Consistency and adaptability have been the keys to success for Indiana’s Belmont Beverage and Chalet Party Shoppes, now in their second generation of family management. “My father always had a clear business vision—operate with integrity, put the customer first, and adapt with the times,” explains president and CEO Clair McKinley. It’s that mission that McKinley and her team at the two liquor store concepts adhere to today, a foundation that allows the stores to build upon a decadeslong tradition of serving their customers while keeping an open eye to future opportunities.

McKinley joined the family business full time in 1991, though she concedes that it took about ten years for her to commit to staying on long term. Over the years, she’s held virtually every position in the organization—ranging from cashier to assistant store manager to human resources manager to liquor and wine buyer to IT manager and vice president. In 2011, McKinley was named president, and today she serves as president and CEO. Her deep knowledge of the business has been an asset. “I’m so thankful that my father had me learn most aspects of the business,” McKinley says. “That has set me up for a successful future.”

For her guidance and commitment to leading Belmont and Chalet Party through its second generation of family ownership and growth, Clair McKinley has been named a 2025 Market Watch Leader.

Customers And Community

Belmont Beverage was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1933, the first licensed store in the city following repeal of Prohibition. McKinley’s father Tom Druley purchased the shop in 1971 and before long started to add more locations in the area. Druley expanded the business into the South Bend, Indiana, market in 1989, and in 2011, he acquired the long-established Chalet Party Shoppe chain based in Elkhart, Indiana. Active in beverage retail trade associations, including the Wine and Spirits Guild of America, Druley was named a Market Watch Leader in 1991 and was honored with the Leaders Community Service award in 2023. Druley passed away earlier this year.

Comprising 34 locations under two distinct but united banners, Belmont Beverage and Chalet Party Shoppes span from the company headquarters in Fort Wayne to South Bend, about a two-hour drive north and west, as well as the Elkhart area, just east of South Bend. With annual sales revenue of about $100 million, the company operates 26 Belmont stores in Fort Wayne and South Bend, and eight Chalet Party shops in Elkhart. Spirits account for 43.5% of company-wide sales, followed by beer at 40.9%, wine at 7.8%, and tobacco and other miscellaneous items at 7.8%.

Customer demographics vary in the northern Indiana markets in which Belmont and Chalet Party serve. Elkhart, for example, is home to a few recreational vehicle factories, and sales trends at Chalet Party Shoppe stores can often be tied to sales of RVs. “When RV sales are good—such as earlier this decade, right after the Covid-19 pandemic began—our sales are good,” says McKinley. In South Bend, home to the University of Notre Dame, stores can be impacted by college events. “Notre Dame football is huge in South Bend,” she continues, so Belmont stores “get pretty crazy during home games.” Indeed, one of its stores is located adjacent to the stadium’s tailgating section and sees a lot of traffic on game days. Despite the differences in clientele, McKinley and her team aim for some uniformity in design among all the stores. “We use the same color scheme and try to adhere to a consistent layout,” she explains. Overall, Belmont and Chalet Party stores range in size from 2,500 to 10,000 square feet.

Top-notch customer service is another constant at the two chains. McKinley is quick to recognize the company’s nearly 400 employees for their contributions in expertly serving Belmont’s and Chalet Party’s customers. With stores far-flung, it can be a challenge to regularly touch base with employees, but McKinley notes that it’s her mission to ensure that “they’re happy and that we remain consistent with our focus on customer and community service.”

Staff members are encouraged to attend the many product training sessions conducted by suppliers, McKinley says, while a series of quarterly customer-service focused classes is expected to launch soon. The classes will inform new employees about Belmont’s and Chalet Party Shoppes’ history and roots as a family-owned business, as well as general training on how and when to interact with customers. Key members of the company’s leadership team include COO Dan Kaczmarek, liquor buyer Josh Nahrwold, beer buyer Zach Swisher, wine buyer Jared Diller, and marketing manager Nick McGovern. And in addition to her roles as president and CEO, McKinley is currently

the third vice president of the Wine & Spirits Guild, and in 2029 she’ll assume the role of president, making her the first woman to ever serve the organization in that role.

