“ Prior to Covid, our app generated several hundred downloads.
However, shortly after Covid began, we very quickly hit over 35,000 downloads. Our online ordering went from generating 12 % of our business to 100 %, and we were ecommerce only for several months.”
– MICHAEL FISCH, DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION
BUILDING A DISTINCTIVE BRAND Gary Fisch, the company’ s founder, originally entered the beverage industry as a liquor salesman. He had an opportunity to purchase a store, then known as Shoppers Discount Liquor / Wine Warehouse, in 1987. The small, 1,200-square-foot store was located in Madison, NJ. Gary quickly expanded its size by taking over retail spaces adjacent to his.
Ultimately, he moved to a nearby, 13,000-square-foot location, which remains one of the four Gary’ s stores currently operating in New Jersey.
Gary followed his instincts to identify viable locations and opened several additional stores in rapid succession. As the business grew, so did its product offerings. While the stores were always primarily focused on wine— which is a passion of Gary’ s— he decided to offer his customers a more robust set of items, including cheeses, charcuterie and giftware.
The business later changed its name to Gary’ s Wine & Marketplace. Located in upscale New Jersey markets of Bernardsville, Closter, Madison and Wayne, each store has a slightly different look and feel, with similar product offerings.
The business also expanded behind the scenes on the operations side when Gary’ s son, Michael Fisch, began working alongside his father several years ago. Michael currently serves as the company’ s director of innovation, focusing on driving operational efficiencies through the implementation of new technologies and systems.
“ I have to say that strategy wasn’ t a big part of it, during those early years of expansion,” Gary admits.“ It was all driven by emotion and gut: what felt right to me and what I thought would work best for the business. All that changed when Mike came into the picture, though, as he’ s much more driven by data and numbers.”
Chef John Morley and GM Mariko Hachiya, of the St. Helena location of Gary ' s.
NAPA BOUND Both emotion and strategy came into play when Gary’ s made its next big move.
Although the business has been grounded in New Jersey for more than 30 years, Gary always maintained a close connection to the wineries in Napa Valley. He typically visited the region several times per year, establishing close relationships with various area winemakers and business owners.
In early 2019, while on one of his regular trips, Gary visited
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