09 Aug Wise Guys to Open Megastore in Hobart
The new Wise Guys Discount Liquors superstore near Southlake Mall carries thousands of varieties of wine. The 16,000-square-foot store, the first liquor superstore of its kind in Northwest Indiana, opens at 11 a.m. on Friday. Photo Credit: John Luke, The Times |
By Joseph S. Pete, of nwi.com/The Times
Photos By: John Luke, The Times HOBART | Region residents are used to ducking into the corner liquor store to grab a six pack, but a new superstore near Southlake Mall aims to revolutionize the way Northwest Indiana buys alcohol. A new Wise Guys Discount Liquors just off U.S. 30 is massive, open, well-lit and modern, with a cooling device that can chill a room-temperature bottle of wine in only a few minutes and flasks shaped like iPhone cases. |
It’s all over the country. I think part of the reason it’s not here is that sometimes you need a new perspective on a business that’s been around for a long time. We were in the mass-marketing of food and no one really looked at this sector the same way. Now we have one of the biggest (liquor) stores in town with the most variety and the friendliest people.” — WiseWay President Don Weiss
Wise Guys, a spin-off of the WiseWay grocery chain, already has one of the widest selections of beer, wine and spirits in Northwest Indiana at its 8,000-square-foot Hobart store.
But its new 16,000-square-foot superstore at 1634 E. 80th Ave., Merrillville – inspired partly by Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago – has twice the floor space and a much more extensive selection. Wise Guys took over spaces formerly occupied by Old Country Buffet and Factory Card Outlet for its new superstore, which carries thousands of different wines, craft beers and spirits, including single-malt scotches that run more than $100. The big-box liquor store will be a first-of-its-kind for Northwest Indiana when it opens on Aug. 15.
“Northwest Indiana has never had a destination liquor store like Chicago,” manager Rick Green said. “It’s always been corner liquor stores.”
The new Wise Guys isn’t a cramped, dimly lit liquor store where a purchase is shoved in a brown paper bag, spokesman Martin Oleksy said. Staff members, including several with bartending experience, get specialized training such as through the Cicerone certification program, so they can tell customers what pairs best with the clams they’re having for dinner or how much wine they will need for a wedding reception. Customers could spend all day browsing the shelves that include hard-to-find sour beers, meads, Red India Pale Ales and brews from internationally lauded Danish phantom brewer Mikkeller.
An entire aisle in the front of the store is devoted solely to local craft beers, including Zombie Dust from Three Floyds, bombers from Crown Brewing and six packs from Back Road Brewery in LaPorte. Wise Guys hopes to carry beer from every local craft brewer that bottles, and its selection will grow over time, Oleksy said.
The superstore currently boasts 1,992 beer varieties, 2,766 wines, and 2,458 different spirits, including the latest craft liquors. The selection is three to to four times as large as the average liquor store and the biggest in Northwest Indiana – by a wide margin, Oleksy said.
“The only rival to our bourbon selection is the state of Kentucky,” he said.
A walk-in beer cooler stretches across the entire back wall. A competitor has a cooler with 12 doors, but the new Wise Guys has a 30-door cooler, manager Toni Hammond said.
“They say bigger is better,” Hammond said. “This is bigger in every way.”
Massive selection will be ‘curated,’ classes offered
The store is also carefully curated. There’s a “staff picks” selection at the front like one would find in a bookstore, as well as a selection of wines under $20 that ranked 90 or higher in Wine Spectator Magazine’s 100-point scale.
Drinkers can refine their palettes to be more discerning at an expanded Wise Guys University, a popular continuing adult-education program that aims to teach region residents about the finest craft beer, wine and spirits. Hundreds of students have enrolled to take part in tastings and meet-the-brewer events that have included speakers from breweries as big as Sam Adams.
The Wise Guys University classes – which enable participating students to earn bachelors degrees, masters degrees and PhDs – have been held every Friday evening at the old store. They will be be held Friday and Saturday nights now that there is a new campus – a long, winding bartop with a wine tap – and an expected surge in participation.
Wise Guy’s new superstore, which is just off Interstate 65 in the busiest retail area in Northwest Indiana, is expected to draw customers from across Lake and Porter counties, and from as far as Chicago and LaPorte County.
Destination liquor superstores have grown in popularity in Chicago and other cities across the country as drinkers have grown more sophisticated in their tastes, but there was a void in Northwest Indiana, WiseWay President Don Weiss said.
Weiss saw an opportunity based on the success WiseWay had selling wine and beer at its supermarkets.
