StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/58705
Ed Mulvihill's great-grandfather founded Peco's Liquor Store in Wilmington, DE, in 1936. Ed, seen here with his grandfather Frank Gazzillo, began organiz- ing social media efforts, such as the website and Facebook page seen here, soon after graduating from college and working at the store full time. public visibility and gain fans and followers, but the agency is developing ways to increase those numbers internally as well. "We're planning to engage fellow MLCC employees to put social media taglines in their email signatures," Miller says. "We're also including the Twitter and Facebook logos on all publications and presentations we create, directing prospective fans to our sites." Try Everything and See What Sticks B ay Ridge Wine & Spirits in Anapolis, MD, is a 15,000-square-foot store with annual sales over $10 million. To reach the widest range of cus- tomers possible, Bay Ridge turned to social media, a "less expensive option than the traditional forms of advertis- ing: print, TV and radio," according to co-owner David Marberger. "We currently use Facebook, YouTube and our website to reach online consumers, and we're just getting started with texting and Twitter," he says. "We're soon beginning Skype interviews with prominent wine- makers, brewers and distillers. I think you need to take a shotgun approach to the new forms of marketing." Marberger's method is to throw a lot against the wall and see what sticks. While everything won't work, trying is the only way to find out what will. Bay Ridge used the email addresses they collected as part of their "Card Club" program to inform customers of their social media endeavors. Marberger also puts signage around the store and mentions the company's Facebook page in traditional forms of advertising. He uses the page to announce sales dates, events, new products and industry news. Ultimately, he says the most important 36 thing is keeping in mind that the information sent out to customers needs to be relevant. His advice to other retailers? Don't try to fight modern technology and accept that it's changed everything about people's lives, including how they run a business. "The number of people using social media is get- ting bigger by the minute," he says. "You don't have to be a whiz at it yourself, since there are plenty of people that can and will do it for you, but you have to try. Ask yourself, what is your competition doing to get customers into their stores?" The answer probably includes online marketing using social media. Younger Generation Leads the Way owned and operated business says change is key to their 75-plus year success and led them to embrace social media as an important marketing and sales tool. Ed Mulvihill, whose great-grandparents founded the store, began running the company's website and Facebook page when he was in college. When he graduated earlier this year with a marketing degree, he took what he learned and applied it to Peco's. "I've always wanted to work at the store and I was excited to try these new tools," Mulvihill says. "It's both exciting and terrifying, since you also don't want to be the one to screw up the family business." Peco's specialty is craft beer. The store carries over 275 brands from more than 70 breweries and relies on a loyal craft beer clientele from the neighborhood. The store also carries more than 1,500 wines from around the world and while Mulvihill says it's difficult to compete with big box stores when it comes to spirits, Peco's does well with a number of smaller, craft distilled brands. His grandparents and mother still come to work at the store everyday, and Mulvihill says while they didn't get social media right away, they're 100% supportive of what he's doing, and even though it's difficult to explain the technology, they can see the results. That was especially obvious in January when customers kept wishing Mulvihill's grandfather a happy birthday in the store – it turns out Ed had posted on Facebook that he was turning 83 that day. "He got a real kick out of that and thought it was great," Mulvihill says. "Growing up with social media, that's my go-to form of communication, but for older customers who don't have profiles, we need to turn them onto it," he says. "We tell them about our website and we make sure S StateWays s www.stateways.com s March/April 2012 ince 1936, change has been part of Peco's Liquor Store in Wilmington, DE. The family-