The Importance Of Independents/Independence

I am constantly getting emails and notifications from our financial secretary Michele about invoice pricing being higher than what we were originally quoted.  For example, a case of whiskey was ordered at the price of $24.50 a bottle, but instead is being billed at $25.66.  She sends the descrepancy over to me and I then make the decision of keeping the product and paying the bill, or having it picked up and sending it back.  This scenario usually occurs six to eight times a week and it's always with the same distributors.  There are combo deals for June, which have expired come July and increases in shipping fees or broken case costs, which can fluctuate pricing, but in the end everything keeps going up, up, up.  You may be saying to yourself, "Easy, just send it back and demand the price you were originally quoted!"  I wish things could be so simple, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

Every week the price of liquor changes within the main distribution channels.  Even if I sit down with a vendor and am quoted a price for a product, there is still no guarantee that it's going to show up at that price.  If I want to be a stickler, I can send it back when this happens, but I know it's not going to change anything.  Plus, I can't just run out of Lagavulin 16, Glenlivet 12, or Grey Goose Vodka.  These bottles need to be on the shelves because they're the fastest movers, but it's only a matter of time before these big names become too expensive to hold their current pricing.  Whether it's five cents or five dollars, these well-established products go up in price nearly every month, even though our retail price remains unchanged.  If you're any sort of business person, then you can see where this leads you.

This is to be continued....

-David Driscoll