“It’s all over the country,” he said of the superstore trend. “I think part of the reason it’s not here is that sometimes you need a new perspective on a business that’s been around for a long time. We were in the mass-marketing of food and no one really looked at this sector the same way. Now we have one of the biggest stores in town with the most variety and the friendliest people.”
Wise Guys will employ 18 workers at the store, where it has invested $2 million in inventory. Weiss is looking at growing by adding more locations in the future, but said the immediate focus was on getting the superstore open.
Anticipation has been building. About 120 to 150 people have been walking up to the door every day in the hope it’s already open.
But its new 16,000-square-foot superstore at 1634 E. 80th Ave., Merrillville – inspired partly by Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicago – has twice the floor space and a much more extensive selection. Wise Guys took over spaces formerly occupied by Old Country Buffet and Factory Card Outlet for its new superstore, which carries thousands of different wines, craft beers and spirits, including single-malt scotches that run more than $100. The big-box liquor store will be a first-of-its-kind for Northwest Indiana when it opens on Aug. 15.
“Northwest Indiana has never had a destination liquor store like Chicago,” manager Rick Green said. “It’s always been corner liquor stores.”
The new Wise Guys isn’t a cramped, dimly lit liquor store where a purchase is shoved in a brown paper bag, spokesman Martin Oleksy said. Staff members, including several with bartending experience, get specialized training such as through the Cicerone certification program, so they can tell customers what pairs best with the clams they’re having for dinner or how much wine they will need for a wedding reception. Customers could spend all day browsing the shelves that include hard-to-find sour beers, meads, Red India Pale Ales and brews from internationally lauded Danish phantom brewer Mikkeller.
An entire aisle in the front of the store is devoted solely to local craft beers, including Zombie Dust from Three Floyds, bombers from Crown Brewing and six packs from Back Road Brewery in LaPorte. Wise Guys hopes to carry beer from every local craft brewer that bottles, and its selection will grow over time, Oleksy said.
The superstore currently boasts 1,992 beer varieties, 2,766 wines, and 2,458 different spirits, including the latest craft liquors. The selection is three to to four times as large as the average liquor store and the biggest in Northwest Indiana – by a wide margin, Oleksy said.
“The only rival to our bourbon selection is the state of Kentucky,” he said.
A walk-in beer cooler stretches across the entire back wall. A competitor has a cooler with 12 doors, but the new Wise Guys has a 30-door cooler, manager Toni Hammond said.
“They say bigger is better,” Hammond said. “This is bigger in every way.”
Massive selection will be ‘curated,’ classes offered
The store is also carefully curated. There’s a “staff picks” selection at the front like one would find in a bookstore, as well as a selection of wines under $20 that ranked 90 or higher in Wine Spectator Magazine’s 100-point scale.
Drinkers can refine their palettes to be more discerning at an expanded Wise Guys University, a popular continuing adult-education program that aims to teach region residents about the finest craft beer, wine and spirits. Hundreds of students have enrolled to take part in tastings and meet-the-brewer events that have included speakers from breweries as big as Sam Adams.
The Wise Guys University classes – which enable participating students to earn bachelors degrees, masters degrees and PhDs – have been held every Friday evening at the old store. They will be be held Friday and Saturday nights now that there is a new campus – a long, winding bartop with a wine tap – and an expected surge in participation.
Wise Guy’s new superstore, which is just off Interstate 65 in the busiest retail area in Northwest Indiana, is expected to draw customers from across Lake and Porter counties, and from as far as Chicago and LaPorte County.
Destination liquor superstores have grown in popularity in Chicago and other cities across the country as drinkers have grown more sophisticated in their tastes, but there was a void in Northwest Indiana, WiseWay President Don Weiss said.
Weiss saw an opportunity based on the success WiseWay had selling wine and beer at its supermarkets.
“It’s all over the country,” he said of the superstore trend. “I think part of the reason it’s not here is that sometimes you need a new perspective on a business that’s been around for a long time. We were in the mass-marketing of food and no one really looked at this sector the same way. Now we have one of the biggest stores in town with the most variety and the friendliest people.”
Wise Guys will employ 18 workers at the store, where it has invested $2 million in inventory. Weiss is looking at growing by adding more locations in the future, but said the immediate focus was on getting the superstore open.
Anticipation has been building. About 120 to 150 people have been walking up to the door every day in the hope it’s already open.
If You Go
What: Grand opening of Wise Guys Discount Liquors superstore in Hobart
When: 11am Friday, August 15th
Where: 1634 E. 80th Ave., Merrillville
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