Personal Business

There are plenty of locations within the US that cater to the public demand for alcohol. From gas station 40-ounces to discounted supermarket 30-racks, the options are endless and the market is competitive. So how does a small independent liquor store stay afloat in this cutthroat corporate marketplace? Why return to the same store over and over when the businesses down the street offer the same drug in endless variety and only subtle differences. The local liquor store must establish a clientele of loyalists; customers who will come back every week to restock their supply. The liquor store of my focus has been very successful in obtaining market dominance and through relatively simple acts of customer connection. These acts include, personal greetings, small gestures of appreciation, small talk and flirtation, and most importantly, VIP treatment for regulars. Overall, it is the projection of personality and the effort of establishing a relationship that rewards the customer for his or her loyalty.

From the first time I visited the local liquor store, I noticed the unusually personable, and pleasantly cheerful attitude of the store owner. My first thought was the old comedian, Phil Silvers. He asked me my name and didn't even pretend to question my age, proclaiming that I must be 21. When I told him I was actually 22 (the age on my fake ID at the time) and a freshman at the local college, we got into discussing my life after high school. At that point I assumed the identity of my older fiend who farmed in Vermont for four years before attending college. My story wasn't very convincing but he just nodded along with a smile and pretended to buy it. It was a pleasant first impression and it put my nerves at ease, considering I was still underage and used to faking my identity at impersonal supermarkets and foreign ran convenient stores. Ever since that first interaction, the owner has never remembered my name or any other customer's at that, due to the overwhelming flow of students into his establishment. Instead he uses the easily adaptable and laughable catch phrase, "Hey there, guy" or the slight variation, "Hey there, big guy!" The owner is almost always in the store to greet students with this phrase, making an effort to invoke interpersonal feelings without any strong commitment. This greeting is well known throughout the school and mocked in a lighthearted manner, only adding to the lovable personality of the store owner.

The owner is also kind enough to perform little gestures of appreciation for the repeat faces in his store, offering miniature bottles of liquor or "nips" to large spenders and birthday customers. Sometimes just the acknowledgement of a liquor brand results in a free complimentary nip. The front counter is stocked full of them and they act as small counter weights in the balance of customer satisfaction. One repeat customer told me that she would return to the store every week and pretend be curious about a brand of vodka, always resulting in a complimentary nip, despite her repeated fascination with the same brand every time. The owner's forgetfulness and extroverted efforts to produce customer satisfaction add to the comedic aura of the store and the appeal of returning week after week.

Besides the comedic characteristics of the owner, the local liquor store also attracts sales with its employment of attractive female cashiers. The store cashier can often be a young woman, whose gamine-like aura provides happy male customers with flirtatious small talk and smiles. I noticed the effectiveness of these female cashiers through my own attraction and that of my male friends. After a flirtatious greeting, a cute cashier asked my friend, "Is that it?" and he assumed that she was challenging the size of his purchase. In an attempt to impress the young woman, he added three more items to his purchase and inquired, "How about now?"

If the attractive personalities of the owner and his employees weren't enough to create a social dependency among alcohol interested students, then there is always the promise of store VIP status. For those who have visited the store weekly, year after year, the owner provides those regular customers with inside information. He informs them of the cold 30-racks in the back and offers them access to the refrigerated back room. He also cuts the change off of the final sales price. After becoming a regular there, I began to talk beer and wine with the owner who would happily offer his opinion in taste, pointing me toward quality rather than price. When I asked him whether they carried a specific brand of wine, he eagerly ordered a batch of bottles within the week. The bottles ended up selling out rather quickly and the owner joyously expressed his appreciation for my advice. As a result, he cut the price of my purchase and threw in a complimentary nip as an extra little "thank you".

These experiences with the overall personality of the establishment have sealed my consumption based relationship with the local liquor store, providing myself and others with an attractive source of alcohol. The appealing aura of this interpersonal alcohol outlet has undoubtedly contributed to the weekly consumption practices of the school campus. As students become loyal to the friendly independent business, the duty to support that business becomes a priority, and students flock to the location as a weekly ritual. Is this just another example of the interpersonal social dependency that fuels alcohol culture? How does the alcohol-oriented relationship of student and business, differ from the previously discussed examples of student and student?