Downtown Spirits
Wine has become a significant revenue generator for Washington , which is the second largest wine producing state in the country .
“ There ’ s substantial virtual inventory managed by MadWine ,” he adds . “ I want to grow it . I want to be one of the predominant regional shippers . We ’ ve always been an on-demand delivery service , with our team as the last-mile . MadWine is more focused on thirdparty . I ’ m digging into the complexities of that . I want to make the transition onto City Hive as seamless as possible .”
Warren has also begun using the larger Esquin location as a central distribution point , fulfilling Downtown Spirits from this nearby site .
Altogether , acquiring Esquin has been a rewarding challenge and immense business opportunity .
“ Our purchase of Esquin is part of Downtown Spirits ’ commitment to connecting customers with an expansive range of fine wines and the most knowledgeable sales team in the region ,” says Warren . “ With this acquisition , we ’ re excited to leverage Esquin ’ s long-cultivated traditions , business practices and deep connections with Northwest winemakers to create more opportunities for customers to access the best products .”
CONTINUED GROWTH Among all these recent accomplishments , perhaps most impressive for Warren and his company is their 2022 results .
“ We ’ re one of the few stores that saw an increase in sales over 2021 ,” he says .
All across the industry , 2022 was a “ hangover year ,” Warren adds . After ballooning retail sales during the pandemic , fueled by on-premise closures and panic-buying among consumers , the post- Covid years have been a hard return to reality for many .
“ Esquin is no exception ,” Warren comments on his newly purchased business . “ They have reverted back to their pre-Covid sales . But Downtown Spirits , we have continued our growth . We grew 13 %, year over year , 2022 over 2021 . Downtown Spirits did 50 %
more topline sales than Esquin .”
How did Downtown Spirits pull off such a feat amid a difficult 2022 for much of the industry ? Warren ’ s answer should be unsurprising to anyone paying attention .
“ The approach we take with our marketing is very tech-forward ,” he says . “ We lean into tech to solve our problems . City Hive has been instrumental in that , with the data you can get and targeting customers . Our membership program has been fantastic . I ’ m looking forward to offering it to the tens of thousands of additional customers I get from Esquin . This includes deliveries , and specials like monthly bourbon drawings . I ’ m looking to make our membership program there look more wine-focused , because that ’ s what Esquin is .”
Customers of the business can expect more of the decades-old brand that they have come to trust and love .
“ There are other opportunities I ’ m pursuing ,” he says . “ Local developers are reaching out . People like the Esquin brand . There ’ s a lot to be said about what a local , historical brand brings to the table .”
In the meantime , Warren will enhance the Esquin model as he knows best : through technological upgrades that improve customer experience .
“ Amazon has another technology , Dash Carts ,” Warren explains . “ Every item is automatically scanned as it goes into the basket . Then you just exit the store ,” through the Dash Cart lane , and the payment is processed using the credit card associated with a customer ’ s Amazon account .
What ’ s nice about this tech is that “ it doesn ’ t require a full buildout ,” Warren says . “ It can be built within an existing store . And it works with City Hive . My costs with Dash Cart are substantially lower , because I already did all the Amazon IT integration work . So why not deploy it at Esquin ?”
“ 2023 will be a really strong year ,” he adds . BD
www . beveragedynamics . com July 2023 • Beverage Dynamics 11