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Name: Wine Country South Plainfield

Type of business: Retail liquor store predominantly selling wine, spirits, and beer

Address: Hadley Shopping Center in South Plainfield

Telephone: (908) 754-0752

Number of employees: 10

Founded: 2007

Hours: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Top Officer: Ronda Maybaum, owner; Scott Maybaum, manager

How would you describe your business?

"We consider the Wine Country South Plainfield our flagship store owned by my wife and managed by me," said Scott Maybaum, manager.

"We focus on wine, spirits, and beer values from around the world. It is not like any other store in the area. Wine Country South Plainfield is a professionally designed store with 7,500 square feet, containing a wide variety of wine beer and liquor from around the world and an especially large selection of Kosher wines.

"In addition to offering discount prices on wine, spirits, and beer, we also have a Build Your Own Gift Basket department, which allows the customer to select their wine gift and have the basket customized with an assortment of gourmet food and wine accessories."

What makes your business special?

"What makes us different is our gift basket department. For five years, we've owned another business called Build a Basket (located in East Hanover and on the Internet at buildabasket.com) offering a large selection of quality gift items and delicious gourmet food. For our customers we take the expertise we learned at Build a Basket with gift baskets and offer that same expertise to the people who shop Wine Country South Plainfield. There isn't a store in the whole state that allows a customer to select a product and have a basket customized with gourmet food and wine accessories. We also accept returns of unopened bottles from our store.

"What makes us special is our experience. I've been in the retail liquor business since 1986 and have developed over 10 Wine Country locations and have expertise in operating and developing retail liquor stores.

"We are also special because of our kosher wine selection. It keeps growing. Kosher wine is no longer restricted to sweet wine. It is of high quality from all over the world."

What goals do you have for the business?

The goals for the business are to satisfy our customers. That is our primary goal. We stay on top of business by offering interesting items, good values, and advertised products. We intend to maintain a well-stocked store and with an aggressive pricing strategy."

How has the business changed?

"Although our sales have dramatically increased over the last two years, the main change for the business has occurred as a direct result of the current economic downturn. Our particular selection of items has changed because of the economy. We have been offering larger bottles with more value. We have been experimenting with offering less expensive wines from less-known wine producing areas around the world like Chile, Argentina, Spain, the lesser-known areas of Italy, and the new world. The industry is changing to satisfy the needs of the customer by introducing new wine and liquor items whether ethnic or other from around the world."

What was your most important deal?

"Our most important deal is targeted advertising by placing ads in newspapers to attract a specific audience. Whether it's the local weekly paper, or the county paper to reach different segments or the Jewish paper to attract a specific segment.

"Deciding to bring our new Wine Country store to the new Hadley Mall in South Plainfield was also important. The new shopping center had many stores and restaurants to draw customers into the mall like Kohl, Target, Marshall's and was near a Regal movie theatre. I saw that a liquor store was missing in that shopping center and brought in Wine Country now our flagship store and next to Target."

What changes do you see in the next 10 years?

"Even more targeted advertising will be featured in the next 10 years. We will also introduce a Web site for Wine Country South Plainfield. In the wine business the successful liquor store needs to reflect what its local consumers are looking for. The larger the store, the more opportunity there is to expand one's market and offer products that the local consumer is looking and also for consumers beyond the normal trading area.

"To increase customer interest we are now increasing our selection of kosher wine. We are increasing our selection of kosher wines because the quality of kosher wine has dramatically increased in the last several years and continues to get better. The wines are found from all over the world now. So we have kosher wines from Israel, France, Spain, and California. Kosher wine is becoming more popular and more people appreciate many varietals because the quality is improving and everyone will appreciate them."

What is the most important thing you've learned in your business?

"Satisfied customers generate repeat sales."

What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?

"Be prepared for long hours. The details are significant and product knowledge found in trade journals, wine and spirit tastings, and hands-on work experience in a liquor business is a must. In general if someone gets into retail they have to enjoy dealing with the public. However, running a retail store is more complicated than it seems. The trick is to make it look easy, but it takes a lot of work."

Is there any thing else you would rather do?

"No. The liquor business may not be the best business in the best of times but it's a good business during difficult times. I enjoy the business because of the products, the people I work with, and the local community."