Strong Whisk(e)y Trends

The Indiana liquor stores carry about 3,000 spirits SKUs, generally priced from $6 for a 750-ml. bottle of Fris vodka to $9,000 for Weller Millenium Bourbon. Among whisk(e)y products, only Scotch is showing decline these days, McKinley says, with Bourbon trending slightly up and Canadian whisky growing at a rate of 8%. “Fort Wayne is a big market for Canadian whisky,” she explains, and Crown Royal ($25) is a top performing brand. The stores also do a brisk business with their barrel picks program (generally $30-$100), although there are emerging signs of consumer pushback on expensive releases. According to Nahrwold, “there’s still a good market for certain brands that consumers will hunt for. Anything from Sazerac, Four Roses, and Old Forester will sell out within a couple of weeks.” He and McKinley see expanded opportunity for both Tequila and RTD cocktails, with sales for both categories up 18% through May. “Pricey Tequila has become a big thing in this market,” she notes, with brands like Clase Azul Reposado ($170 at Belmont) aggressively priced, and RTDs and pre-mixed cocktails “a growing category.”

Some 1,200 beer SKUs, priced from $5 for a 6-pack of Keystone Light to $266 for a 750-ml. of Samuel Adams Utopias (when available), are offered at Belmont Beverage and Chalet Party stores. While hard seltzers, mainstream domestic, and craft beers are showing

declines, flavored malt beverages and imports—including top-selling Modelo Especial ($35 a 24-pack of 12-ounce cans)—are on the rise. “We try to feature as many cooler doors as possible in each store,” McKinley says. “Our coolers have gotten larger over the years.” Indeed, the stores feature on average 25 to 27 cooler doors, with some locations also boasting beer caves.

When it comes to wine, mid-tier and regional products perform best at Belmont and Chalet Party stores. Top sellers include releases from Bloomington’s Oliver Winery ($8-$17 a 750-ml.), Barefoot Cellars ($6-$12), and Josh Cellars ($14-$22). But McKinley sees lots of potential for wines sourced exclusively through the Wine and Spirits Guild. “These are high quality, exclusive brands, and they’ve shown a lot of growth for us,” she says, pointing to offerings like Greetings from Willamette Valley Pinot Gris ($15). Because the wines are less known to customers than national brands, special shelf talkers help merchandise the offerings. The stores stock about 3,500 wine SKUs, priced from $4 for Porta Vita Trevenezie Rosso to $600 for the 2022 Schrader Cabernet Sauvignon Monastery Block.

Always Up For A Challenge

Advertising and marketing support for the stores encompass both traditional and digital media. Belmont’s long-running TV spots on Fort Wayne and South Bend stations touting, “Belmont Beverage goes great with life,” are well recognized, McKinley says. In recent years, digital efforts have become just as important, including the stores’ mobile app and weekly emails. Ads and announcements about special events and tastings also run on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Small in-store spirits, beer, and wine tastings are held each week across 10-20 locations, supported by supplier representatives.

Belmont and Chalet Party’s biggest events of the year, though, are their triannual Pappy Van Winkle Charitable Auctions. First hosted ten years ago, the auctions—featuring allocated products such as various Pappy Van Winkle expressions and the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection—have raised more than $916,000 for area charities. “We anticipate reaching the million-dollar mark in 2025,” McKinley says. Charities that benefitted from the auctions last year included Remembering Rowan, an organization that supports bereaved families that have experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss; the Fraternal Order of Police’s Santa Elficer program, which provides gifts to children and meals to families; and Ryan’s Place, which provides grief support services to children, teens, young adults, and families. Among the organizations slated to benefit from this year’s auctions is the Indiana Canine Assistance Network, a Fort Wayne service-dog organization. Belmont

and Chalet Party also sponsor an annual golf outing that benefits non-profit groups.

With 34 stores to lead, McKinley says there are no plans for new locations right now, but “if the right opportunity presents itself, we’re always up for a new challenge.” Indeed, the retailer has made a career of overcoming challenges. “When I started in this business, I thought it would be easy,” she recalls. “I quickly learned that it wasn’t.” Learning to manage a team of nearly 400 employees and more than three dozen stores has “humbled me fast,” McKinley adds, but it’s also pushed her to excel. She takes pride in knowing that she has learned from every new challenge and expansion and is ever more knowledgeable now about “how to grow my team as the business continues to change and evolve.”