Holiday Promotion Reward Distributors, Move Product

With 10,000 square feet of prime retail space along one of central Ohio’s busiest commercial strips, having too many holiday retail promotions and tempting displays of gift sets is implausible.

But be prepared to move all of it around over the course of the few weeks comprising the annual Christmas-New Year’s buying blitz, said Andrea Bogner, manager of Chateau Wine & Spirits, Agency 221, in Dublin.

“To keep things fresh,” she said. “It keeps the consumer’s interest.”

As inventory ebbs and flows, spaces open up.

That’s why more is always better — “something for everyone,” Bogner said.

She said a retail store manager is doing his or her job right when the big, pre-Thanksgiving order keeps the store mostly full through New Year’s Day.

“A week before or the week of Thanksgiving, that’s when we see the big sales push,” she said.

A red Christmas tree constructed entirely of bottles of Fireball may be 2019’s top holiday display and promotion. There are promotional ice buckets to keep the cinnamon whisky chilled and yet another prominently positioned Fireball display.

“We sell a lot of Fireball,” Bogner said.

Last year, she recalled, it was Tito’s Handmade Vodka that got the Christmas tree treatment.

Other current holiday displays feature customer favorites Jack Daniel’s, Bulleit and Jameson.

Spirit gift sets most typically come with a full-sized bottle of liquor and a pair of glasses — the type of which depends on the way it is most popularly enjoyed. Patron, for instance, offers the Perfect Mule set composed of Patron Silver with two silver mule mugs. Patron Reposado offers the Tiki for Two gift set, which includes a pair of tiki mugs.

Liqueur gift sets, such as Cointreau’s, include bar tools instead.

Bogner said determining what spirit gets a highlight spot depends largely on the professional relationship that has developed between a distributor and the store operator throughout the year. A distributor who has worked hard to make sure the store is fully stocked is likely to get the extra promotional space — a benefit to all parties, including consumers of the popular brand.

Her second holiday season at the Dublin shop, Bogner said this time of year only magnifies how interesting it is to work at a liquor agency.

“Everybody just loves walking through the store and shopping,” she said, describing an activity distinct from a hurried customer making a quick stop to pick up a specific item or two.

A large number of her customers actually are looking for a special item as a gift for a particular person this time of year.

Even the wildly popular, especially here in the Buckeye State, White Claw has its own display.

“You can’t hate them for killing it,” she advises anyone who is dismissive of the tremendous success of the malt beverage marketed as an upscale, aspirational brand.