Market Watch, December 2020
72 MARKET WATCH MARKETWATCHMAG COM DECEMBER 2020As one of the largest liquor store chains in the greater Miami market Mega Wine Spirits has been trying to keep pace with the areas growth In the last six years Mega has added nine stores and is planning even more locations It currently operates 14 units in South Flor ida including one in Hialeah opened last year with its reach extending from Coral Springs in Broward County down to Homestead just north of the Florida Keys Mega was founded as Mega Discount Liquors in 2001 In 2014 the chain then at five units was purchased by Javier Macedo Since then Macedo who is also the owner of Floridas Crown Wine Spirits chain and his team have expanded the business substantially Megas name has been changed in recent years to reflect its increased empha sis on wine Our customer base is mostly Latin and most of our stores are located in Latin neighborhoods says Manuel Manny Garcia whos been with Mega since its inception and today serves as general manager In addition to the Coral Springs location a few of the stores are in more suburban neighbor hoods like Weston and Pinecrest where the clientele is a bit more diversified The stores have been added through acquisitions of existing liquor stores and new licenses Megas stores range in size from 1000 4000 square feet but tend to average around 3000 square feet The Doral location at 4000 square feet has emerged as the chains flagship due mainly to its size and a recent 2000 square foot expansion that included adding a wine and spirits lounge which at press time was slated to debut this month A few of the units are located in shopping malls anchored by the likes of Publix and Sedanos grocery stores providing shop pers with a convenient option for spirits purchases The stores generally have similar layouts with wine and spirits in the front and beer and beverage coolers in the rear Mega Wine Spirits employs 90 workers across all locations Spirits DestinationSpirits comprise a whopping 65 of Megas sales with wine at 15 and beer and miscellaneous items each accounting for 10 The stores offer about 2500 spirits SKUs priced from 7 a 750 ml bottle of Ron Valzola rum to 14000 for Old Rip Van Winkle 25 year old Bourbon According to Garcia brown spirits driven by Bourbon and Tequila are hot Top selling Bourbons at Mega include Woodford Reserve and Gentleman Jack both 30 a 750 ml Among Tequilas Don Julio Blanco 43 is a top performer In white spirits Titos 32 a 175 liter is the hottest item Overall Buchanans 12 year old blended Scotch 30 a 750 ml is the top selling spirits brand Private barrel spirits have been well received Garcia notes and have included Bourbons Tequilas and rums FROM ITS BASE IN GREATER MIAMI MEGA WINE SPIRITS HAS BEEN EXPANDING ITS PRESENCE ACROSS THE MARKETBY TERRI ALLAN PHOTOGRAPHS BY SONYA REVELLBIGBUILDINGIN SOUTH FLORIDAMW1220_
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