www.beveragedynamics.com
November/December 2014 • Beverage Dynamics 15
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W
hen you visit Wilbur's Total Beverage for the very fi rst
time, you'll be struck by two things: how clean it is,
and how it really doesn't feel like a typical liquor store.
Shelving displays are sparkling and elegant and plants dangle from
the ceiling, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere as soon as cus-
tomers walk through the door.
These impressions are intentional. Wil-
bur's, which is located in the heart of Fort
Collins, Colorado, was designed to be a fam-
ily-friendly establishment. You won't fi nd
any displays or posters featuring scantily-
clad women, which is the norm for many
liquor point-of-sale materials. What you
likely will fi nd is an employee vigorously
cleaning the store at any given time of day,
because Wilbur's has a full-time staff mem-
ber dedicated to doing just that.
You'll also fi nd friendly, knowledgeable
staff determined to create the best possible
customer experience for guests. It's all part
of managing partner Mat Dinsmore's plan
to maintain and improve his business' reputation as one of the top
beverage retailers in the state.
Dinsmore's foray into the beverage retail business can be cred-
ited to his father, Dennis, who previously worked in the liquor retail
industry as well as for Diageo (Schieffelin & Somerset). Back when
Mat was still in school, the Dinsmore father and son team often
talked about starting a liquor business together.
In October 2000, Dennis and a business partner purchased a
struggling Fort Collins liquor store named Beverage Nation, which
was situated next to a Wild Oats grocery store. Two years later, they
invited Mat to buy into the business as well. It was a tough market
in the middle of the early 2000s recession, and the store experienced
only moderate success. Their luck changed in 2004, however, when
the news came down that a Whole Foods
was coming to town.
"My dad and I knew that Whole Foods
was going to be a game-changer," Dinsmore
recalls. "We'd done all right until that point,
but we saw this as an opportunity to take
things to a whole new level."
The Dinsmores took on some addi-
tional partners in order to fund an ex-
pansion project. They elected to trade
in their 13,000-square-foot location for a
new 24,000-square-foot space located between the new Whole
Foods and a King Soopers grocery store. Also, they renamed
their store Wilbur's Total Beverage (the name was chosen to
BY MELISSA
NIKSIC
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WILBUR'S IS DEDICATED
TO FAMILY-FRIENDLY SERVICE
"People are really
starting to come back
after the recession,
and our sales are
evidence of that."
— Mat Dinsmore
