The Retail, Events & Membership Lead oversees all on-site retail operations, private events, tour group coordination, and Silks Club membership initiatives at the distillery. This role is responsible for driving revenue through premium guest experiences while protecting brand standards, ensuring regulatory compliance, and delivering exceptional hospitality across retail, events, and tourism channels.
Retail Operations
- Manage daily distillery retail operations, ensuring a seamless and welcoming guest experience
- Oversee inventory management, ordering, and product allocations across the physical gift shop, online sales channels, and club-exclusive offerings
- Analyze retail performance to identify top-selling products and opportunities for improvement, continuously evolving merchandise to align with brand standards and increase sales
- Maintain POS accuracy for product listings, pricing, cash handling, reporting, and compliance
- Execute visual merchandising strategies and support limited release and seasonal product launches
- Coordinate with production and distribution teams to ensure product availability and accurate forecasting
- Oversee order fulfillment for online sales, including pick/pack/ship workflows
- Manage returns, damaged shipments, and customer service related to online orders
- Assist with administration of bourbon club members, including onboarding, renewals, closures, and quarterly shipment fulfillment
Silks Club Membership
- Actively promote and upsell Silks Club memberships to gift shop visitors (commission tied to new member sign-ups; structure to be finalized)
- Collaborate closely with the marketing team to grow membership and evolve the program over time
- Manage packaging and fulfillment of Silks Club welcome kits and maintain inventory of welcome materials
- Maintain member records and execute personalized touchpoints, including monthly birthday postcards
- Partner with leadership to deliver elevated, club-exclusive experiences—such as curated releases, member-only events, priority access, and personalized engagement—to reinforce loyalty and long-term value
Events – Internal and External
- Assist with venue tours and manage event contracts, deposits, invoicing, and client communications
- Develop detailed event timelines, logistics, and BEOs while coordinating with tours, tastings, and production schedules to avoid conflicts
- Oversee event setup, execution, and breakdown, ensuring high standards of service and brand representation
- Supervise event staff, bartenders, security, and brand ambassadors across concurrent events
- Serve as the on-site escalation point for client, vendor, or guest issues
- Document post-event feedback, including successes and opportunities for improvement, to support continuous refinement
- Ensure safety, security, and compliance for all guests and employees during events
- Work with marketing and events on festivals and other off-site events, including logistics, event needs, and execution
- Coordinate off-site events and work with the internal team on execution
Tour Groups & Tour Companies
- Serve as the primary point of contact for tour companies and group bookings, managing inbound inquiries and email correspondence
- Actively cultivate and maintain strong relationships with regional and national tour operators, promoting new distillery offerings, seasonal experiences, and special programming to drive increased group visitation.
- Coordinate group bookings and special requests in collaboration with the Hospitality Manager
- Handle large-scale and VIP group bookings from initial inquiry through execution, helping reduce operational strain on the tour team
- Maintain clear documentation and communication for group visits, including notes on repeat partners, preferences, and opportunities for future growth.
- Represent the brand professionally to external partners, reinforcing Bluegrass Distillers’ reputation for hospitality, organization, and premium guest experience.
Administrative & Support Functions
- Manage incoming donation requests, including fulfillment and tracking total donations for annual reporting
- Support additional projects and initiatives as assigned by leadership
Qualifications
Required:
- Bachelor’s degree
- Experience in hospitality, retail, tourism, events, or customer experience roles
- Strong organizational, communication, and relationship-building skills
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Weekends required
Preferred:
- Bourbon, spirits, beverage, or tourism industry experience
- Event coordination or retail operations experience
- Familiarity with POS systems, inventory management, or CRM platforms
Compensation:
- Event coordination stipends ($150–$500 per event)
- Commission on Silks Club memberships
- Performance-based incentives tied to retail and experiences
- Base: $45-48K
- Incentives: $5K–$12K