Sometimes we must accept what life has to offer you and try to drink from every cup, in this case if life offers you wine why not drink a cup or two. We are currently experimenting a rough patch inn the hospitality industry, with everything going on because of COVID 19. During this difficult time people need wine more than ever if you ask me and I know just the places to visit. I visited Smith and Vine during this epidemic outbreak, which was it difficult to walk inside and get a better feeling of their ambience at their location on 317 smiths in Brooklyn. Before arriving, I called a couple times and had difficulty getting in contact with someone but luckily, I knew they were open thanks to their online website.

The reason why I picked Smith and Vine for my retail beverage store analysis is because when visiting their website, they had unique descriptions under they`re bottle of wine, they take their time to write a unique description on how the wine taste. For example, I decided to look at they`re table wine selections and stumbled upon Cantina di Morgo|` Le Giare; Vermentino di Sardegna, Italy 2018 and what stood out to me the most was the description they had underneath the picture of the wine that convinced me right away to purchase it upon my arrival. The description stated “fruity nose. Minerally. Stone fruits, grapefruit peel and summer flowers with a touch of honey” all of this for only $12 dollars count me in!  upon my arrival I was not allowed inside the store because of the precautions the store is taking due to the outbreak of the virus, this made it difficult to ask questions or really get to interact with the sell’s person at the location. I asked the sells person if I could possible call and ask him some questions, he quick denied me and said no, because they need the phone lines open for customers to call and he didn’t have time to answer questions. Which I found rude but at the same time I understood, he finally decided to allow me to ask him three questions while he stood inside and I stood outside.

1. How has the virus affected business?
2. Why did you open in this specific area?
3. What’s your favorite wine and why?

For question number one he explained to me that because of the virus they had to update their online service in order to stay in business, he also explained how spontaneous service has decreased because people can no longer come inside. Finally, he touched briefly on how he can no longer enjoy explaining the romance in wine to his customer instead they do they`re best to do it online.

For question number two he explained how they been open for about 15 years already and they picked this area because it was close to the train, he also told me that they have two other locations which is something I wasn’t aware of.

For question number three he left it as N/A he said he loves wine as a whole and it would be hard for hi to pick just one.

The second retail store I visited was about 12 mins away driving I decided to come here because they allowed people to come in and they have a five star rating reviews on google which made me wonder what do they possibly do to have such great reviews on google. Navy Wine Merchant is located right across the street from the navy yard facility, which was awesome because the navy yard offers lots of different opportunities for the community. upon my arrival I was greeted by the store manager Steve, he was super amazing he made me feel comfortable, in asking questions I atomically noticed why they have such great reviews on google. When I asked him about a shelf talker, he explained to me first what it was and second they don’t have that in their store because without they encourage people to interact with him and ask him questions about the wines they have. While in the store he told me a little bit of the types of wines they have in store, he told me how they receive wines from small producers and families that practice traditional forms of making wine, he also told me that they sell natural wines. When I asked the following questions, his answer was completely different from the sells person I met in smith and vine.

1.How has the virus affected business?

2.Why did you open in this specific area?

3.What’s your favorite wine and why?

Question one he explained how business has been busier than ever because they are receiving more online orders than before.

Question two he told me that they have only 2 ½ years open and reasons why they opened at this specific area is because they have no competition around the neighborhood and they buildings in the area are new which has allowed them to grow with the community.

Question three he told me he lived in France for some time and loves wine but also cant really pick a favorite.

Both experience were very different but the best experience was at the Navy Wine they manager had lots of knowledgeable and was very kind his hospitality was extremely Appreciated appreciated after such a cold service at Smith and Vine, at the end of the day I went home with two different wines from two different locations with very different experiences.