Market Watch Leaders 2023

Our Retailer of the Year, Bruce Dierking of Hazel’s Beverage World in Boulder, Colorado, was a lawyer by trade who later moved into the real estate game. After a shopping mall acquisition deal left him and his business partner with a shell of an asset that no one wanted to rent, the duo turned to beverage alcohol retail. Aided by his wife, Carleen, in creating the concept, Dierking opened a bright, airy, 35,000-square-foot store with a vast product selection and named it Hazel’s. Today, Hazel’s does $36 million in annual sales. And it all started with a wrong business turn. It’s a prime example of how bad things can create good things, and this was the turnaround story of a lifetime. It’s an object lesson in keeping your nerve and…

BRUCE DIERKING ’23 Best Website Award ’17 Hazel’s Beverage World Boulder, Colorado CURTIS MANN ’22 Albertsons Cos. Boise, ID BOB SELBY ’21 Kappy’s Fine Wine & Spirits Everett, MA CHRISTIAN NAVARRO ’20 Best Website Award ’18 Wally’s Wine & Spirits Los Angeles, CA JACK FARRELL ’19 Best Website Award ’16 Community Service Award ’10 Haskell’s Minneapolis, MN CHRIS ADAMS ’18 Sherry-Lehmann Inc.  New York, NY STEW LEONARD JR. ’17 Best Merchandising Award ’15  Stew Leonard’s Wines & Spirits  Norwalk, CT ROGER GILDEHAUS ’16 Best Merchandising Award ’12  Macadoodles (Gild Corp.)  Pineville, MO RON JUNGE ’15 Best Website Award ’12  Brown Derby Stores Inc.  Springfield, MO GARY FISCH ’14 Best Advertising Award ’12 Best Merchandising Award ’05 Gary’s Wine & Marketplace (Shoppers Discount Wine & Spirits)  Wayne, NJ CHARLES SONNENBERG ’09…

When Bruce Dierking first entered the drinks retail world, his goal was to revolutionize the modern liquor store and enhance the experience of everyone who shopped at his venue. That goal took shape in 2012 when Dierking, his wife, Carleen, and his business partner, Jim Loftus, opened Hazel’s Beverage World in Boulder, Colorado. “My wife had a big role in coming up with the concept for the store and the ways that it would differ from other liquor stores in the area,” Dierking says, noting that while there was already a liquor store in town, the shopping experience was historically poor, and the people of Boulder needed a safer, cleaner, and more elevated place to buy their alcohol. Hazel’s was made for ease of shopping, with bright lights, wide aisles,…

Many people aspire to taste rare Bourbons, but relatively few are afforded the opportunity, as bottles are in high demand and hard to find, and many are priced out of reach for the average consumer. Lawrence Boyce, CEO of Kentucky’s Liquor Barn, has a solution. “We’re drilling down and focusing on the experiential with our rare Bourbons,” he says. “These are products that consumers might not ever see in in a lifetime, or if they do see them, they’re $80 a pour in the on-premise,” he says. “We’re pouring these in our stores, and we have the lowest price in the market.” A dram of Pappy Van Winkle is priced at about $30 a 1-ounce pour during tasting sessions in Liquor Barn stores, Boyce adds. Liquor Barn isn’t a restaurant…

As a specialist in real estate deal making, Jon Halper has focused on finding the right street corners in the right zip codes over the last nine years while building his Top Ten Liquors chain in the Twin Cities of Minnesota to 14 stores. “Location means a lot,” the Top Ten founder and CEO says. “We’ve been careful in making our choices for new store sites.” The quick growth and expansion have been nice, but the Minneapolis-based company’s revenue unexpectedly fell off modestly last year. That’s led to a reassessment of priorities. Today, the subject of real estate has been pushed into the background as Halper has turned his focus to technology. Halper’s stores weren’t reaching their full potential, and he decided a new computerized inventory management system was desperately…

Todd Randall runs his off-premise stores with an on-premise mentality. As vice president of the five-unit Randall’s Wines and Spirits chain of beverage alcohol stores in Missouri and Illinois, Randall says standing out in a highly competitive retail landscape requires much more than a wide selection, conveniently stacked. “You have to run your retail location with on-premise thinking, with marketing, promotions, and ideas that create a great experience,” he says. “People come to your store for the experience. If people just want a bottle, they’re going to grab it when they’re buying their hot dogs, but if they actually want an experience they’re going to go to an independent. We want to make it fun, a destination. I want everyone to feel like it’s a candy store when they walk…