PHOTOGRAPHY BY AUBREY BOONSTRA
Brian Rosen (left) and Richard Salberg, partners in the three-unit Evolution Wines & Spirits
operation, located in three Chicago-area neighborhoods.
The Theory
of
Evolution
With three stores in the Chicago area, Evolution Wines &
Spirits has been crafting a specific business model:
a focused product mix buttressed by a selling atmosphere
of service and knowledge.
By Jack Robertiello
F. Scott Fitzgerald was famous for a lot more than
his prose, but perhaps his most enduring remark was
that there are no second acts in American lives.
Perhaps that was on Brian Rosen's mind when the
idea for creating a more welcoming and contemporary
style of beverage alcohol retailing occurred to him. Or
maybe the time spent in a career in management at
accountancy firm Price Waterhouse Coopers never
quite provided the satisfaction that he had found as the
chief operating officer of Sam's Wine and Spirits, the
iconic retailer owned by his family but sold to an invest-
ment banking company in 2007. Or maybe it's just that
he loves selling wines and spirits.
Whatever the stimulus, Rosen didn't stay away
long, teaming up with partner Richard Salberg a little
over two years ago with a well-devised plan for a chain
of specialty wine-focused shops that might be considered the antidote to the plethora of Big Box stores that
are defining 21st century retailing. At the very least, the
team behind Evolution Wines & Spirits are trying hard
to craft a sustainable model that is far different from the
giant retailers of the world.
The route Rosen selected, starting with the opening
in 2011 of the first of what are now three Evolution
16 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • March/April 2013
