It was a business recently purchased by the owner, S., who had managed the store for years. One of the other employees, C., had a financial stake in the business as well. It was a larger shop, with a beer cooler you could park a car in. Another major draw to the shop was an extensive selection of beer and wine making equipment and supplies. Home brewing was an up and coming hobby in the spring of 1994, and there were only two places in the city that had any selection.
I had a lot to learn about the process, eventually I would make my own beer and wine, to mixed results, but that is another entry for another month.
About a week after I started, I was playing in a softball league in Berliner Park. From my position in right field, I was closing in on a pop fly when I ran into a hole in the grass, my glove defended, the ball did not and hit me square in the right cheek. Really messed up my face and not the best way to introduce myself to new bosses and customers.
A few months into my employment, there was an opportunity to move the business from a dying strip center east of Worthington to an exciting, high traffic storefront in Grandview Heights.
This is the location of where the store used to be, before the move. The Domino's has not changed it's spot in the center.
I'm guessing the business was successful enough so that there was enough money to cover the expense of the move. It took a few months, a bit of pressure and moving related stressors that were typical for a major upheaval. The windows of the new place were papered over in preparation for the opening.
One night, after an afternoon of heavy lifting and dirty work, S. decided it was time to open the doors. He went to the restroom and came back cleaned up and in a suit, leaving C. and I in disheveled work clothes, unable to change into something decent. This was the start of the down turn.
In the new space, there was not as much room for the home brewing supplies, and regulars quickly started noticing. Plus, S. was not purchasing the supplies we needed for even basic starter kits. The profit margin on this stuff was excellent, but money was going into purchasing some very unexciting wine.
When he bought cases of mediocre and pricey French Burgundies, stacked them by the cash register and expected C. & I to sell them without even trying them, something was up. This was a lot of money sitting on the floor, not turning over, while we were turning away home brewers. It was getting depressing to send people away. Then the paychecks started being late.
Cash flow was tight with any accumulated reserves going toward the move, crappy wine and a higher rent. The home brew side of the business was slowing down because there was little product on the shelves, and the wine business was not where it should have been with the product mix going toward higher end wines that were not selling. We probably had one of the better beer selections in the city, but there is not much profit in retail sales of beer. There was also a small wine bar that was breaking even at best.
The bar was a plus, a good way for groups of customers to come in and try new beer along with us. They even brought some of their own rare ones for everyone to try. Ok, that was not legal, but it happened. This was a time when high alcohol beer was not available in Ohio. Our good customers traveled, and they generously shared their purchases. Often. There were also wine tasting and classes that brought in customers. We partnered with the restaurant next door for cooking classes, which should have brought in even more customers.
The constant saying no to people who wanted to get involved in home brewing, the late checks, did not help my attitude. I could have done better, but once again found myself in a situation where I thought I had nowhere else to go.
Eventually the late paychecks and lack of input drove C. out, along with his lost investment in the business. A good guy, T., who had worked in the old location helped us out part time. He was an artist, a woodworker, who used to carve in the store to keep his brain occupied. T. also was a great home brewer who made a tangerine mead that is one of the best beverages I've ever had. He also enjoyed blending wines, especially after tastings when small amounts of wine were left in the bottle he'd find the positive elements and put them together. Another time C. brought an old bottle of wine from his father's basement as well as an extraordinary bottle of Beringer Reserve Cabernet. The old wine we wanted to like, but it was past it's prime. I had a glass of the old wine and dropped a sip of the Beringer Cab into it. The old wine blew up in flavor like a helium balloon. We'd have been doing back flips down Grandview Avenue if that's how the wine was out of the bottle.
In other words, there was some fun there. My wine education got more extensive. I paid attention when S. taught wine classes.
The situation leveled a bit after C. left but the business could not grow. The home brewing side was not improving. Christmas of 1996 had a number of people shut out of supplies and starter kits S. had promised. It was getting grim. There was too much drinking done at work, and none of it was helping at home.
S. was alienating sales representatives, a number of them requested they no longer sell to the shop because of S, and more importantly, diminishing commissions. A couple of them had a pool going about when the store would close.
Another series of the Introduction to Wine Course had started. It was a six week class and a financial commitment. The first week was over, and right before week two S's wife A. had some horrible news. There was an attempt at self harm.
Friends of S. gathered in the temporarily closed shop to look at the finances. Things were very bad. Debt, unpaid taxes, late bills. Quite the mess. S. was not going to be around for awhile. A. stepped up. T's hours increased. I tried getting merchandise in. Called everyone in the wine class, told them S. was ill and unable to teach the class, said I'd teach the class but would offer them a refund. No one asked for their money back, which was how I taught an introduction to wine class, and did it rather well under unfavorable circumstances. I even enjoyed it.
There were attempts to increase business through a massive in store tasting I organized. The wine reps came through with their time and samples. We had about 100 everyday and reasonably priced wines to taste at a fixed price. A good crowd came in. The business was still hanging on, but this was not going to work.
Another class was set to start, and S. was going to teach it. I do not remember if it was the first class, or one of the later ones, but he came in barely on time, leaving me to set up, taught the class and left me to do all the clean up without any help or thanks. He was almost out the door when I laid into him.
A few years of pent up frustration and anger were released, he knew it and let me finish. I said a couple of things I would have liked to take back, a few things I'm not proud of, but it was all out in the open. S. was ill, very much so, in hindsight I realize that even more but I was fed up of running a store did not have my name on it. I told him he was in a position where it was impossible for him to remain open and impossible to shut down. In a sick stroke of bravado I said I'd try to buy him out. Enter K.
K. was a person I met through a wine tasting group. He liked wine and making money. We talked about buying the shop and claimed to have the resources to accomplish this. We spoke to the landlord, who was impressed with our plan. The Landlord found us someone to broker the deal with S. All was going very well. I thought a deal was in place as did our broker and S.
At the last minute K. backed out of the deal. He gave the broker, S. and myself three different reasons as to why he was pulling out. K. and I have not spoken since. There was no backup plan.
Maybe he was not impressed with my commitment. Maybe he was not impressed with my stability, I still was drinking rather heavily during this period. Maybe it was something else, but a few days later I told A. & S. that I could not take it anymore and quit. I got tired of saying no to customers over and over, it really fucks you up seeing them walk out empty handed when any normally run business would have the merchandise.
I'm not sure what happened to the store next. S. was pretty ticked at me for leaving so quickly, along with discarding a "tab" I chalked up to unpaid vacation and combat pay. Again, something I'm not particularly proud of, but they happened. Also the night before I left, T. gave me one of his pieces that I watched him carve from a block of cherry.
T. remained, sided with me whenever S. whined about my actions. Life went on there until the owner of the restaurant next door bought what was left of the business. It's been there for almost fifteen years.
I've seen S. once since, and he tried to apologize. I halfheartedly accepted it. A. I ran into a couple of years ago at a library poetry reading. She snubbed me. C. and T. I still see on friendly terms from time to time. The store and the way it was run helped ruin lives, careers and eventually three marriages. It did get me out of the wine business for good.
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