Editor’s note: If you’re a small supplier who’s waiting on overdue payments from RNDC, I’d lke to speak with you for a story I’m working on. Please get in touch.—Dave.

This morning, I broke the news at VinePair that Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) had lined up arrangements with two other wholesalers for another chunk of its crumbling middle-tier empire. As has become tradition, Fingers obtained and published the full text of the memo sent by chief executive Marc Sachs outlining these moves, which include a letter of intent with Breakthru Beverage Group for its joint venture in Indiana and Kentucky, and an acquisition agreement with Quality Brands Distribution for its operations in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Both buy-side principals have since confirmed those deals with me. At publication, RNDC had not responded to a request for comment.

I’ve been working the RNDC beat hard for the last [checks calendar; grimaces] 18-ish months. Frankly, the country’s formerly second-largest wine and spirits distributor has cut so many deals during its collapse that it’s hard to keep track of them all. So I mapped them.

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James McKenzie6 months ago

I think the ‘push to video’ is a play by the platforms, or maybe the server farmers, to push more bandwidth. I don’t mind a video when the format suggests it (‘watch me make a Negroni’), but I don’t like that everything is forced into video - I like to read, but also, I don’t want to have to use earbuds to consume information in public. If you want video for interviews - all good, if you’re just going to read Fingers at me, then I’m out

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Dave InfanteAuthor6 months ago

Having lived and worked through the original Pivot2Video™️ c. 2015-2018ish, I can say with some certainty that it was originally conceived by platforms like Facebook and YouTube to capture more video advertising opportunities away from linear TV, and that dipshit media bosses went along with it to their own detriment/demise.

I can also confidently say that if I had to make videos like this all the time as a function of my job, I would simply find a new job. It's such a project! I've always been a writer first, and Fingers will always be a primarily written product.

Appreciate the feedback, James!

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Melissa Johnston6 months ago

I usually don't engage with videos because I rarely have my sound on - even at home, absolutely never, ever in public - but I must say: I really enjoyed this video, because I was able to watch (mostly listen to) it while I was in the middle of cooking dinner. The powers that be always say to keep a video to 2 mins or less, or you lose people, but I think there is some runway here for maybe a YouTube channel...? If you are looking to engage with younger audiences, than this is certainly the way to do it.

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Dave InfanteAuthor6 months ago

Right on, thanks for chiming in Melissa. And thanks for the kind words about the video! I definitely have a similarly ambivalent relationship with vertical video as a viewer: never in public, and really not much at all if I can help it. The fact that you listened to it is interesting... I wonder if I should start publishing audio versions of my columns again...