Interview, Part 1: Tri-State Retailer Stew Leonard’s On Merchandising Wine With Food
June 26, 2024Founded 25 years ago, Stew Leonard’s Wines & Spirits now numbers eight locations in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, a mix of free-standing liquor stores and beverage alcohol departments within its eponymous grocery stores. While each store is individually owned and operated by Leonard family members, combined beverage alcohol sales total about $100 million a year. Shanken News Daily contributing editor Terri Allan spoke recently with Blake Leonard, consulting president, about recent changes to the company’s go-to-market strategy and the opportunity for emerging wine and spirits products.
SND: In recent years, you’ve transformed your New Jersey beverage alcohol model from standalone liquor stores to drinks departments within newly opened stores. Why have you pivoted?
Leonard: We’ve always felt that there was a good opportunity to combine our knowledge and unique approach to customer service as a food retailer with our passion for wine. We look at wine as another item on the dinner table. Because New Jersey allows for the sale of wine and spirits in food stores on a limited basis, we felt it was a good opportunity to combine.
Our food stores see 10 times the traffic of a typical wine store, and we can cross promote wine with food items, helping to take the guesswork out of it for our customers, while making it a one-stop shopping experience. At our newly opened Clifton, New Jersey grocery store, we’re seeing a 30% increase in beverage alcohol sales versus our previous standalone location.
SND: With wine as your biggest sales driver, what are some of the top trends you’ve been seeing of late in your stores?
Leonard: While we’ve seen a surge in Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and Sancerre in recent years, now it appears that customers are seeking alternative whites that provide value, such as Gavi, Vermentino, and declassified Sancerre. More than ever, consumers want wines that offer value, but they don’t want to compromise on quality. At Stew Leonard’s, we promote ‘hidden gems,’ wines that overdeliver on quality for their price point.
With our customers looking for ways to save, we now offer a weekly two-for deal, where customers can save on a wine by buying two bottles. Typically, we see sales of that product double or triple. And while Champagne exploded a few years ago during Covid, these days we’re seeing all sparkling wines—and not just Prosecco—continue to grow. So far this year, our wine sales are down about 2% overall.
SND: What impact is inflation having on wine and spirits purchases at Stew Leonard’s?
Leonard: In general, we’re seeing customers put one less bottle into the cart. In 2019, they may have put four wine, spirits, and beer items in their cart. This year it’s three. We’re seeing a similar trend in our food stores.
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