Friday Night Lights

Bearing in mind that we've been open exactly 23 days, I LIVE for Friday nights in the store. The energy is incredible. The place positively crackles with electricity emanating from all the customers as they bustle in the door. They're coming off the train, they're ready to unwind and they love to stop in and taste wine. They also want to talk: about wine, about beer, about the old store, about everything!

The (smart) reps who take the Friday night slot have the distinct pleasure of selling through their wines that night. It's typical to have people 5 deep at the counter as the wine flows. They linger, they mingle, they browse the shop and they buy. Obviously, we love the buying part, but mostly we love the camaraderie. If the laws weren't so antiquated in Connecticut I'd actually call Friday nights our "Friday Night Cocktail Party." It's just that much fun!

I'm noticing that we don't have to pour wines from a certain price point. Last night, for example, we sampled four bottles, all priced between $35 and $45. We sold every one we had on the shelves. It's also exciting for customers to taste a wine that's typically more than they spend. If they love it but still want to stay in their "comfort zone," we can easily help them do that without them feeling awkward. We've set the store up so we can meet every taste at every level.

But back to the conviviality part. I love when people are relaxed and having a good time. I like making people happy, sending them on their way with a little goodie in their bag to help make their evening a bit more memorable. It's the nicest feeling to have one of our new regulars come in and tell us how much they appreciated our selection, or that their evening ended on a calmer note because we gave them a delicious choice to share with friends/family. To me, that's what this business is all about, getting people talking to each other and to us. 

That's the kind of illumination, literally and metaphorically, that makes Friday nights here one of the sunniest days of the week. I hope all the days shine this brightly for many years to come.

What's The Secret Password?

For the past year I've been bugging my chef friend, Bill, to add a component to his restaurant that would more exclusive to his customers. He did. It's called Souterrain. It means "underground" in French. The secret dinners take place every other month and they sell out in hours. I can't take credit, per se, but I'm happy he did it. I'm obsessed with the idea of exclusivity. It probably stems from the fact that I was blackballed from a sorority back in college and have been trying to get my revenge ever since. Was it Groucho Marx who said, I don't want to belong to any club who will accept people like me for a member? That fits me to a T, the anti club member, yet wanting my own. Hence, the birth of a members only club at Saugatuck Grain & Grape. What's the secret password?

It's exciting that we're creating something special that not everyone can join. I don't do this to exclude anyone, actually, but to take special care of the clients that want to buy hard-to-find wines that can be cellared, or have limited availability, or aren't found in every wine store. It's a way of setting us apart from the pack, as well as, making us work harder to fill some of the tall orders that come our way. My father is a Burgundy collector, but only from very specific vineyards. He emails me daily with tasty little morsels that give a whole new meaning to "thrill of the hunt." When I score one, or two, I'm practically giddy. I've got it and you don't! Take that, you bitches! I didn't want to be part of your dumb sorority anyway. Take your Kappa and shove it up your Theta.


In the coming weeks you'll be hearing more about our club and how to get on the list. I'm not going to give it all out here or what's the purpose of developing something that has some exclusivity, but trust me, you'll definitely want to be a part of our club. I may even install a door with a small peephole to make it truly authentic. It's like Oz, but with no singing Munchkins or flying monkeys. I'll be happy to answer to Dorothy though. 

Partnership Has Its Privileges

I never wanted a partner in business before. I was always a one woman show, bigger than 'em all, and able to do it my way. Why would I want someone there to challenge my fabulosity or, heaven forbid, disagree with my brilliant ideas? I wanted total authority without having to answer to another. In other words, it was all about me. My mother named me well, didn't she? Mimi. Me! Me!

On many levels this worked. I could say "I' and not "we," which drove me crazy anyway. Anything terrific was all my doing. You were just lucky to be riding along on my designer coattails. It was all me, all the time. Screamin' Mimi, complete with WW II bomb analogy. Dropped out of the sky and whistling loudly so you know I'm there. You know where I'm going with this, don't you? The scenario tends to be a little myopic when one thinks there is actually an "i" in team. Or is it "eye?" Yeah, it's eye, and I got poked in mine.

