Dramarama Deal #1
I'm a total gossip at heart, and I loooooove me some drama; hence my penchant for professional wrestling and reality television. The booze industry is rife with eccentric personalities, which is a big part of what I enjoy about working in it. That being said, while I love to hear about behind-the-scenes dirt and I constantly pepper my sales reps for juicy tidbits, I'm not someone who likes to talk shit myself. I don't have anything bad to say about any of our competitors and I don't really care about other people who work in the industry that don't affect K&L's day-to-day business. That means other retailers, other bars, and other booze companies -- I don't know what they're up to, I don't care what they're up to, I don't care what their pricing is, I don't look at their websites, I don't care what deals they're getting, and I don't care if they've got more hooch than us. I don't care. Period.
I do care about two things: getting our customers great booze at great prices, and forming strong relationships with the companies that allow me to do this. That's about as far as my concerns take me and doing those two things well requires me to focus completely upon their accomplishment. There's no time to worry about the other guys, especially when they can't keep up with our pace anyway. David OG and I can outwork and out-hustle anyone -- any time, any place, and day of the week. I react to a challenge by working harder, not by getting upset.
I take pride in my work and my dedication to this position. I've always let our actions and our products back up all of our hype. That's the best way to make a statement, in my opinion. I have never once complained to a rep about another store's pricing, bitched about another store's allocations, threatened a brand with dismissal to get favorable pricing, or influenced key accounts to change their attitude about competitors. Again, that would require me to care about other competitors, which I don't. Plus, it just makes you look bad, griping about like a disgruntled benchwarmer. It's embarrassing, really, and it doesn't reflect positively on the person doing it. Nevertheless, that's the way a few of our competitors are reacting to K&L's recent prominence in the booze world and this week's drama newsletter was full of more national retailers taking shots at us, complaining about our abilities, and wanting to diminish our success. The word spreads quickly though the industry grapevine, and I just have to laugh and take it as a complement.
Other than note that it's happening, I don't really have a reply. I try to let our deals do the talking, which is why -- to celebrate the recent drama regarding K&L in the booze world -- I'm going to unleash a K&L Dramarama deal of the week! The more hot deals we release, the more national drama we'll create, which will lead to more frustration and anger, and hence: more K&L Dramarama deals! The more I hear about complaints from competitors, the more I'm going to lower pricing. I'm going to turn this negative mojo into a positive for our customers. Let's start with this:
The Singleton of Glendullan 12 year old Single Malt Whisky 1L $27.99 (elsewhere $49.99) - A soft and easy-drinking 12 year old Speyside single malt from a marriage of both Bourbon and Sherry casks. Glendullan does a 75 hour fermentation to create a fruity, light-bodied profile in the style of other Dufftown area producers like Glenfiddich. The Singleton 12 year, however, is much more complex and richer on the finish than its larger competitor. A kiss of vanilla on the entry and a flurry of sweet grains on the palate make this a simple, straight-forward, and delicious deal. At $27.99 for a LITER, how can you say no? Why not get a case! (NOTE: due to the size of the 1L bottle this item ships like a 1.5L bottle which increases shipping costs a bit)
-David Driscoll