Some of our restaurant customers are seeing a drop in
business compared to last year. They are attributing this to two
things. First is the overall economic slowdown; people are nervous about
spending in general. Second is the tightening of the Arizona DUI (Driving
Under the Influence) laws. The penalty for a
first offence has increased dramatically, so people are nervous about drinking
when out for dinner. This is an appropriate reaction, but it seems that
many people have forgotten the other
New Restaurants:
5
New Retail/Wine Bar
Outlets: 0
In
Memoriam – Steven Young of Young’s Vineyard
(480) 503-0500
Rokerij Restaurant
(602) 287-8900
(602) 866-9905
(480) 837-1173
(480) 816-3515
Steven Young, owner and winemaker at Young’s
Vineyard died of a heart attack last month while traveling in
At Orangewood we opened a bottle of our favorite wine from
Young’s and reminisced about the good times we have had that involved their
wines and about the joy that Steven brought to so many wine lovers.
In 2001 when we started distributing wine, Laurie and I had
a “back of the envelope” business plan that had us doing everything. As
things grew beyond our capabilities we changed our plan to solve the
problems. One of the early problems we had was that I, the sole sales
person, could not manage the number of customers we needed to meet the business
plan. It was while drinking with one of our customers that I found myself
considering how to find a sales person. Sitting opposite me was someone
who had grown up in the Sierra Foothills, had a good palette and was fun.
Dick Kirkpatrick, a retired college teacher, was not in need of a job, but he
could not think of any reason not to sell wine. He had been spending his
time hanging around at places that have good wine and drinking it. As a
salesman he would hang around at places that have good wine, drink it and get
paid. So for the next six years he sold our wine and generally kept my
feet on the ground when I was having delusions of adequacy. Our strategy
has evolved over the years, with oversight from “The Dick”. Last year Sheri,
Dick’s wife, also retired and they bought a house in Oracle – the writing was
on the wall. They continue as friends and occasional drinking
buddies. Thanks Dick.
The Rambler
rambles on
From
all of us at Orangewood Wines,
Richard
(newsletter writer) and Laurie (editor)
Orangewood
Wines