Fast forward to this past year and I've learned that partnership definitely has its privileges. For one, I get to blame absolutely everything on Jeff. You don't understand why we set up our store this way? Jeff's fault. We have too much Chardonnay and Cabernet? Jeff's fault. We don't carry Yellowtail? Jeff's fault. Okay, maybe the Yellowtail thing isn't a fault, but you get the idea. Even better, I get to foist all the shit I don't want to do on him as well. Honey, can you take out the garbage? Answer the phone? Clean the glasses? When a salesman comes in I simply have to say, Hold on, I'll get Jeff. It's frickin' fantastic!!!! Why didn't I know this sooner? 

Okay, okay, I'm just kidding. Having a partner is truly magical. We are a great team, and often times, a tag team. When I need help with something, Jeff is right there with the answer. He's got my back in every way and I have his too. We provide a combined passion and enthusiasm to our customers that is contagious. People want to be here and spend time. They want to bounce ideas and their own knowledge off of us. How could they not? It's like having a cocktail party everyday with different guests and the store is our living room. Without my partner, this party would not be nearly as fun. Plus, Jeff has a 1000 watt smile, which, when it's plastered on his face, make people hang on his every word. Doing this business together has changed every prior belief system I ever held dear. I love having a partner.

I guess I'm going to have to change my name now. 

Anxiety thy name is Mimi

I've discovered that I can't relax. Now, some of you reading this will be wondering why I've only just discovered this fact. I've been pretty high tension most of my life. The difference between then and now, however, is that in the past I've been fearless. I never stopped to consider the consequences. I just plunged right in: businesses, relationships, hobbies, rollercoasters....now they all cause me anxiety. I lost my fearlessness. I think my father would say this is a good thing, but it's also made it tough to enjoy something when it's going well. Except for rollercoasters, I hate them now and always will. Any ride that makes you scream in terror is best observed from afar. Of course, some would say this analogy applies to relationships too.

So, it's two weeks into the opening of the store and I can't relax. I sweat the smallest situation, whether it's a slow day or a jam packed one. What if no one comes in? What if we have the wrong product? Did we buy too much? Too little? I live in this constant state of agitation and it's driving me crazy. I also think it hinders my ability to go with the flow. Duh! Poor Jeff. He is such a good sport. He very gently told me last night I need to work on my consistency. I smiled. What does that mean? I AM consistent. I'm consistently agitated!

I wonder if age or experience is what takes away one's ability to go with the flow? Remember when we were kids and we just went off on our little adventures? Did we ever consider that we'd achieve an unfavorable outcome? When I left the house in the morning I was gone all day, in the woods, exploring as far and wide as my little slice of Easton territory would allow me. My friends and I were a posse, innocently and confidently conquering whatever obstacles presented themselves. I chuckle when I think about how we'd line our bicycles up across our driveway if we wanted to keep a "bad kid" out of our yard. It didn't matter that the rest of the property wasn't blockaded, the bad kid couldn't get in the driveway to cause any trouble.

I'm going to work on relaxing, if possible. My Donald keeps telling me to take it in weekly increments. Again, when did I lose the ability to be rational? I know the answer to this but it will have to wait for another day. This blog is long enough and I'm anxious and agitated about it.   :)

Sigh.

Whine, whine, wine!

There's a funny (not really) thing that happens when you open a business after a year off. You're frickin' exhausted all the damn time. The days meld into one, and images of goldfish bowls flood your brain. Wait? Wasn't I just here? You look familiar. Didn't I just see you an hour ago? Why do my legs/back/arms/hands.....BRAIN....hurt? Did I sleep last night or was it a dream, because my dreams all involve me being in the store. When did I develop that kink in my neck? Will my eyes ever look anything but glassy? Did I eat today?


Of course, all this w(h)ining is for dramatic effect. The reality is, I'll take tired any day over aimless, bored and jobless. Who cares that I'm fast approaching the end of my 40th decade and am in desperate need of some kind of injection, perhaps of the lethal variety, but more likely, Botox. As the fiancee of a younger man, there are those moments when I look in the mirror and wonder if the Sandman was busy digging troughs in my forehead rather than putting me to sleep the night before. Crow's feet? Nah. More like the work of a large eagle clawing his way out of a crevasse, using my eyes as the toehold for his talons. Jeff? He looks as fresh and dewy as a newborn baby everyday. I hate him.


