What Percent of Tasting Room Visitors Buy Nothing?

(SVB) - One dark and stormy night (yes I used that one) ...early in my banking career in Mendocino County, I attended an internal banking event where Jim Miscol; one of our senior executives would speak. He told us what a great a job we were all doing then asked us to help change the culture of the Bank. He said we needed to "get rid of melon squeezers." What in the heck was he talking about? I had no idea where he was going but my mind started racing to possibilities.

He went on to explain his comment by talking about a grocery store he banked in a retirement community. The store was carrying too large a waste/spoilage factor in the produce section. As it turned out, the store had evolved into a social gathering place for seniors who would walk the isles with an RC Cola, freely sampling grapes and nuts like it was a smorgasbord, and squeezing melons and peaches while talking to friends. It was the analog prequel to SeniorMatch.com. The store owner was at a loss how to address the problem without chasing away his customers. How would you handle that situation?

At Silicon Valley Bank, we have been doing research and writing reports on the wine business for years now. We released the Annual State of the Industry Report in January, and just this past week closed off the Tasting Room Survey which we run in conjunction with Wine Business Monthly. WBM will release the findings in their annual Tasting Room edition coming out in May and if you are one of the lucky 860 wineries who completed the survey, expect the complete results of the SVB-WBM survey in your in-box within the next two weeks.