Punjabi-owned Liquor Store in Washington gives Free Wine for International Women’s Day

There is something about wine that only a wine lover can comprehend. So it might surprise many non-wine drinker that the owner of the store that sells primarily hard liquor, decided to offer any one of 6 quaffable wines he selected, costing $10 or more, to women to dedicate the International Women’s Day in his own style. Last year, he had started this concept by giving away 200 such bottles. Wines were practically free- he had to charge a penny: unlike in Delhi where one may not give a penny in discount, in Washington DC there are restrictions too-one may not give out free wine but even a cent is fine!!

There were no strings attached. Any woman could walk in- though many regular customers did walk in without knowing the offer but were given a wine bottle anyway. Many were sceptical of the board hanging outside offering wine bottles for 1cent- limited to one per woman, of course. ‘Is this for real? Are you really giving away free wine?” was the general refrain.

The narrow store, lined with shelves of wine and liquor from floor to ceiling, was one of many local businesses and restaurants celebrating the 110th annual International Women’s Day through deals and promotions. When he started the offer last year he was only 3 months into the business and hoped to draw new customers into the store with this scheme.

J.P. had moved to the US from Punjab about 10 years ago. This year holds a special significance for him. His 19-year-old daughter in India found out that her immigration documents for her to move to the United States had been recently finalized, after a long wait. Talking to his daughter Jessica on phone, he told her, ‘I am doing a Women’s Day celebration and I’m dedicating it to you.’ But he dedicated the gesture also to all the women in his life. He thought about his four protective and presumably overbearing older sisters and even his 78-year-old mother, who plans to visit the United States later this month.

“I’m thanking my mother, my sisters, my cousins, every woman that helped me out in my life,” he said. “A woman is a teacher. Women are very strong. If you want to understand something, you have got to follow women.’ he is quoted in the Report in The Washington Post

Many die-hard sceptics would ascribe it to nothing more than a marketing gimmick. It might well be. But Tandon believes it is celebration of recognising women and their contribution to society. He hopes to continue this annual celebration till he lives and hopes that his son, who also aims to open his own store one day, will carry on the tradition, ‘a symbol of our store, a gesture of love,’ as he likes to put it.

Women slowly trickled into the store throughout the snowy afternoon on Friday, taking breaks from work to buy a bottle of wine. Jennifer Richmond, 31, a Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, lives a block away from the store and stopped by while working from home. She’s a regular at the store and heard about it from an employee earlier in the week.

“Happy Women’s Day!” Tandon greeted her as she walked through the door. “What kind of wine do you want?” “This is amazing, thanks for doing this!” she told him.

For some loyal customers from the neighbourhood, the deal was met with surprise. Reyna Arias, 47, owner of a nearby Salvadoran restaurant, walked into the store Friday morning to buy a bottle of vodka and Tandon offered her a bottle of wine for a penny. She happily obliged.

“We’re hard workers, we’re mothers, we’re grandmothers,” she added. “We should enjoy a glass of wine and celebrate on our own, even if we don’t have someone else to share it with.”

Yes, Reyna. We agree with you and hope there are more of the tribe of J.P. I hope next year he can hand out bottles of Prosecco, Cava or Sekt –all falling in the range of $10. But remember to say Cheers in my Indian version and surprise him by saying.

‘JAI HO, JP!! OR ‘Jai Ho, Mr. Singh!!’ We would drink to that!

Subhash Arora

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