Wine Enthusiast’s SoHo Store Showcases how DTC Brands are Rethinking Post-COVID Retail

Most people have heard of the Wine Enthusiast brand, but it’s likely they don’t know the whole story: while the brand’s glossy print magazine has become an important frontispiece to the company, that’s just the first page.

The family-owned Wine Enthusiast actually started out as a DTC brand 45 years ago, selling not wine (as some might expect), but rather wine lifestyle products. That side of the business is still the foundation of the company, and while it has evolved from mail-order to being more ecommerce-driven, 50% of orders still take place over the phone.

“You’d be surprised how many sales we still get on the phone,” said Erika Strum, President of Commerce at Wine Enthusiast and daughter of the company’s founders Adam and Sybil Strum, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints.

“Our audience wants to speak with someone because our AOV is high, and they want to know [if large products like wine cellars are] going to fit the space. They want to know every dimension.”

Image courtesy Wine Enthusiast The high-touch nature of many of Wine Enthusiast’s products are one reason that the company recently uncorked a new channel — brick-and-mortar retail. The first Wine Enthusiast physical store opened in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood late last year.

For this heritage brand, the SoHo storefront represents a chance to tell its story in a new way and broaden its reach as the worlds of wine and DTC grapple with shifts in demand and changing consumer preferences.

Retail TouchPoints took a tour of the store with Strum to learn more about its genesis — which was completed in record time thanks to partner Leap Retail — and the role Wine Enthusiast sees brick-and-mortar playing in its future.

A Well-Aged Family Brand A photo of baby Erika with her parents, Wine Enthusiast founders Adam and Sybil Strum, adorns the brand’s new SoHo shop. (Image: Retail TouchPoints) Nearly half a century on, Wine Enthusiast is still very much a family company.

Its two major divisions — Wine Enthusiast Commerce and Wine Enthusiast Media — are run by sisters Erika and Jacqueline Strum, respectively. The media side of the business not only encompasses the award-winning Wine Enthusiast magazine but also a recently launched travel division.

That expansion into experiences fed into the design and strategy for the SoHo store, where Strum said she wanted customers to feel like “we are welcoming you to our home.”

In addition to showcasing the company’s selection of products — which range from corkscrews and glasses to high-end fridges — the store also serves up some history of the brand, with family photos and other company memorabilia sprinkled throughout the space.

Image courtesy Wine Enthusiast Wood tones, terracotta archways and strategic lighting draw customers past displays of smaller-ticket items like glasses and totes into a seating area at the center of the 1,465-square-foot store, with plush leather chaises surrounded by an array of wine cellars and storage cabinets.

This warm, familial vibe also makes for an inviting atmosphere for the store’s monthly events.

And while Wine Enthusiast doesn’t sell much wine itself, and none in the store, that doesn’t mean customers won’t be able to enjoy a bit of vino during their visit: “If a wine brand would like to showcase their wine [in the store], they can do a sponsored event with us,” said Strum. “They can also be what we call the Pour of the Month.

I created this concept called the ‘test drive,’ so customers can have [that month’s] wine in whichever glass they’re interested in trying out.”

Events Serve up New Customers for Wine Enthusiast In addition to brand showcase events, which are held in conjunction with the media division, the store also hosts at least two other events each month; a Cabernet master class and wine glass engraving event are two recent examples.

One of Strum’s goals is to expand these to also include accredited educational programs for architects, designers and other tradespeople, “so if we do an education class on wine storage and why it’s important, the architects get credits toward their profession,” she explained.

Image courtesy Wine Enthusiast Raising these professionals’ understanding of wine-related appliances and accessories is part of Wine Enthusiast’s post-COVID strategy to become a bigger part of the planning process in the early stages of home building and renovation.

“We need to get in the homes early,” Strum noted, particularly when it comes to the brand’s hero product — wine fridges. Too often, these are perceived as an expense because they’re being considered after people have already built their homes, rather than an investment in their home’s value.

Strum hopes to shift that mindset and, not incidentally, boost sales. “We really reached kind of a plateau as far as our sales,” Strum said. “We had some of our best years during COVID, but now we need new ways to reach people.” And for high-consideration purchases like wine fridges, a physical space to test out the prod