2021 RETAILER OF THE YEAR
Gary ' s is famous for its extensive selection of wines, which includes private labels, wine by the glass and one of the best collections of New and Old World wines in the country. days. Gary’ s continues that special niche in the neighborhood. The quality of our food rivals that of restaurants, and the mix of products on the wine side is very unique, appealing both to locals and to the thousands of tourists who come from all over the world to visit Napa each year.”
PIVOTING DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES The timing of the Napa store opening resulted in a series of unexpected challenges for the business.
Shortly afterwards, a power outage caused Gary’ s to close briefly. Then the Kincade fire erupted, devastating the Napa area and delaying the official grand opening celebration until December 2019.
The store then had less than four
months before being forced to close to the public due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Without the tourist population, many Napa locals left the area to seek employment elsewhere, making it difficult for Gary’ s to remain fully staffed. The store rapidly shifted its focus to ecommerce, capitalizing on its bi-coastal fulfillment capabilities.
The company also developed new programs like virtual wine tastings. Since Covid, Gary ' s has hosted more than 1,000 virtual tastings for groups ranging from 10 to 300 participants. The virtual tasting program was a lifeline for the Napa Valley store throughout Covid, and helped solidify Gary’ s position as a white glove fulfillment partner for premium clients and corporations alike.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey stores were also impacted by the pandemic, but in a different way.
In mid-March, as the pandemic began to unfold, Gary’ s experienced an unprecedented number of customers in its stores. During the week of March 15- 21, Gary says that“ every day was like Christmas Eve.”
Stores were packed. Products flew off the shelves faster than they could be restocked, and the staff had a difficult time controlling the crowds. On March 21, the Fisch family decided to close the New Jersey stores for the safety of their customers and 206 employees, remaining open only for curbside pickup and local delivery.
The pandemic forced Gary’ s to pivot and refocus the business. Prior to Covid-19, Michael was finishing his MBA at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania while working with Gary’ s on the side. While at school, Michael introduced a business intelligence reporting system, a mobile app, and expanded routing optimization capabilities for local deliveries fulfilled by Gary’ s.
His efforts proved to be timely due to the rapid increase in demand for local delivery orders sparked by the pandemic. After the start of the pandemic, Michael accelerated the implementation of an updated website in order to utilize the most sophisticated technology available to help meet the increase in online demand. Gary’ s new ecommerce platform is powered by City Hive, and encompasses the inventory of all five store locations.
“ Prior to Covid, our app generated several hundred downloads. However, shortly after
www. beveragedynamics. com 2021 Top 100 Issue • Beverage Dynamics 15