State businesses that sell alcohol shared that some clients purchased less in ‘Dry January’
People who participate in Dry January and take the month off from drinking have all sorts of motivations. Some may be looking for health benefits, while others may be embracing a chance to check out Connecticut’s growing mocktail scene. Others may see it as an opportunity to reassess their relationships with alcohol.
Businesses that sell alcohol, though, may have to make some adjustments.
“We definitely feel the effects,” said Anthony Ancona, co-owner of Fountainhead Wines in Norwalk.
Ancona said he’s seen the Dry January phenomenon snowball. Market research firm Morning Consult stated that 21 percent of adults polled said they planned to participate in Dry January. While that may not sound like a lot, Ancona said it affects Fountainhead as a business that only sells wine.
“Our customers are just wine drinkers, so a lot of them stop having wine with dinner,” he said.
While Fountainhead doesn’t carry non-alcoholic wine, mocktails and non-alcoholic options have made January an easier month for some businesses.
“(Non-alcoholic cocktails) are something that we’ve been focusing on for years, not just for January,” said Tim Cabral, co-owner of Ordinary and Gioia in New Haven. “It allows people to go out and be social...It gives them an alternative to just order something that’s curated and thoughtful.”
Cabral said that January does tend to be a slower month, both because people are recovering from holiday spending and, in New Haven, Yale is on winter break.
Jacob Studenroth, the owner of Wise Old Dog wine shops in West Hartford and Morris, said that January has always been a slower month for him, too. He attributes it to people overindulging around the holidays.
National alcohol retail sales data from the U.S. Census Bureau, compiled by the St. Louis Fed, shows that dating back to 1994, December has been the biggest month for spending on alcohol, and January and February have been the smallest.
Studenroth said he’s talked to several customers who participate in Dry January. But those same customers may spend the same amount of money on non-alcoholic drinks like beer from Athletic Brewing Co. or the St. Agrestis Phony Negroni.
“A lot of my clients aren’t buying wine to drink that night, anyway,” he said. “If they’re collectors, since they’re not buying wine for dinner on a Tuesday night, they might spend more on six bottles for their cellar.”
Studenroth said that his team uses the slower month to clean, inventory and taste wines to order for the coming months.
At Fountainhead, Ancona adjusts to the slow month by not ordering new inventory for the month. He said that in previous years, there’s been a good rebound in sales in February, and that last weekend of January was busy with people stocking up for Dry January’s end.