As always , a huge thank you to our amazing sponsors , without whom this event would not have been possible : This included platinum sponsor City Hive , as well as BevSuite , Bevz , Bird Dog Whiskey , BlueOco , BottleCapps , Calumet Farm , Campari , Don Q , D ’ Usse , Heaven Hill , Luxco , Molly ’ s Irish Cream , Mozart Liqueur , Ole Smoky , Tres Papalote , Rite , Scrymetrics , Snoozies and Three Chord .

BARC ’ 23 kicked off with the keynote , “ How Top Ten Liquors Competes With Total Wine ,” featuring Jon Halper , CEO of Top Ten Liquors in Minnesota .

A year after Halper , a former lawyer , bought four liquor stores in the greater Minneapolis area , the chain store Total Wine came to town . So how did Halper , owner and CEO of Top Ten Liquors , compete with the retail giant known for its aggressive pricing ?

Halper shared with moderator Jeremy Nedelka and attendees how he differentiated his business to emphasize customer loyalty and engagement . “ Total Wine was coming to Twin Cities , and I had to quickly tweak the formula I had inherited ,” Halper said .

The previous business model for the stores that he acquired was to offer higher-priced goods with higher customer service . “ Total Wine ’ s mousetrap is sell national brands at cost and take private-label brands and mark them up ,” Halper said .

How did Top Ten change its business to better compete with Total Wine and others ? For starters , it worked with a marketing company that understood how to create a loyalty program .

Top Ten ’ s club-based program now includes

400,000 members . Benefits include best pricing on top-selling wine , spirits and beer , weekly email offers , gift cards earned based on points accumulation , exclusive sales and deals , new product releases and more

It ’ s important to find ways to make it easy for customers to engage with you , Halper said . This past November , Top Ten opened Wineside , a high-end wine and cheese bar , restaurant , charcuterie market , grocery and liquor store in Minnetonka .

Using self-serve wine dispensers , Wineside offers more than 100 different wines by the glass , from a 1-oz . pour all the way up to a full glass . Selecting wines for a wine bar is art and science , Halper explained : “ You need balance .”

Why open a wine bar ? The retail experience is changing , Halper noted . Concepts such as Wineside “ require customers to come in and engage with us .”

Retailers today should pay attention to the little things and the fundamentals such as location and visibility , Halper said . He ’ s found that the larger the store , the more customers want to shop there . Top Ten stores average 8,000 to 10,000 square feet in size ; its largest location is 20,000 square feet .

Patience is key when it comes to merchandising , said Halper . Particularly with spirits , “ so much has nothing to do with the liquid in the bottle — it ’ s the buzz , the marketing .” Top Ten is rarely first to launch a product , he said , “ so we can see what ’ s working in other markets .”

BY KYLE SWARTZ AND MELISSA DOWLING

22 Beverage Dynamics • June 2023 www . beveragedynamics . com