Vice President, General Manager SWS South Florida
Hired by Mel Dick, Senior Vice President of Southern Wine and Spirits of America and President of the Company's Wine Division, in 1980, Richard Booth began his career at Southern Wine and Spirits of Florida as an imported beer salesman. At that time, Mr. Booth worked in the Company's Southern Division, which is based, then and now, in Miami.
Then, in 1982, Mr. Booth was promoted to District Manager for the convenience store/general market accounts group, again working in the Company's Southern Division. During this period, Mr. Booth sold wine, beer, coolers and other non-alcoholic beverages, including bottled waters.
In 1984, Mr. Booth was appointed Sales Manager of convenience store and general market accounts group in the Company's Southern division. Transferred and promoted in 1988, Mr. Booth relocated to West Palm Beach, where he worked as Director of Sales - On-Premise for the northern portion of the Company's Southern
Florida division.
Then, in 1990, Mr. Booth was transferred back to Miami and appointed Director of Sales - On-Premise for the Company's Southern Florida division. In this role, Mr. Booth was responsible for all on- and off-premise wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages sales, excluding the Company's spirits brands.
Mr. Booth became Wine Manager for the Southern Florida market in 1992, responsible for all on- and off-premise wine sales in that division. Four years later, in 1995, Mr. Booth was promoted to General Sales Manager-Spirits and Wine, a moment when he assumed responsibility for selling spirits for the first time.
As Mr. Booth recalls, "I tried to show our sales force and our customers how to sell super-premium spirits products in the same way we knew how to sell fine wines."
Then, in 1999, Mr. Booth was named to his current position as Vice President, General Manager of Southern Wine and Spirits of South Florida.
Having worked his way up from the street - as have so many other senior executives at the Company - Mr. Booth has a genuine appreciation for all aspects of his present post. Mr. Booth says of his experience, "It makes me open-minded to the needs of all my sales managers and sales people so that I can provide what they require in order to accomplish their own goals."
Mr. Booth is particularly proud of the Company's strong investment in people - with a steady calendar of training and educational sessions designed for both managers and on- and off-premise sales people. Mr. Booth adds that the fact his division is located in the headquarters where the Company's owners come in and work every day really motivates his entire sales and support team.
Thanks to a vibrant and growing market, Mr. Booth has restructured and added more managers and sales staff in order to be closer to all the Company's customers. Mr. Booth has created more dedicated sales channel team, calling on individual on- and off-premise chain customers in order to make sure these accounts are getting all the support they need to succeed.
Looking ahead to the future, Mr. Booth is extremely upbeat on all categories. "Our business is now so geared to premium and super-premium brands, I see that business continuing to grow. We are also seeing our popular-priced brands performing strongly as well." Mr. Booth adds "We've also seen an explosion in fine dining establishments with award-winning chefs continuing to drive our on-premise business."
Mr. Booth credits both his mentor, Mr. Mel Dick, Senior Vice President of Southern Wine and Spirits of America, and President of the Company's Wine Division, Jay Weiss, a former executive of the Company, and Steve Power, Executive Vice President, General Manager of Southern Wine and Spirits of Florida, with three sound business principles he always remembers to employ whenever, wherever appropriate.
First, Mr. Booth learned from Mr. Dick and Mr. Power "to lead by example and be a man of your word." Second, Mr. Booth learned from these two executives "to always shoot for all the business, be tenacious." Last but not least, Mr. Booth says Mr. Dick and Mr. Power taught him "to be aware of your employees' needs, both personal and professional."
And, only half joking, Mr. Booth adds that he also learned from his two colleagues "to watch your group's sales on a daily basis," adding that "You do this first thing in the morning, it's like eating breakfast; for some it's watching Regis [Philbin] and Kelly [Ripa, who is co-host of the morning show], me I watch my brands' numbers."
Mr. Booth also admires Mr. Power's leadership skills, commenting,"Steve sets the overall plan, but I am free to react locally and change it if necessary, all without a lot of red tape."
Summing up his experiences at Southern Wine and Spirits of Florida, Mr. Booth says, "Twenty-one years of service-I could never work for a better group of people."