Daily Inspiration: Meet Timothy Brinkmann

Today we’d like to introduce you to Timothy Brinkmann.

Hi Timothy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Like most college students I waited tables & bartended to make extra beer money (& survive) during the formidable college years – worked everywhere from Blues Clubs on Beale Street to “4-Star” high-end dining establishments – graduated from college mid-year (December) planning on attending law school the following fall – I was acquainted with the owner of a Wine & Spirit distributor in Memphis and he asked if I would work for him before I started Law School.

Fell in love with the Wine & Spirit industry and decided to pursue my passion instead – I was blessed with an incredible mentor who took me under his wing and educated me in the fine wine business. Quickly worked my way up to the Director of Wine position. After several successful years in wholesale… I was approached by Bacardi USA to become their youngest Regional VP of Sales. I went from selling Fine wines to Fine Spirits & we were transferred/relocated to Brentwood, TN in 2001.

Bacardi is family-owned (the Largest Family-Owned Spirits Supplier) and coached us to be great entrepreneurs in our region – I honestly believed I would retire with Bacardi as we had the best of both worlds… International Spirits Company that knew you by first name and voice when you called HQ… After several wonderful years with Bacardi… it came time for relocation again… but we loved Middle TN so much that we decided to utilize the incredible training from Bacardi & open our first experiential retail store in Franklin, TN- Brinkmann’s Wine & Spirits – Franklin.

We built that business during 7+ very successful years then sold it in December of 2015 to start our Fine Wine & Boutique Spirits Distribution Company – TN Fine Wine & Spirits in 2016 – very proud of the distribution business we built & took statewide with distribution in every major market throughout TN-

We were a bespoke/turn key distribution business and we were purchased from a larger distribution company out of the Carolinas that had been looking to expand to TN – retail & brand building is a passion, so in July of 2019… we opened Brinkmann’s Wine & Spirits – BRENTWOOD.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
“If it was easy wouldn’t everyone do it…?” Ha!

When we opened our first business in early 2008… the market downturn had just begun – people were severely upside down on their home purchases & extra or dispensable income was harder to come by we were blessed to be welcomed as the new neighborhood store and won the customers over with our Brinkmann’s in store experience – “It’s an Experience, not an errand”. We were able to cash flow the business rather quickly and become profitable by listening to the customer’s wants and learning their palates.

Building our second business from scratch was also a difficult endeavor – I like to tease that the beverage alcohol business in the State of TN is “Kicking & Screaming” into the 20th century… much less the 21st… TN is considered a Franchise state – so when a distributor signs a brand, they own their rights in perpetuity… so the ability to acquire established brands was very difficult or next to unpossessable – we were building new brands for the market every day… The Nashville restaurant scene was also exploding around the same time – the skilled restaurant market could not keep up with the demand… “Nationally advertised brands” were the easy route – our team was diligent and was able to develop long-lasting relationships and build brands as the wine buyers would move to different restaurants & retail stores.

Our next foray into the retail sector started a little slowly as the initial location was relatively small in square footage until the current location was ready for occupation – we opened on “Covid Day”. Feb. 1, 2020, which as you can imagine brought all sorts of new challenges to the retail sector – fortunately we were “Vital to the psychological wellbeing of the citizenry” and were able to stay open – we were quickly able to pivot to “Inside, curbside or porch side delivery” and the business took off.

To date, most of our previous clients from Cool Springs/Franklin have found our new location and we are experiencing tremendous growth.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am a huge believer in the Golden Rule – treat people how you want to be treated…

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brinkmannswine-spirits.com
• Instagram: @brinkmannswineandspirits

Image Credits
FIFO Agency