When we started Barefoot Wines, the big chain and box store buyers refused to put it in their stores unless we advertised heavily. You couldn’t blame them. We were unknown at the time. What made matters worse, we were having fun with a foot on our label at a time when the wine industry was staid and exclusive.
So, we had to get started selling to corner store “mama-papas,” independents and small chains. But they had the same concern: Nobody ever heard of a wine called “Barefoot.” So, understandably, they threatened to discontinue us if we didn’t show significant sales in a matter of months.
About that time, we got a call from a neighborhood group looking for $50,000 for their kids’ after-school park. “Oh, you’re a big successful winery,” they said, “We are just looking for a donation to build some swings, sand boxes, slides and a jungle gym.”
We were surprised that they would think we were successful when we were struggling for survival. We asked, “Are you sure you got the right number? We just got started and we certainly don’t have that kind of money.”
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But then we thought about it and offered, “Look, we would like to help you out. We don’t have money, but how about some wine? Maybe you can auction it off at your fundraiser and use the money to buy a few swings. Or, maybe it will loosen some people up and they’ll write bigger checks.”
They took the wine and we never heard from them again. Then we got the sales report for the month. It was a disaster. Pretty much all zeros …except for the three stores in the vicinity of the park fundraiser. They were reordering! We wondered if there was a correlation with the fundraiser. We donated to a…
