I’m typing this in January of 2025, with the double whammy of dry January combined with article after article from major news sources about the dangers of alcohol.
Pretty dire, huh?
Chin up. This is a moment. We’re in a correction. There are some things I know for sure:
Not everyone is going to stop enjoying wine. This is a simple truth. There may be fewer (for now) but wine is not going away.
Those that are still enjoying wine without hesitation, and spending good money on it, are older and reaching a point of relaxation in their lives. Of course, nobody lives forever and there have been alarmist articles about this buying sector ‘dying off.’ Yes, they are getting older. And yes, they are drinking a bit less as they age. But they are still with us!
The draw of wine will never change. The fact that it’s a singular agricultural product unlike anything else. The fact that it connects flavor to a place and to a year. The simple fact that wine comes from beautiful places.
Newer wine shops, and newer wine bars, continue to open and they have one big advantage. Their advantage is a simple fact: they don’t know what business was like in the 1990s, 2000s, or even pre-Covid, because their business didn’t exist. They simply go forward starting at this moment in time.
Perhaps we need to stop looking at year-to-date numbers and comparing present business to years past. Pretend you’re starting NOW. What would you do to grow your business?