Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/51989
At the center of the Wayne store is a large circular counter that functions as a center for customer tastings (taken up by one-half of the counter) as well as the location of reference books, rare distilled spirits offerings housed in a glassed-in case, and the wine sales team. Fisch went to Napa Valley to visit with Louis Martini, the maker of cabernet sauvignon wines. The timing seemed to be poor: that year was one of the earliest harvests ever and the winery was in barely controlled "bedlam," Fisch recalled. Even so, Martini proved a gracious and generous host, inviting his young visitor to taste grapes in the back of a truck and to taste them in fermentation in the winery basement. The visit proved a revelation to Fisch. Upon returning, Fisch shifted his focus from liquor to becoming an ambassador for Martini wines. That meant a shift from earning a 5% commission on $100 cases to earning the same commission on cases running just $8 to $12 – but since he hadn't been sell- ing so many of the $100 cases anyway, it wasn't that much of a tradeoff. Fisch continued to build his wine knowledge at the Sommelier Institute in New Jersey and at wine courses at the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center. It set him in what would prove a permanent new direction. When one of his Fedway retail accounts decided to sell out, Gary and his brother jumped at the opportunity. He was 29 at the time. They were entering the retail wine business at a time it was still dominated by brands like Martini, Lancer and Blue Nun – "but the tidal wave was coming in," Fisch said. Gary's has risen swiftly with that tide. Following two moves, the Madison location has grown to 13,000 square feet. In 1997, the brothers opened their second store, a 10,000-square-foot unit in Livingston, which they later sold, and in 2001 added a 13,000- square-foot location in Bernardsville. By then Mark Fisch was ready to retire, but Gary continued to build his retail empire in 2008 with the opening of the 24,000- square-foot location in Wayne. The 24,000-square-foot Gary's Wine & Marketplace, in Wayne, NJ, was opened three years ago, the third outlet in the chain. 12 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • January/February 2012 The chain is an interesting amalgam. Bernardsville, situated in a bucolic part of New Jersey that includes horse farms and antique stores, serves the highest- income demographic group but has the lowest customer- traffic count of the three stores. The Madison store, in the dead center of town on Main Street, serves a clientele of middle- to upper-middle-class customers. By con- trast, the third location, shared with a Ski Barn store, is a com- plete departure. While it's adja- cent to the wealthy Franklin Lakes area, it's also situated on a major north/south highway, Route 23, which generates 63,000 cars per day. Despite all the cun- ning neighborhood touches, it's the farthest from a neighborhood store one can imagine. The com- pany's nearly $50 million in annu- al revenues break down about 35% for Madison, 25% for Bernardsville and 40% for Wayne, Fisch indicated.