In just eight short years, Kreston Wine & Spirits will achieve something that few retailers—and even fewer family-owned businesses—do. The two-unit Delaware beverage store chain will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2033, and rest assured, its current owners will salute their ancestors for the groundwork they laid in establishing what has become a fourth-generation family-owned business, while continuing to provide their patrons with the same level of customer service that has played a key role in Kreston’s longevity.
Following the repeal of Prohibition, Kreston Liquor Mart was founded in 1933 in Wilmington, Delaware by Samuel Kreston. Located in a small space carved out of Kreston’s Esso gas station and auto repair shop, the liquor store was the seventh retail business licensed in Delaware. Today, it’s the oldest liquor store in the state. “In those early days, whisk(e)y was the primary product sold,” says Bob Kreston, Samuel’s grandson and president of the business today. As Delaware’s capital city grew, so too did Kreston’s.
In 1956, Samuel’s son and Bob’s father, Donald, joined the business, and he pretty quickly took over store operations. “He grew the business and expanded the space,” reaching 10,000 square feet, Bob notes. Then, in the early ’70s, “everything my father read indicated that the business would be shifting toward wine,” he says. “So, he became knowledgeable about wine and set out to grow the store’s wine business.” Donald Kreston was named a Market Watch Leader in 1992.
Fathers And Sons
“All I ever wanted to do was to work with my father in the store,” Bob recalls of growing up in the family business. Thanks to a change in state regulations that Bob fought for, he was able to start working at the store at 18 years old. He joined full time in 1985, taking over wine-buying responsibilities while Donald handled spirits. In 2003, a second store in Middletown, Delaware, was added, and the business’s name was changed to Kreston Wine & Spirits. Two years later, Bob joined his father as a Market Watch Leader. Under his guidance, the business also received the Market Watch Leaders Community Service award in 2019.
In 2012, Kreston Wine & Spirits welcomed its fourth-generation family member when Bob’s son, Jeff, joined the business. Like his father, “I always wanted to do this,” says Jeff, who took on oversight of the beer category when coming on board. Since then, Jeff, who now serves as vice president, has added responsibilities within the wine and spirits departments too. Today, Bob mostly oversees the Wilmington store while Jeff has enhanced responsibilities at the Middletown location, which was expanded from 6,400 square feet to 11,200 square feet in 2020. Annual sales at Kreston Wine & Spirits exceed $15 million.
For independent beverage alcohol retailers like the Krestons, the Delaware market can be a friendly one. With no sales tax on beverage alcohol, prices are attractive to consumers, especially for those from nearby states. “People still cross the border from Pennsylvania, which is just 7 miles from Wilmington, to save on sales taxes,” Bob says. Kreston also benefits from the state’s cap of two off-premise licenses per company. “It keeps everyone honest,” says Bob. “It keeps competition strong, and no one is being put out of business.” Indeed, he notes that there are more liquor stores per capita in Delaware than in any other state. Among his competitors, Kreston points to Total Wine & More, which opened its first store in Claymont, Delaware, just 6 miles from Wilmington, more than 30 years ago. “We’re still here,” he notes, despite the chain’s national expansion and clout.
With the Wilmington area largely built out, Middletown, which is about 30 miles south, has seen strong population growth in recent years. “I always wanted to add a second store,” Bob says. “We looked for years.”
Expansion into Middletown, which is in close proximity to the growing community of New Smyrna, has been so successful that the Krestons saw the need for an addition, a project that was completed after the pandemic. “We’re very proud of what we’ve done there,” Kreston says, pointing to the store’s wide product selection and tasting and events space. There are now plans for a similar facelift in Wilmington.
Wine Destination
Just as Donald Kreston had predicted, wine remains the family business’s biggest category. Wine accounts for 42% of total sales, followed by spirits at 38%, and beer and flavored malt beverages at 20%. Kreston Wine & Spirits stocks more than 6,000 wine SKUs, priced from $6 a 750-ml. of Crane Lake Cabernet Sauvignon to $2,000 for the 2000 Château Latour Pauillac, although $15 to $25 tends to be the sweet spot, Bob says. Top-selling wines include Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay ($13), Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon ($9), and Villa Montepulciano D’abruzzo ($9). “Italy and Spain are very strong,” he says of wine trends, “as well as New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.” And as long as prices remain reasonable, he continues, wines from Napa Valley also do well. Boxed wines have also remained strong at the stores since Covid, Bob adds.
