SEATTLE, Wash. — When we went to Seattle's Downtown Spirits, we thought the owners would be worried about the new competition from Amazon Prime Now, but they quickly set us straight.
The Downtown Spirits' Booze Car spends a lot of time on the road, making liquor deliveries in less than an hour.
“We've expanded our entire staff from about nine employees to 16, and most of the job growth has been for delivery,” said co-owner Marques Warren.
The delivery calls come through a Boston-based mobile app company called Drizly that is signing up liquor stores nationwide for one-hour delivery.
But on Tuesday they got competition from the World's Largest Retailer, Seattle-Based Amazon and its new Prime Now service.
Drizly CEO Nick Rellas had a spokeswoman reach out to express concern that small businesses might be hurt.
But the owners of Downtown Spirits also see an opportunity.
“The day that Amazon Prime launched, we had more scheduled orders than we've had at any point prior,” Warren said. “The day that Amazon Prime launched, we had more scheduled orders than at any point prior so ultimately the broader awareness that's made by Amazon Prime about alcohol delivery is going to benefit us all.”
And co-owner Meru Belbayeva says Downtown Spirits is in a great position to take advantage of the greater interest in fast liquor delivery.
"Being a Seattle-based company, we really have a catered selection to our customers here. Everything that we select is strictly for the Seattle resident,” she said.
So what about price?
We selected a popular gin, Bombay Dry, and a popular whiskey, Canadian Mist, then checked the price of one-hour delivery on both apps.
The total was $62.60 on Amazon Prime Now and
$3.14 more on Drizly. But Warren points out an Amazon Prime membership costs $99 a year.
While Drizly is clearly worried about its markets nationwide, there may turn out to be room for both.
KIRO
