"I could spend half a million dollars on advertising," says Tony May, the owner of Gemelli, a new restaurant in New York's World Trade Centre. "I'd rather spend it on the customers."
On October 27, just two weeks after Gemelli opened, the Dow Jones Index fell 554 points. "I don't panic," says May. "Things will go up and down."
Nevertheless, on the following Thursday Gemelli announced its great bear offer. For every point the Dow drops in a day, the restaurant will take 50 cents off the total wine bill, to a maximum of 100 points or $50. The Dow dropped 125 points the day the offer was announced. Diners could have had two $25 bottles of a 1995 Fonterutoli chianti for free; a 1992 Cherryblock Californian cabernet for just $4; or perhaps a 1988 Cristal Rose Roederer champagne for $50 off its list price of $375.
The offer will continue for the rest of the year. Felix Salmon