The 4,000- square-foot Liquorama Wine Cellars displays more than 4,000 differ- ent labels of wine around the store.
"Thirty-two years? Thirty four?" she pondered. "I started as a 20-hour-per-week clerk when my kids start- ed high school." Diane Kidney, who Gephard "snatched up" when the wine shop Kidney had been working for closed, has been with Liquorama for more than 20 years. Although all the staff are well-versed in all the products, they each have their own area of expertise. Kidney's are white wines and sparkling wines.
Michelle Colwell, who "is really good with German wines and Scotch," noted Gephard, and who also pub- lishes the store's email newsletter and runs its Facebook page, has been with the store for 10 years. They are joined by some relative newcomers. Patrick Sheehy, three years, is "our resident tall person," Gephard quipped, and a new father whose 14-month- old daughter is the store's unofficial mascot. Jeremy Pink, currently deployed in Afghanistan, is the reason why the store is decorated throughout with yellow rib- bons. And Rob Day is indispensable; "he runs our back door, making sure our deliveries are correct and the pricing is right," said Gephard. However, everyone in the store can do everything.
"We all can receive product, or run a register or clean a bathroom or wash a floor," Gephard said. "We are a 'family' here: work hard, laugh hard. A staff that is hon- est, loyal and trustworthy is worth its weight in gold." Last winter, before Pink went to Afghanistan, ice on the roof took down the store's telephone line on a Friday afternoon – and the earliest the telephone company
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could get there was Monday. "Jeremy went out and spliced the wires together and covered it in duct tape and a Styrofoam cup to protect the connection," said Gephard. Because of Pink, she said, "We had phones and credit-card service for the weekend!" And "during the November/December holidays – especially the day before the BIG day – Michelle and I make sure all of us have a good lunch break with a hot meal brought in and prepared by us," said Gephard. "It keeps us going! I am very proud to have a well-function- ing, loyal team." A customer, reviewing Liquorama on yelp.com, wrote, "The customer service is definitely above average … and the store is clean, organized and intuitively laid out. And when you cannot find something, or are simply not sure, experienced winos are to the rescue." Gephard is definitely a "wino," in the best sense of the word. The license plate on her car even reads "ZNFNGAL." She was part of the original wine tasting panel at Wine Enthusiast magazine and is currently on the National Retailer Wine Panel for Beverage Dynamics. But it wasn't always that way. When she started at Liquorama, as a part-time clerk, "all I knew was red, white and rose," she said. "The guys at the store – I
