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This post is dedicated to celebrating a company that I have been watching during the entire pandemic shutdown. 40 Knots Winery is a family-owned and operated business located in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island, BC. I will also confess writer bias in that I'm a wine club and book club member here and love their wine! But it's also the reason why I've had the opportunity to experience their journey as a community member and a tourism educator.
Every business is learning how to adapt but what I have appreciated immensely with Brenda and Layne and their team are a few things:
1. Open and steady conversations with their customers.
2. Focusing on their existing customers and staging their re-engagement with the company first, a strong place to begin!
3. Retail, curbside activities kicked into gear straight away, with professional signage, and a trained team ready to make your purchase experience positive. I know there are lots of casual signs, but 40 Knots invested in a professional look aligned with the quality/brand of their company.
4. Bookclub went virtual, then blended - some at home, some at the vineyard as the government regulations allowed. This provided flexibility and choice for members and a foundation for building consumer trust to physically reconnect - at your pace!
5. Their first wine-club members' night demonstrated all the health practices and protocols of social distancing with the tables and how the wine tasting occurred. This included two shifts, to allow them to clean in between, a welcome area to explain 'how the evening would proceed, and as always, terrific music.
6. And they never lost their great sense of humour and hospitality! I love the kilted, cleaning vintner! We all know small businesses do what it takes to make things happen!
Thanks for being a positive inspiration to the industry !