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: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/215070
E Ted Reeck, owner of five Cellars Wine and Spirits stores in suburban Minneapolis-St.Paul. PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHELSEA REECK stablishing a sturdy retail profile isn't getting any easier in the beverage alcohol world, as forces like market fragmentation and the growth of big box stores put poorly-defined shops at the greatest risk. But operations attuned to change while maintaining their hard-won reputation in the marketplace seem often to have a better time of managing those forces. Change has been a constant for stores operating under the banner of Cellars Wine and Spirits in suburban Minneapolis–St. Paul. Ted Reeck, owner of the five Cellars stores, has been actively involved in the evolving beverage alcohol market here for more than 20 years, having run or been part of the management of more than a dozen stores with the Cellars name since 1990. Finding the correct product balance in the Twin Cities area can be tricky – while Minneapolis-St. Paul has the fifth highest median household income in the country, behind only New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Anchorage, Alaska, it is still a relatively modest market, and ignoring any potential customer is risky, Reeck says. "I don't want to be pigeonholed as a fine wine shop all by itself – it's a full-service business and I don't want to lose out on any potential sale." Wherever the Cellars banner has been hung, the philosophy has been the same: savvy product selection, smartly applied buying power, comprehensive staff knowledge and regular consumer education. With these essentials in place, the Cellars have found a way to establish an identity as being attuned to wine and spirit trends while embracing a broad swath of potential customers. Perhaps the best way to showcase their philosophy comes from the company's website: "Good taste should cost less…and it does at The Cellars. This single statement guides everything we do at The Cellars. First and foremost, our buyers look for the absolute best offerings in the market and with our immense buying power we negotiate the very best possible price. And, even though our name is The Cellars, we're not in the business of cellaring wine, we're in the business of selling wine. The result? The finest products from around the world at "out of this world" pricing!" While Reeck is always willing to make certain the desires of regular customers are met, and continues to stock higher-end wines as needed, his sales approach is more focused on creating volume at the mid-range, at least when it comes to wine. "I have to have what I call eye candy wines for some people, but if you sell only one case of an expensive wine as opposed to 25 cases of a $20 wine, well, you can see what's more important to me. I want some of it [the high end] and I want my customers to have access to it, but it's not a huge profit center." "Niche wine shops must depend on a sophisticated audience and they don't seem to work here. Maybe we're too small of a market, and they're too small for their buying power to let them take advantage of pricing, but I've always believed you have to do it all – beer, wine and spirits – to make it in this market." Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • November/December 2013 • 23