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“Maybe not, but he wasn’t inclined to go with Donovan Brothers at first. He changed his mind about that. I don’t see why he can’t change his mind about this.”
“I think it might be because your brother had sex with his daughter.”
Yes, now his smile was definitely too wide. Tessa took a sip from her wine and tried to let the awkward moment pass. “Well, if you don’t think he’ll budge, what is it you wanted to meet about?”
“I’m not sure if you’re familiar with all of the Kendall Group holdings, but in addition to some other duties, I’m president of Kendall Flight, which was my father’s first foray into air travel. We lease and rent private luxury aircraft. We also offer what is essentially a time-share system that allows people to own partial shares of a private aircraft.”
“How does that work?”
“Each individual investor purchases a share of the jet’s flight time. Customers can get all the benefits of owning a private jet, without having to pay for the time that it’d normally be sitting in a hangar. Kendall Flight was one of the first companies in the U.S. to offer it.”
“I’ve never heard of that. It’s fascinating. How do you think our brewery could fit in?”
“Well, we cater to the needs of our clients, so we couldn’t offer to carry Donovan Brothers beer exclusively, you understand. If a customer wants Corona, they get Corona.”
“Of course.”
“But we could certainly discuss the details of offering your product as part of our jet catering service.”
Tessa felt her eyes widen. This might actually be a great idea. It might not offer quite the exposure of an exclusive deal with a nationwide, public airline, but it would get their beer into the hands of a wider audience. “How many customers do you serve annually?”
“We log sixty thousand passengers every year.”
“Really?”
“Of course, each flight offers only the menu requested by the lessee, so I can’t control which customers would place orders. But I can send you some numbers on other alcoholic beverages we offer.”
“Absolutely. I’m
intrigued.”
“Wonderful,” he said with another wolfish smile. This guy was a salesman through and through. “And I’d love to offer a tour of our facilities.”
She couldn’t tell if that was a come-on or a sincere offer, so she smiled noncommittally.
“There is one more opportunity I could offer…”
The waitress was already at the table with lunch, and Graham Kendall leaned back to give her space, but he kept his smile aimed in Tessa’s direction. She grew worried that his next “opportunity” would involve becoming his mistress. Or buying a used car. Roland Kendall might be lacking in charm and smoothness, but Tessa was beginning to think she knew exactly where all the excess had landed.
She took a bite of her pasta and waited for the rest of the sales pitch. It didn’t take long.
“Kendall Flight is sponsoring a big charity golf event. This is our second year and it’s become my pet project. I’ve taken it upon myself to organize the cosponsors.”
“Oh,” she said, trying—and failing—to keep the wariness out of her voice. “We already sponsor a lot of local events. It’s one of our main promotional vehicles, actually.”
“Ah, but this won’t be a local event. It’s a golf tour nament at a world-class resort in Palm Springs. California,” he added, as if she wouldn’t recognize the place.
“But we haven’t pushed into California yet. It’s a pretty crowded microbrew market. I’m not sure what benefit we’d achieve with promotion outside our market.”
His smile oozed toward condescension. “Well, obviously this would be a great jumping-off point. If you reached the silver level of sponsorship, we’d serve your beer exclusively. But more than that…this isn’t a local 10K or a volleyball tournament. These are business owners, influential people. And assuming you or one of your brothers was there to make new friends and rub shoulders… There’s no telling what kind of deals you could open up.”
Huh. Tessa was a bit dumbfounded to find herself influenced by his pitch. It actually might be a wonderful opportunity. But it was obviously going to be an expensive one. Silver-level expensive.
He pushed harder. “We’re talking promo space, a stand or two. Coasters, napkins, the whole nine yards. And you’d be included on all the usual sponsor lists, of course. You’d be included in the brochure. Your branding would inevitably show up in photos of the event.”
“It’s an interesting idea, though I still hesitate to consider a California event. Why don’t you send me all the information, and I can talk it over with my brothers after the dust settles on the High West problem.”
“Well, that’s the issue. We’ve already lined up all the other sponsors. The promotional items are going to press in three days.”
