Happy Anniversary, baby.

So we survived one full year of being for sale. Holla!

August 26th is Mike's birthday as well as the day we received our first 18 wheeler of delicious drinks for all the little boys and girls to enjoy. Since then we have grown to about 350 stores across 14 counties and had our highest selling 2 weeks in a row recently.

Our first day of sales Mike and I managed to approach 20 stores and only got into 1 because we knew the owner. We also managed to get into a accident in the parking lot to add a little sweetness to our day. Compared to then I would say we are doing alright.

As for day to day operations we had to switch gears for the fall since cool weather came crashing in and schools are all now back in session. We have started up our ambassador program in the colleges we are for sale in and will use them as our eyes and ears on the campuses. It also is the next step for us in growth to learn some basic management skills. We need to start learning to handle other people other than ourselves if we want to eventually take Vital out of the state.

Of note, we have been hitting the colleges really hard and managed to pull of a winter wonderland @ St. John Fisher. For us we are always trying to do sampling a little bit different so we don't just give people bottles. So I figured that since school is just starting and people are not loving it at all why not give them some presents early!?

We contacted a local ice skating rink and sent Patrick and Scott to shovel it into the back of a pickup truck a few times and then drop it off on campus. They finished around 2am.

At 3am Mike and I showed up to finish everything and set up. Of course the weather was supposed to be light misting til 3am and not obnoxious rain caused by a hurricane in Canada til 530.

Mike and I set up a tree with decorations, some presents underneath (tshirts and bottles too), a table with decorations, a Vital Energy banner and of course Frosty with a big pile of ice cold Vital next to him.


I think people were a little surprised/confused so early in the morning but slowly people began coming in waves and even leaving their classes to see what it was all about. After all the drinks were gone, Mike and I cleaned up and left Frosty to chill for the afternoon. I got a few text messages saying that some snowball fights had broken out as well!

By about 3pm when Mike showed up, all that was left of the guy was a blob. :(
Rest in peace Frosty, we will see you again soon.


We also just spoke at University of Buffalo and Geneseo's business fraternity. It is kind of weird still that we are becoming more legitimate and people don't view us as just a bunch of ragtag hooligans. A year ago at this time we were delivering out of our cars, had no tshirts, and stored our drinks in the basement. By no means is it easier but its kind of cool to slowly have people start to recognize the drink or hear about our exploits.

Now that there is a break between big holidays we are focusing on getting more stores, approaching chain accounts (Walgreens, Tops, Wegmans etc), making a big presence on colleges, and getting ready to approach the mountains for winter.

Peace out yo,
-J

Oh... we have a meeting with Tops in mid-october!!!