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.
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time that all these new retailers were opening," explained Jim Root, BevMo!'s Washington district manager. "There was a lot of change in the entire industry; the whole foundation had changed. That was definitely the most challenging part." Root is a Washington native with experience as a district manager for two major retailers, Payless Shoe Stores and Best Buy. Hiring locally is impor- tant to BevMo! but so is retaining its own internal culture. Root reports that 85 to 90% of all the chain's hires are local. "But some people came from California or Arizona, which was a good thing, to keep that internal knowledge," he said. "Also, we invested a lot in training." Root himself, who start- ed with the company in February, spent a lot of time learning the BevMo! ropes in California. "Hiring locally is important because we want to be part of the community," said Schuler. "At the same time, relocating some people can be good for two reasons: it accelerates the learning curve and our culture is important; it is a big part of BevMo!" H PART OF THE COMMUNITY aving its stores be part of their community is very important to BevMo!, which positions its stores as "the neighborhood beverage store." When looking for locations, Schuler said, the chain looks for communities with a neighborhood feel. "And we take pride in being good neighbors," she said. "We don't sell cigarettes or lottery tickets and we don't have ATM machines." To add to the assistance its wedding service can provide, and also to promote the Tukwila store, BevMo! held a special bridal mixer event with Seattle Bride magazine the evening before the store's offi- cial opening. The chain invited several local wedding professionals, including photographers, wedding-dress designers and cake makers. "When people register with us for their wedding, it's great for us to be able to refer them to the other things they will need," said Schuler. BevMo! also hosted an event with the Seattle Girl Power Hour, a networking group for women that holds monthly meetings. "We invited senior female executives from our industry to be speakers at the event," said Schuler. And BevMo's first Washington State store, the one in Tacoma, opened in July has already been a main spon- sor of a beloved local event, "Taste of Tacoma." C SELLING LOCAL PRODUCTS hainwide, BevMo! has always prided itself on its atten- tion to local products, the offerings from wineries, craft breweries and micro-distillers near each location. Nowhere is this perhaps more appreciated than in Washington State, BevMo! carries more than 1,800 wines in its over 10,000-square-foot stores, and sees itself as a specialty store, not a superstore, which offers the best among different categories at all price points. home to many acclaimed wineries, breweries and a grow- ing number of specialty distillers. The Washington stores have a special eight-foot display section devoted just to locally produced distilled spirits products. BevMo! executives are pleased and excited about the response to their stores in Washington. "There are a lot of people in Washington who knew and really loved our stores; many are transplants from California, and they have been talking about us coming to Washington for years," said Kris Mulkey, BevMo! spokesperson. In the stores themselves, Root reported, "I get asked several times a day, 'When are you going to come to my neighborhood?'" The most common comment on BevMo's Twitter and Facebook accounts is about when the chain will open more new stores in more communities. In fact, one recent comment from a customer anticipating the latest store opening declared, "This is better than Christmas!" BevMo! has been a good catch for Washington s State. Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • November/December 2012 • 23