The Story of our Wine Store: Reflections on the Past & Future of a Changing Business

Like so many people this past year or so, the pandemic has brought on some incredible perspective for me. As our retail wine store carries on into its 14th year, I can’t help but reflect on the past, the present & the future of De Luca Fine Wines.

Whether by customers, suppliers or partners, I often get asked about the history of the brand: the name, the story, how we came to be who we are.

We are incredibly grateful to all the wonderful people who have helped take this brand to the next level – but as we continue to grow and change – and as the world quickly changes around us – we want to make everyone in our community a part of our journey.

So: consider this some insight into how De Luca Fine Wines got here and where it is going.

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A bit of history

When I think back on how I started out in the wine store: I joined a company to essentially own and operate with multiple partners and with a prominent Winnipeg-based family name on the door that no longer saw to the day-to-day operations of the store. Now not many people know this, but De Luca Fine Wines has been made up of many players & partners over the years.

Without getting into all the particulars, I quickly realized the undertaking and entrepreneurial journey I was about embark on. It wasn’t a straightforward, perfect path. It’s a careful, complex balance to achieve when it comes to buying into an existing business and making your mark with it: we had multiple partners to consider (all with wildly different opinions), we had to overhaul and influence the existing team members, transform and optimize the structure, rebuild a new vision – all with someone else’s name on the door. Not easy at all – nonetheless that’s what it was. I had a passion for wine, and I was ready to build my vision into a reality.

Growth & expansion

As time went on, we bought a bigger piece of the business and removed a few shareholders. We decided to expand to be a “bigger player” in the industry: we wanted to actually compete with our competitors and not with the neighboring De Luca Food store which everyone in Winnipeg had long known. Although De Luca Fine Wines started out as an “add on” to the De Luca food business, the De Luca food store & market often competed in the same space as our wine store. In order to stay competitive, we expanded into giftware, food and wine extension products, gift baskets and other items. We began to find ways to differentiate ourselves, to offer things the neighboring food store didn’t offer, and to come into our own.

But there were challenges. Extensive government regulation created restrictions: there are so many limitations on what you can and can’t do in terms of licensing in the food and wine business. We knew there was opportunity to grow by capitalizing on the synergy between food & wine – but the government made it more difficult to leave the mark we wanted to.

But we kept trying hard to find a way to stand out. We wanted our individual brand voice to shine.

As the years went on, we saw a complete expansion with a fresh look: new logo, newly-expanded store and kitchen, and new ways to create experiences for our customers.

In the background, despite the rebrand, we still struggled against the connection of our store name to the De Luca food business. We contemplated a full rebrand: the team running the store was less about the De Luca family and more about the active partners around the table, after all. The De Luca family had their own amazing portfolio of offerings, from a cooking school to coffee to envisioning a brand-new facility they were building. They were doing incredible things in their own right – it simply wasn’t…us.

Still, we ultimately decided to continue with the good will of the De Luca family name and the consistency of not changing too many things all at once. After all, there is something to be said on the value of tradition, right?

As we continued, we finally took the leap and bought out the rest of our partners, leaving a small percentage share to the De Luca family aside from our majority ownership. As time went on and the business scaled, grown and developed, our customer base widened. We realized we had 2 sets of customers: 1) the ones who know us and our story, our restaurant partners, retail customers & collaborative partners; 2) the ones that still held significant confusion over the De Luca brand and portfolio of businesses and, ultimately, struggled to engage with us for who we were.

What’s in a name?

Does a name really matter? We asked ourselves often – and we went back and forth with the De Luca family over the years. As our wine store’s brand began to get more mature and take on a different voice (something I am deeply proud of carving out), we wanted clarity for our customers. But would a different name really make a difference for our customers?

The addition of the DeLuca family facility on McGilvery further clouded customer understanding of the brand – and at times even the location of it. Our team at the wine store continued to get daily questions (in-person and online) from customers trying to understand why we had different hours, different locations, different everything from the De Luca food business. How we market is different. Our products are different. One business is heavily regulated by the government, while the other wasn’t at all. Most importantly, for me, the experience we created for customers was different. The De Luca Fine Wines name was a huge asset – but at the same time remained a major pain-point for customers and for ourselves.

In a world where personal and corporate branding has never been more important, in a time where the world continues to evolve before our eyes, the way we position ourselves and the ability to showcase who we authentically are, as corporate brands but equally as entrepreneurs and people, matters more than ever. Covid-19 brought on huge shifts in the entire world we operated in: our customers changed, purchasing habits changed, and expectations changed. With restaurants being closed for long stretches of time and other small businesses struggling across the country, our customer base began to embrace the premise to shop and support local. Things had changed (and are still changing, as I write this) – but I know that small businesses like ours will thrive thanks to our amazing customers. After all, #Weareinthistogether.

While the De Luca family remain minority shareholders in the business, De Luca Fine Wines finally feels more like our authentic, distinct brand than it ever has. Since taking over the wine store, I’ve dreamed of 4 things: amazing experiences for our customers that can’t be found anywhere else; one-of-a-kind product lines; giving back to the community; and true clarity for our customers. I’m proud to say we’ve done the first three. Continuing our commitment to give back to our local Winnipeg community through numerous shop local initiatives, our charity work and creating partnerships with other small businesses in the city remains a top priority for me. However, the journey toward a clearer identity continues.

The world continues to change – and we will change along with it. We will rebrand and rename because our customers, suppliers & team members deserve clarity. But in the meantime, one thing is crystal-clear in my eyes: I want everyone to be a part of this journey which, in so many ways, is just the beginning for us.

Kate Holden

Kate Holden is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and business leader. She is the Entrepreneur behind De Luca Fine Wines, a fast-growing retail/e-commerce wine business. Kate has been featured in numerous publications including the Winnipeg Free Press and serves as President of the Board of Directors of The Dream Factory, a non-profit for children with life threatening illnesses.?Kate also serves as President of the Winnipeg Chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) & Member Products Director for EO Canada.