Green Hill News -- March 26, 2009
Page 14
Business Profiles 2009
Grace’s Plaza Wine & Spirits isn’t what most people expect to find in a Green Hills liquor store.
Grace’s opened last December in the former Grace’s Shop for Ladies space with a focus on “over-the-top” customer service from an experienced staff, said Store Manager Daryl Gibbs.
Some people may think a Green Hills liquor store has to be expensive, but Grace’s strives to be price conscious and price competitive with not only the Green Hills liquor stores but also all of Nashville’s liquor stores.
“We’re working to be very aware of the current economic conditions but also trying to offer great value for the money,” Gibbs said. “We are very aggressively priced, and we’re not making what people perceive as the traditional Green Hills markup.”
Housed in the former Grace’s Shop for Ladies, Grace’s Plaza Wine & Spirits has a little more than 6,000 square feet of shop space to stretch its selection out, but Grace’s also leaves room available to grow.
“We have to have room to grow because we’re taking ideas from the customers,” Gibbs said.
Grace’s keeps an informal list of customers’ wishes on which Gibbs is working with wholesalers to bring into the store, making the stores selection continuously evolving.
Gibbs knows customers are looking for suggestions. That’s where an experienced staff made up of former restaurant workers and wholesalers will help match customer’s wants and needs with a particular taste of wine. “It’s not just a bottle with a label on it,” Gibbs said. “It’s got a personality, it’s something that we can hopefully convey to the consumers that this wine will enhance their experience, whether it be a social experience with their friends or a good meal experience.”
Gibbs said Grace’s will seek the best prices for the best selection, it can find, but the biggest priority is a service-oriented, customer-friendly shopping experience. “We’re going to cater to the community. It’s all about the customer that walks through the door whether they are buying a $9 bottle of wine or a $600 bottle of wine.”
In the middle of the shop locally custom-made wooden wine racks hold the whites, the reds, and the Australian, the Argentinean and the Chilean wines.
In a room off to the side sits The Wine Niche with the more common jugs and boxes. But in the back, the Old World Wine Hall holds the French, Italian and Spanish wines The Wine Cellar, where the big money is dropped, holds the harder to get wines.
Beyond the wine selection, Grace’s offers small-batch producers of whiskeys and bourbons to compliment its spirits and more expensive specialty brews.
From the spirits section at the front of the store, between the tequila and blue agave sections, a door leads to the Royal Mile Scotch and Ale Den.
Named for the road leading to Edinburgh Castle, this Royal Mile is lined with a high-end selection of scotch – which means not only Johnnie Walker Red and Black, but Blue as well – along with high-gravity beers and ales, basically those that rise above the 6 percent level of alcohol.
The harder hitting beers span the country from Colorado, California, Georgia, etc., as well as the globe from Japan, Russia, Belgium, Italy and France.
On its Web site, www.graceswine.com, Grace’s customers will soon be able to check out an interactive and educational blog.
Gibbs also said Grace’s is also looking to host different tastings with various restaurants such as a recent one in which they teamed up with Uptown’s Smoke Shop.
“We’re again just trying to be the best local wine and liquor shop and offer the best prices.”
Grace’s Plaza Wine & Spirits is at 4005 Hillsboro Pike and open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Phone: 383-7660
615.383.7660