2026 RETAILER OF THE YEAR
2026 RETAILER OF THE YEAR
flourishing in a convenient setting in an upscale neighborhood.
“ We ' re situated in the shopping center,” says Adam Silverstein, Garfield’ s COO.“ That ' s really beneficial. We’ re near a Trader Joe ' s. So it ' s a really good shopping center. It ' s got great traffic going through there. And the consumer base in Naperville has just been a very strong consumer. They ' re very interested in finding small batch, finding esoteric, following staff suggestions, which has been really key to helping expand people ' s tasting profiles.”
Wine sales, which have struggled in the past year, have been a positive in the new Naperville spot.
“ We sell a lot of wine there,” says David Garfield.“ And our main manager there, James Laughlin, is a sommelier. So that helps out. He really you can sell a bottle of wine, and knows what he ' s talking about. The customers really, really trust him.”
To wit: Laughlin in spring was named the Chicago Winner of the GuildSomm " Vins de Loire " educational program, earning an educational trip to the Loire Valley. This will further boost his ability to positively impact sales in Naperville for a category that’ s struggling elsewhere.
“ Obviously wine, overall, is not doing great right now,” Garfield adds.“ It ' s just the area, it ' s a really higher-end area. A lot of old money, too. So they ' re wine drinkers to begin with. In regards to where the market is, I think that store’ s way ahead in the sales, comparatively, to what we ' re seeing in the market with wine and maybe at some of the other stores even.”
MODERN TRENDS
While the Naperville store has been a welcome bright spot, Garfield’ s has observed the same struggles facing the rest of the industry.
“ It is, as everyone knows, a very tough market,” says Garfield.“ We are seeing a little bit of drawback into the comfort brands. We are seeing some slowdown on some of the higher-end premiumization that really drove sales in the early post-Covid era.
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www. beveragedynamics. com 2026 Top 100 Issue • Beverage Dynamics 13