Market Watch Honors Nation’s Top Retailers At Awards Dinner In New York

Market Watch magazine last night toasted America’s most successful retailers at its annual Leaders Awards Dinner at the St. Regis Roof in New York, and also honored the market’s hottest brands and its leading industry executive.

Gary Fisch, owner of New Jersey-based Gary’s Wine & Marketplace, was named Market Watch Retailer of the Year. Fisch’s upscale, three-unit operation posted more than $50 million in sales last year, with 70 percent of that total coming from wine. His success is attributable to a combination of top-drawer service and merchandising, along with a broad-based selection and competitive pricing.

Max Shapira, president of Heaven Hill Distilleries, was honored as the Industry Executive of the Year. Shapira has led Heaven Hill since 1996, taking the company beyond its traditional Bourbon roots and transforming it into the nation’s sixth-largest spirits player, with a diversified portfolio of whiskies, liqueurs, vodkas, rums and other spirits.

Eight new Market Watch Leaders were inducted at the dinner: Bruce Dierking of Hazel’s Beverage World in Boulder, Colorado; Bruce Emmons of Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa, California; father-and-son partners Arthur N. Luke and Arthur J. “A.J.” Luke of Cape Cod-based Luke’s Super Liquor Stores; father-daughter team Sid Applebaum and Nancy Rosenberg of Big Top Liquors in St. Paul, Minnesota; and partners Dale Lomas and Mike Subrick of Atlantic Liquors in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Four long-standing Market Watch Leaders were also honored with Leaders Alumni Awards for their unique contributions to the industry. Michael Binstein, a 1997 Leader and owner of Chicago-area retailer Binny’s Beverage Depot, won the Alumni Award for Best Advertising, while 2006 Leader James Woodard of Franklin, Tennessee-based Cool Springs Wines & Spirits took home the honor for Best Merchandising. Rick Anderson of Minneapolis-based France 44 Wines & Spirits, a 2007 Leader, won the Best Website award, while 1993 Leaders David and Robert Trone of Total Wine & More were honored for Community Service.

The evening also featured the Market Watch Leaders Choice Awards, which recognize the industry’s top-performing brands. The Spirits Brand of the Year was Fireball, whose depletions have risen from 50,000 cases in 2009 to nearly 2 million cases last year. The Wine Brand of the year was Meiomi, the Pinot Noir label launched in 2009 by Wagner Family of Wines’ Joe Wagner and now marketed by Joe’s own company, Copper Cane Wines & Provisions. Meiomi has been growing at a 40% clip for the past several years and is headed well past half-a-million cases for 2014. In the beer/cider/RTD category, the Brand of the Year honor was won by Angry Orchard cider, which quadrupled its volume to 8 million (2.25-gallon) cases, leapfrogging Woodchuck to become the nation’s top cider brand.

The Leaders Choice awards also saluted the industry’s hottest new products in spirits and wine. George Dickel Rye from Diageo was named the Best New Spirits Product, while Constellation’s Thorny Rose Wines won the Best New Wine Product honor.

Tagged : beer, Market Watch, spirits, wine

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