A member of the Wine and Spirits Guild, Kreston Wine & Spirits promotes some of the exclusive wines the organization sources. “Everyone sells Kendall-Jackson. We try to find good buys for our customers and save them money while offering a variety and quality that no one else in the area has,” Bob says. He also sees value in Guild membership. “It brings us friends from around the country with whom we can share our ideas and concerns.”
The Delaware stores offer more than 4,000 spirits SKUs, priced from $7 a 750-ml. for Crystal Palace vodka to $2,000 for WhistlePig rye 25-year-old. “Spirits remain the hottest thing in our stores right now,” says Jeff, and customers aren’t afraid to try new products. “The Cognac drinker is now drinking reposados,” he says, and Bourbon consumers are sampling new spirits. “We have a huge Bourbon following,” Jeff notes. “We’ve done single barrels since before single barrels were even a thing.” While it’s becoming increasingly difficult to partner with distilleries on select barrels, “we do our homework to discover new distilleries and new single-barrel programs,” the younger Kreston says. These days, Kreston aims to merchandise six to eight single barrels a year (generally priced at $60-$90 a 750-ml. bottle), and recent partners have included New Riff, Maker’s Mark, Old Forester, and Knob Creek.
Single barrels haven’t been limited to Bourbon, though, as Kreston has partnered with the likes of Patrón, Don Julio, and Corazón Tequilas, as well as Bacardi rum and Bushmill’s Irish whiskey. Overall, Tequila remains a healthy category for the stores, says the younger Kreston, noting that additive-free Tequilas are rising in popularity. The top-selling spirits at Kreston Wine & Spirits include Tito’s Handmade vodka ($22 a 750-ml.), Jack Daniel’s ($26), Smirnoff ($14), and Dewar’s ($23).
Spirits-based RTDs, meanwhile, are still hot, Jeff says, with cocktail-flavored variants the latest craze. With the orange crush cocktail so popular in Delaware, it’s no surprise that products like Devil’s Backbone’s vodka-based Orange Smash ($13 a 6-pack of 12-ounce cans) sell well. “Surfside is also huge,” he says. “It’s amazing how big it’s become.”
Service With A Smile
Kreston Wine & Spirits stocks about 2,000 beer SKUs, priced from $6 for a 6-pack of Miller Lite to $35 for a 4-pack of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. While sales of craft beer have flattened, Jeff says imported brews are among the stores’ best performers. “All of the Constellation Brands beers are still through the roof for us,” he explains, but European labels like Heineken and Stella Artois have been benefitting of late from price increases on major domestic beers. Non-alcoholic brews are also gaining, Jeff notes, and the stores have expanded space from one cooler shelf to four for the products. The stores feature walk-in coolers with 14 reach-in doors.
To promote the stores’ selection, Kreston employs a range of marketing tools, from billboards to print ads to digital executions. In addition to thrice weekly emails, featured brands and upcoming in-store samplings are promoted on social media posts. The store’s website allows for online ordering, with pickup in store. And a “customer card” program provides card holders with the lowest prices and a history of their purchases. A customer rewards program is in the works, Bob says.
If there’s one thing the Krestons say that their stores do best, though, it’s the high level of customer service they deliver. The stores’ staff of 30 employees are encouraged to participate in supplier-led tastings and to purse specific areas of interest. That way, “there’s always someone available with a particular knowledge to share with customers,” Bob says. Friendliness is also a requirement. “We train our staff that our customers deserve excellent service and a smile,” he adds. That graciousness extends to community groups, with Kreston Wine & Spirits always at the ready to donate product and other resources. While the stores receive requests for donations virtually every day, Bob says, “we try not to say no to anyone.”
After more than 40 years in the family business—first working with his father and now with his son—Bob Kreston has seen a lot of changes. He points to the “quantity and diversity of products available today,” and how the pendulum in consumer interest has swung from spirits to wine and now back to spirits. But one thing hasn’t changed, and that’s the Kreston family’s commitment to the beverage alcohol business and its commitment to working together. “I had the honor of working with my father for 27 years,” he says. “He was open to my ideas. And I’m doing the same with Jeff. I wouldn’t change it for the world. We’re very proud to be working together and building the family business.”