Wow, that paragraph took a left turn. Sorry. I was saying that I do love this new business despite the acute exhaustion and 13 hour days. We've met some great new people in the last few weeks. And the response has been tremendous. Best of all, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be able to work with my favorite people. Back in the day, when I had my clothing store, I met two men who became invaluable members of my team, and my life. Stephen did my windows and Donald ran my business. They also fell in love with my daughters and became surrogate Dads to them. Donald and I have worked in almost every business together since then, and I'm lucky to have him with me now. Stephen too. There are no words to describe how I feel but imagine a vast galaxy and then fill it up with gratitude, happiness, and deep love.


Back to work. This Friday is our official grand opening. We'll be pouring Veuve Clicquot all day. Come on in. There'll be a lot of love in here too.


Cheers!

What happens when......

Love and business are not supposed to mix. Everyone says it. However, a year ago, Jeff and I met, fell in love, merged six cats and two daughters together, got engaged and decided that a business together was the perfect idea. Call us cuckoo but we set out to break the mold....or is it cycle? We held our noses, jumped into the deep end and started swimming. We haven't taken a breath yet. The cats have gotten used to being "wet" as well.

On October 7th, our little baby, Saugatuck Grain & Grape was born. Insert all the cliches, because they apply. It was a labor of love. The delivery was long and arduous. We sweated a lot. There was a fair amount of grunting and groaning. You get the idea. However, it's a gorgeous space, filled with all our lovingly edited choices, and lots of great energy. We haven't experienced any colic yet, but this baby is still young. 

The decision to merge love and business at the same time is like using the Top Ten List of Stressors as your personal dartboard. Take your dart, throw it, and see where it lands. Oh, moving in together? Bullseye! Getting engaged? Blending a family? We got that! Financial problems? No job? Yup, yup, yup! Why go halfway? Go BIG, we thought. Then we saw a few of the other choices and we didn't want those. We stuck with what we had and put the darts away. We linked arms and walked forward like a mini army of two. Oh, and the cats. I can't leave out the cats. They get so angry when their contribution isn't recognized. 

Our adventure was not without its little discoveries, some delightful, some not so much. For every old beer can from the 40's we found, we also found structural issues, mold, hazardous materials and "old ghosts." I think the old ghosts were the toughest to exorcise. Jacob Marley paid a visit and wouldn't leave until he'd made his point. We lost a sub contractor early in the game when one of his ladies discovered he had a wife and had some of her friends "talk to him." Loudly. Jeff and I got sick when we decided to do some early demolition and didn't take proper precautions. And our contractor took a terrible fall off a dumpster resulting in a broken elbow and ribs. It seemed like there was always something for a while there but eventually we scared Marley back to his Dickens novel.

There were also some interesting, historical discoveries as well. Or, is that hysterical? Aside from the aforementioned beer cans, we found nudie playing cards. We also unearthed a chimney hiding inside a wall, along with an old radiator. There was also a bathroom, complete with toilet paper holder, light switch and window behind some walls. I loved that. Why bother taking it down? Just cover it up! There were old wine boxes in the ceiling, shelf talkers from the 70's, sales receipts that gave us an idea of what business had been before. When we ripped up the floor we discovered a 4.5 foot deep coal bin under it. The pit measured 30 x 13 feet and for a while we thought about making it into a koi pond. Unfortunately, that would've made us a restaurant, so we abandoned that idea.

All in all, it was an interesting adventure, one we couldn't have done without the impeccable craftsmanship of Jim Balasz. Not only was he a superior contractor, but Jim is one helluva man. Integrity should be his middle name. Everyday, he and his Tonto, named Al, arrived laughing and ready to rumble. We made two new friends during this process and I think everyone should have the pleasure of  meeting and working with Jim Balasz. JBC Construction is without equal and Jim is a fine man, indeed. He and Al are a great team.

So, that's the end of blog number one. My goal is to educate, illuminate, make you laugh, give you something to think about and get you to come in and experience Saugatuck Grain & Grape. At the very least, come in and meet Jeff and me. By proxy you'll also meet the six cats since I wear their hair on every outfit I own. You wear a belt? Pish posh! Persian cat hair is the best accessory.

Cheers!