31st March 2020 by Phoebe French | thedrinksbusiness.com
For Stone House Urban Winery, coronavirus means all hands, and paws, to the pump. The winery, which is located in Hagerstown and was founded last year, has closed its tasting room but is offering curb-side orders from Wednesday through to Sunday, from 2 pm to 6 pm.
Co-owner of the winery, Lori Yata, came up with the alternative delivery option, according to Herald-Mail.
In a Facebook post, the winery said that business had “remained steady” since Soda’s enrolment and that partly thanks to his popularity, first-time sales had actually increased.
Soda is equipped with a saddle bag with space for two bottles and walks out to customers waiting in the car park to deliver the wine.
‘Soda’ posted on Facebook: “Hi all, Soda here again. So, mom has been filling me in on this COVID-19 virus thing and she says that it is REALLY affecting small businesses like our little winery. Mom says that we all have to pitch in and pull our weight, that includes me as well. So, if you are out shopping and have kids in the car, or just want to keep your distance from other folks, give us a call and place your order, I’ll try to personally deliver your wine in my nifty new wine saddlebag.”
In subsequent posts, the winery wrote that Soda is “getting quite good” at his new job.
The World Health Organisation has said there is no evidence that pets can be either a source of infection or become infected with COVID-19.