About The Dog
About the Name
We’re often asked about the name of the shop. If we had any idea that
half of the adult population had never heard of “Hair O’ The Dog”,
we would have probably named the place “Clarence’s Cut-Rate Liquor
Barn” or “Git Yer Booze Here” or something like that.
In any case, the phrase “Hair of the dog that bit you” refers
to the practice of curing a hangover by drinking some of whatever it was that
put you into that state in the first place. This usage has been around since
1546, when it appeared in Heywood's Proverbs: "What how fellow,
thou knave, I pray thee let me and my fellow have a haire of the dog that bit
us last night. And bitten were we bothe to the braine aright."
The origin of the phrase goes back even farther to the homeopathic practice of
treating maladies with a bit of what caused the malady. In this case, one might
treat a dog bite by rubbing hair from that dog upon the wound. Now we know why
life amongst the ancients was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Dog History
Hair O’ The Dog is the brainchild of Joe and Dave, two guys who used
to wear ties, read memoranda and attend joyless meetings for a living. Joe
and Dave got tired of being suits, and decided to pursue the
road less traveled.
Being business geniuses, they conducted a thorough market analysis. This
consisted of saying “What business can we do that’s fun, preferably
where we can get paid to drink stuff?” Hair O’ The Dog emerged
as the winning idea.
Figuring they were no stupider than the next guys, Joe and Dave set about
making it happen. Luckily, their wives – Princess Vicki and Queen Shazz – made
sure that even if the guys didn’t know what they were doing, at least
the place looked good.
Hair O’ The Dog began its quest for Global Beverage Domination in August 2004.
Dog Credo
The Dog believes in…
A Respectful Relationship with our Clientele
We believe that we owe you a beautiful, inviting space where everyone from
first time buyers to connoisseurs can be comfortable. We owe you great service,
both actively by assisting you in the shop and passively by providing clear
information and guidance for those who prefer to help themselves.
If we don’t offer to carry your heavy purchases to your car, you are
entitled to have Joe perform the dance of your choosing on top of our counter
while you ridicule him relentlessly. His interpretation of the Watusi is particularly
comical.
Providing Great Value Every Day
Sure, our store looks like it should be expensive. But we’re fanatical
about making sure that we offer great stuff at affordable prices. We have over
200 wines for under $15 per bottle, and dozens under $10 per bottle. We taste
over 1,500 wines annually in our tireless effort to uncover the best wine values
from around the world. Yeah, we know it’s a tough job.
While we can’t promise that we will always be the lowest priced provider
on every item every day, we work very hard to be sure that we are competitive.
Hair O’ The Dog will always offer the best overall value in its market.
Variety
We carry a large variety of products in every category. For instance, we
believe that having over 200 different beers is better than having 200 different
package configurations of three different beers.
Instead of stocking just the leading brands (like most stores), we carry
dozens of vodkas, rums, tequilas, single Malts, etc. We carry a broad selection
because you should have the option of buying great products that aren’t
necessarily advertised on TV. We rotate our wine selection so that we can continue
to bring you new wines that we love.
Can’t find something you like? Just ask. We can order over 25,000 different
spirits, wines and beers that you can usually pick up here at the store within a week
of your order.
Supporting Our Community
Hair O’ The Dog supports the local community by supporting responsible
drinking, by sponsoring charitable initiatives and by promoting local artists.
We donate $1 for every bottle of our house wines sold and 100% of our commissions
on art sales to local charities.
We believe that adults are entitled to the enjoyment of the products we sell.
We work with local police to ensure that minors who attempt to purchase alcoholic
beverages are prosecuted. We refuse to sell to customers who are under the
influence of intoxicants. We encourage customers who feel as if they may not
be able to control their drinking to contact Alcoholics
Anonymous, their physician or counselor for help.
Dog Don’t Do Dat
We at The Dog strictly eschew the following:
The Hard Sell ~ We don’t stack teetering pyramids of featured products
in the shop, paper our windows with ugly signs, hang 72 blinking neon signs or hundreds of ugly shelf-talkers. First,
it’s just tacky, baby. Second, we trust your judgment enough to just give
you the information and let you decide what you want to buy. Can’t decide?
Ask, and we’ll assist you.
Bargain Bins ~ many liquor stores buy closeout wines for as little as $2
per bottle, then sell these wines in Bargain Bins for what appear to be bargain
prices. Hair O’ The Dog does not buy Closeout wines, which are typically
being discontinued by the wholesaler because there have been customer
complaints about the condition of the wine. Our “Smell Ya Later” section
contains only first-quality wines that have been in our main inventory.
Bait & Switch ~ some liquor stores advertise ridiculously low prices on certain
items, then try to sell you something more profitable when you show up at the
shop, where the sale item is often sold out. The Dog doesn’t advertise
prices on individual products – not because we aren’t competitive,
but because you can trust that we aren’t going to sucker punch you. If
you can’t trust your merchant, you shouldn’t shop at his establishment.
Cool Store Features
 Top Dog Card
Our Top Dog card is a free membership card that saves you 10% on all purchases
and 17% on any case of beer or wine, including in-stock, special order, and
even mixed cases. Many special product offerings are only available to Top
Dogs, including our Ridiculously Hedonistic and Fiscally Imprudent 99-cents
Over Wholesale Event. We also maintain a registry of Top Dogs’ purchases,
so that if you forget the name of that lovely little tipple you had last month,
we’ll be able to remind you.
Smell Ya Later
For some reason, no one ever wants to buy the last bottle of wine from the
rack. We like to think that this is because their mama told them to never take
the last of anything. In any case, we’ve created the Smell Ya Later section,
where we take the last bottles of great wines that we can no longer stock,
then discount them so that you can offset your guilt for buying them with some
tasty savings.
 Car Sticker Discount
What could be cooler than driving around town with our classic DOG sticker
on your back window? How about getting an 11% discount on all of your purchases?
At the Dog, we’re happy to pay you to be cool. So sign up for a Top Dog
card, put the sticker on your car, and back it up so that we can check it out!
Wine Info Cards
We believe that we are the only store in the world that actually writes a custom wine
description for every wine we sell. Maybe we're obsessive fools, but we believe that wine buyers
want to know about every wine they can buy ~ not just the ones with the little Wine Spectator
shelf-talkers stapled to the rack. We've written hundreds of wine cards: at least one for each wine
we've sold. If you'd like to see what we say about a wine that you've bought, or are considering
buying, use Adobe's handy search option here.
Corporate Babblespeak
Hair O’ The Dog Wine & Spirits is an independent retailer that is wholly
owned by Three Ravens Investments, LLC, which is in turn wholly owned by two
guys named Joe and Dave. All trademarks and copyrights to everything on this
site are the property of Three Ravens Investments, LLC, so don’t make us
sic our lawyers on you.
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