![]() He reached out to us and said it's the best he's ever seen Pappy given away to the public before. I got the coolest write-up once, Mark Brown the Sazerac Company. What's the best part about it?īlandford: The customer experience. Courier Journal: So the hardest part about this seems to be you don't know when you're going to get the product. To me, it's a fun day to have a good time in the stores. Because we've done this for a few years now, it works pretty clockwork. Courier Journal: Where are you on the Pappy raffle day?īlandford: I usually pick a list of stores and go in and check on everybody, see how the lines are doing and make sure the stores don't need anything. You're gonna get your bottles, but you don't know when. The trouble is I can't pick the date or the info until Pappy decides when they're going to release the product. Honestly, I love it because everyone's going to be in our store on that Black Friday. Courier Journal: What is Pappy time of year like for you?īlandford: In our industry, it's the biggest headache in the world, because everybody wants a bottle. Take a look below for a sneak peek behind the curtain. The Courier Journal sat down with Blandford to find out what goes on behind-the-scenes to pull off the lottery. "We've seen families, all the brothers are in town and doing it together." "I've seen some crazy stuff on Reddit of customers who have made Google Maps of the fastest possible route between the stores," Blandford said. Kentucky bourbon: From bourbon to new restaurants, everything to know about Louisville's summer food scene There's also no restriction on how many times you can enter, which has led to some memorable tales. His idea pushes customers to stores, where Kroger can set up an experience with tickets, giveaways, tastings and more as customers wait in line to place their names in the lottery. Blandford said he chose Black Friday because it is historically one of the "deadest days of the year" in the alcohol industry. More: Bourbon's biggest buyer: Meet the man purchasing more bourbon that anyone else in Kentuckyīefore the lottery launched, Blandford said he would choose which liquor stores to send his Pappy Van Winkle stock to, and customers would just have to roll the dice and hope to find it nearby. ![]() More than anything, he is the man who makes sure the right liquor products are in the right stores for the right price. He buys all the liquor you'll find in Kroger stores and can often be found driving endless miles between stores for meetings. He and his team are responsible for 53 Kroger Wine & Spirits locations in Kentucky, and a total of 115 locations if you count the other regions he manages in Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois. "It's one of the things I'm really proud of because it gives everyone in Louisville a chance."īlandford holds a big job. "Bourbon should go to everybody, and I want it to be fair," Blandford said. The lottery was Kroger Adult Beverage Field Specialist Chris Blandford's idea. It turns out, Kroger didn't always distribute Pappy this way. It sells out quickly and can often only be found for prices inflated well beyond the suggested retail value.īut for the last five years, Kroger has given Louisville residents a chance to buy those bottles at the suggested retail cost exactly.Įach year, usually on Black Friday, Kroger holds a Pappy Van Winkle lottery at its Louisville division Kroger Wine and Spirits stores, where customers can enter for the chance to purchase bottles of the ever-popular and elusive brand.
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