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
wall of the store is a wall of refrigeration encompassing 27 doors, four of them devoted to wine and the rest to beer. Toward the front of the store – on the other side of the Tuscan villa from the entrance – is a spacious gift area. All told, the store's sales come out about 5% food, 13% spirits, 11% beer, and most of the rest wine, Fisch indicated. T he rear, or eastern, wall of the store provides offices for staffers involved in market- ing, Internet sales and the like, as well as ambient storage. The Internet is considered a big growth opportunity at Gary's – "we consider it our fourth, and fastest-growing, store," is how he put it. The company has worked hard to optimize its presence so that the store comes up right away to consumers search- ing on price or product, but it also gets its share of emails from bricks-and-mortar customers on some occa- sions. Fisch is high on that aspect of the business. "It's building community," he says. As things stand now, it's maybe 10% of the business. Judging by Fisch's interactions with staffers, from sales managers to young warehouse workers, it's a jovial, close-knit group, though the distance of the Wayne store from the other pair meant that it had to be staffed entirely afresh. That means few of the Wayne staffers are veterans of more than three G The 27-door cooler area features mainstream beers, extensive offerings of imports, a wide variety of craft brews and some obscure micro- brews, as well as a selection of chilled wines. years with the company, and Fisch spends the major- ity of his time at the store. (Note: several of the wine buyers and administrative staff have been with the company for five years or more, but no one on the daily floor/wine staff.) Given the stores' reputation for friendly service, are there any secrets of hiring? "A smile helps," Fisch replied. "It's just about positive energy." While recruit- ing solid people is always a challenge, the weak economy has been a help, freeing up well-educated wine lovers forced or looking to make a change. At the time of Beverage Dynamics' visit, the Wayne floor was staffed by two former Wall Streeters, one of them a 25-year vet- eran of a German bank who'd extensively visited Europe's major wine-producing regions. ary Fisch's continuing quest to offer his customers wines they won't find anywhere else has made him the top bidder for nine years running at the prestigious Premiere Napa Valley auction held each February. The draw of PNV: "200 different wines, each unique," Fisch said. Put on by the Napa Valley Vintners, the three-hour live auction held at the Culinary Institute of America facility in St. Helena, CA, last February netted a record $2.4 million, up 23% from the 2010 take and pushing past the 2008 record by 6%, no mean feat given the still-troubled state of the economy. For the fifth year in a row, Gary's was top bidder. This past year, the retailer bested 67 other successful bidders, com- mitting more than $500,000 to capture 300 cases from 32 producers, including Ovid, Duckhorn Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery and the chair's lot from Honig Vineyards & Winery. Among the top 10 bidders, Gary's was one of just two from east of the Mississippi, along with Metz Group of Dallas, PA. The bounty is flagged on mounted barrelheads in Gary's glassed-in wine room in Wayne, and to make the rarity of the wines even more unmistakable, this year the store moved the bottle number right onto the front label. On display during a recent visit, for instance, was a bottle from Auction 15, Lot 192, from the 2008 auction, a Caldwell Red Wine initialed by wine- maker Marbue Marke and designated as bottle 59 of just 60. It was going for $160. "This gives us opportunities to get things nobody else has," Fisch said succinctly. Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • January/February 2012 • 17