Stateways

StateWays-July/August 2016

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/707334

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 6 of 43

StateWays | www.stateways.com | July/August 2016 7 BUSINESS w i n e StateWays: What attracted you to these stores and the NJ market? Stephen Bebis: Mark Hutchinson and Ken Coppola built a well-run business. We admired their people in the stores the locations and their fi nancial results. The stores are quite profi table and have high-volume locations. We liked New Jersey a lot because of the sophistication and knowledge of many of their custom- ers when comes to adult beverages. SW: Do the Joe Canals stores have different wine-centric demograph- ics compared to your stores in Canada, Alaska and Kentucky? SB: I would say the NJ wine consumer does look for value in wine as in our other markets. However, wine con- sumption on a per capita basis is higher than in our other markets, which is good for our business. The wine business in both stores was very impressive, partic- ularly at over $20. Alaska and Kentucky are more spirits and beer markets. We are very excited about the wine market and learning from Mark Hutchinson and the team. Their customers often don't "shop the store," instead taking W hen Liquor Stores N.A. recently purchased 51 per- cent of two Joe Canals stores in Lawrenceville and Woodbridge, New Jersey for $15 million it raised a lot of eyebrows. The two iconic New Jersey stores had total sales of over $47 million, with a strong management team. That got the attention of Stephen Bebis, Liquor Stores' President and CEO. Liquor Stores is a publicly traded Canadian Company that owns 252 stores in North America, 48 of which are in the United States. Liquor Stores has a business plan that calls for continued growth in Canada and a very strong emphasis on acquisitions throughout the United States. The Company also announced that it had purchased two stores in New England, including a new 16,600 square foot store in Berlin, Massa- chusetts and a 20,000 square foot store in Norwalk, Connecticut. I recently spoke with STEPHEN BEBIS to discuss Liquor Stores' future in the U.S. and to discuss trends in the alcohol beverage industry. BY JONATHAN H NEWMAN GROWTH THROUGH ACQUISITION employees' recommendations with great confi dence. SW: Do you see more growth or profi t margins in distilled spirits, beer or wine? Which category excites you most? SB: We are excited about all categories in adult beverages. Certainly recent trends and consumer's interest in brown spirits, craft spirits and craft beer have been pos- itive for retailers. We have some exclusive products with wineries and distilleries to create great value (for our consumers), like Flatboat Bourbon from Kentucky. SW: Will you use your economies of scale bring value to your wine consumers? SB: Yes, indeed. Our product development team works very closely with some of the best wineries in the world to bring exclusive products to our customers that are delicious and offer great value. Our 252-store network allows us to buy in large quantities and we pass the savings on to our customers. SW: I understand the next markets you are entering are CT and MA. What made these markets interesting to you? SB: High density and incomes, strong index in wine consumption per capita, and we see an opportunity to bring our quality store model and customer ser- vice to consumers. SW: How important is purchasing stores as opposed to organic growth? SB: We like both. Acquisitions are im- portant to our growth and we are seek- ing them every day. In fact, if any of your reader's are interested in selling their business to us, please contact me. We are always seeking to buy well-run liquor stores with good people and great loca- tions. Organic growth is important to us and we will continue to do so when the right opportunities arise. SW: Are there lessons learned from emulating other chain retailers? SB: Yes, of course. I always learn lots from our competitors. Particularly from the respected well-run companies you men- tioned. Competition makes us better. We would like to be one of the largest retailers in North America of alcohol beverages. There are not many people making acqui- sitions and we have the capital to make acquisitions at good locations. • JONATHAN NEWMAN is widely recognized as a leader in the wine industry. As chairman of the Penn- sylvania Liquor Control Board, he was the nation's largest wine buyer and brought a number of popular innovations to bear, including the Chairman's Selection program and opening of local stores for Sunday sales. Jonathan has received signif- icant industry accolades during his career. Follow him on Twitter at @ NewmanWine and visit his website: www.newmanwine.com. ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Stateways - StateWays-July/August 2016