’S EVE DE-BRIEF
Things I ran out of:
- Robert John Brut Cava
- Le Colture ‘Fagher’ Brut Prosecco
- Lucien Albrect Cremant d’Alsace
- J Vineyards ‘Cuvee 20’
- Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
- No. 1 Family “Cuvee #1”
Things I almost ran out of:
- Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label – even at my crazy price, it just flies. (NOTE: My price is crazy NOT because I like to rip people off, but because I can only afford to buy 2 cases at a time rather than the hugely discounted 30 cases that the bigger stores sell it at. I even tell regulars not to buy it from me unless they are desperate for it.
- Philippe Prie Champagne – 3 bottles left as of now.
What I’m left with: mainly obscure stuff. Some Solo Lambrusco, a rose from the Loire, a Cerdon de Bugey, an Aussie bubbly. And I would have run out of almost all of those if I had only ordered 1 case of each as originally planned. I also have a few bottles of Dom Perignon, La Grande Dame, and Krug left. But I didn’t have much to begin with.
Key Learning: Next year, order more.
Hours of Operations: We were officially open at 11AM. But I was there at 8AM waiting for a delivery and if people desperately in need of wine can see you in the store, they will assume you’re open, so I started selling wine around 9.30/10AM. Then an otherwise crazy day screeched to a halt around 8PM. A few stragglers came in after that, but I think we only had 1 customer between 8.30 and 9PM. Granted, she had wonderful taste and took my last bottle of No. 1 Family Blanc de Blancs from New Zealand (forcing me to drink Krug 1995 when I got home.)
Key Learning: Next year, open at 10AM, close at 8PM, maybe 8.30PM
Chilled Bottles: This year, I had toyed with the idea of getting a cold box (i.e. the technical term for “wine fridge”) to put at the front of the store during the holidays. This way, people could help themselves rather than waiting for us to pull a cold bottle from the “employees-only” coolers underneath the counter. Amazingly, there wasn’t a huge demand for chilled stuff. Maybe because it was so cold outside already. Or maybe because New Year’s Eve isn’t one of those occasions when the need for chilled Champagne just takes you by surprise.
Key Learning: Nix the cold box. Buy an “employees-only” microwave instead.
Stating the Obvious: Wine people assume any good wine store will offer a selection of bubbly. Normal people do not assume this. I know, because prior to New Year’s Eve, we often heard: “Do you have Champagne?” “You don’t have any Champagne, do you?” “I’m guessing you don’t have any Champagne.” Yesterday, we didn’t get this so much. Why? Because I changed the sign out front to say “yes, we have bubbles”.
Key Learning: Never hurts to state what you think is obvious. Because sometimes it’s apparently not.
That’s enough debriefing. Time to work on the web site….