Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/47881
EDITOR'S NOTE The Economy and You A t this time last year, the U.S. economy seemed on the way to a moderate recovery, although the unemployment situation remained troubling. Overall sales of wine and spirits confirmed that consumers were feeling better about spending a little extra money on beverage alcohol products. [Though beer sales were slightly off, that could have had more to do with changing consumer preferences than the economy.] Spirits sales volume increased 2.1% overall, while wine sales gained 1.7%, more than doubling the previous year's increase. Unfortunately, U.S. economic growth this year, while still up, has been anemic through September of 2011 and consumers and businesses are again falling into a defensive crouch. With contradictory economic signals arriving through the news media daily and the stock market yo-yoing up and down in wild gyrations, it seems that nobody knows what to believe about future (or even current) economic conditions. Still, there is no solid evidence yet that beverage alcohol sales have been affected. In fact, early reports from several producers suggest that there have been fairly healthy sales gains so far this year. But, as we all know, the November-December holiday selling period is the most significant of the year, normally accounting for at least 20% of total volume, if not more. At this point, while total consumer confidence is rather low, the latest results concerning all U.S. retail sales show modest increases, a key point for beverage alcohol retailers to keep in mind as you prepare for the holiday selling season. According to many economists and news commentators, the still-sputtering U.S. recovery may depend less on what actions U.S. corporations and governments (local, state and federal) may take to help strengthen the economy and more on what actions the European Union takes in the next month or two. If European leaders successfully deal with their dual financial/banking and sovereign debt crises, then the world economy will benefit. If they fail to act decisively, then we could well be in for another rough economic period; the advanced economies of the world are inextricably connected these days, for better or worse. In short, what happens to the Greek economy can have a very real effect on U.S. economic circumstances. So, we find ourselves in a commonplace situation: there are certain things beyond our immediate control, but other things still within our reach. For beverage alcohol retailers, focusing on effective preparations for the next two months remains paramount: hiring extra holiday staff; targeting marketing messages; taking advantage of supplier merchandising and promotional initiatives; balancing inventories; and creating an appealing holiday store environment. Beyond that are the long-range strategies retailers should always be investigating. At our upcoming BD Live! event, which is the only conference produced explicitly for off- premise beverage alcohol retailers, we address several important topics, such as 10 ways to effectively use social media, new ideas on how to "engage" customers, turning recent product trends into increased sales, and the latest cutting-edge ideas on store design. The conference takes place in New Orleans on January 25-26, 2012. Take a look at page 10 to see more details on attending the second annual BD Live. Executive Vice President and Group Publisher Charles Forman Tel: 845-426-6072 Fax: 845-426-6423 email: cforman@m2media360.com Editor-in-Chief Richard Brandes Tel: 212-353-3832 Fax: 212-353-8214 email: rbrandes@m2media360.com Managing Editor Jeremy Nedelka Contributing Editors Dan Berger Harriet Lembeck F. Paul Pacult Robert Plotkin Michael Sherer Cheryl Ursin Associate Publisher Anthony Bongiovanni Senior Regional Sales Manager Mark Marcon Senior Regional Sales Manager Debbie Rittenberg Senior Regional Sales Manager Jeanette Sims Art Director Adam Lane Vice President, Circulation and Collateral Services Joanne Juda-Prainito Research Director Eric Schmidt List Rental Manager Cheryl Naughton RETAILER EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Charles Bailes III ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Orlando, FL Ralph Bondon Berbiglia's, Kansas City, MO David Breitstein Duke of Bourbon, Canoga Park, CA Jim Shpall Applejack Liquors, Wheat Ridge, CO Hal Gershman Happy Harry's Bottle Shop, Grand Forks, ND Ron Junge Brown Derby Stores, Springfield, MO Dan Manning Haskell's, Minneapolis, MN Burt Notarius Premier Liquors, Kemmore, NY Charles Sonnenberg Frugal MacDoogal's, Nashville, TN Greg Wonsmos Centennial, Dallas, TX M2MEDIA360 President/CEO Marion Minor Vice President, Finance & Operations Gerald Winkel Beverage Dynamics is published by The Beverage Information Group a division of M2MEDIA360 Richard Brandes, Editor-in-Chief 4 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • November/December 2011 Editorial and executive offices at 17 High St., 2nd Fl., Norwalk, CT 06851 Telephone: (203) 855-8499 Fax: (203) 855-9446 E-mail: rbrandes@m2media360.com