FINANCIALLY SPEAKING

METRO NEW YORK READY FOR VISITORS?

BY RANDY AGNESS

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”. The United State Postal Service creed seem to apply to my recent trip to the Big Apple. What do you mean? You don’t deliver mail right. No, but I do deliver wine and smiles. And visited with many existing clients and potential new clients as well over the course of the five-day business trip. But back to the creed; I drove down Sunday on what appeared to be a nice sunny day in Rochester and that changed dramatically fast. The first encounter was on the NYS Thruway where tracker trailer laid across the east bound lanes just outside of the Canandaigua. When things like that do happen the delays was an unexpected consumer of time as you crawl forward at a snail’s pace.

Then suddenly there was a rush of cars zooming past the accident. It was like a glimpse of the trucking TV show with a multitude of wrecker up righting the vehicle. So I continued onward until making the turn from 90 on to 87 south. I thought I’d have no issues the rest of the way.

Instead, I met with the outer edge of the hurricane the blasting Rhode Island and the shores of eastern Connecticut. The rain experienced was tremendous and continued until reaching New Paltz and the meeting place with the owner of our distributor in Metro NY for a late dinner. My hotel was supposed to be in Poughkeepsie about half hour east. But it was quickly agreed to stay put for the evening.

Day 2 After a nice diner breakfast, I headed out with their salesman covering the nearby counties of Putnam, Ulster and Dutchess for the day. The pace was fast and furious hitting more accounts like following a dot to dot on a coloring book. This guy knew his accounts and on a well-traveled path. It included a stop where I joined a live broadcast with the owner of this tavern / country store. Very rural setting but very high standards on the wine lists. Over the pandemic, most everyone now knows the housing prices were going thru the roof and selling nearly immediately. The executives and staff went to the countryside to remote work, but with desires of the quality of NYC life.

I was amazed at the social media attention and the number viewing. A new customer and new friend resulted. It’s not often a winemaker from the Finger Lakes showed up for sales calls. This was like it at almost every stop that day. In the Mid-Hudson region, almost all the owners of the restaurants, bars and wine shops were onsite that day. The food service business had been dealt a severe blow and those that survived the repeated body blows on not opening, partial opening, etc. had become even more protective of their businesses than ever before. The guy I traveled with took a minor break to grab some gas and quick grab and go sandwich. He doesn’t get to present an owner / winemaker to his clients that often and was taking advantage and I was very willing to help. The day ended with a train ride on Metro North from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central to prepare for Manhattan. A late dinner at the Irish Pub Restaurant.