The Stellar Cellar | This is Shaun

12/03/2007 23:12

It's not often that I post a pro-business, commercial-oriented message; then again, it's not often that I feel that any business has gone out of its way to make me happy. I've posted a few restaurant reviews over the years, and even at that, only when I've been sincerely impressed by an eatery.

So tonight I'd like to give props to a liquor store, one Stellar Cellar located in the Schnuck's shopping center on Highway 64 just east of Rockcreek. Over the past year, I've begun shopping at Stellar Cellar because they're on my way (to my relatively new) home, and they're right next to Schnuck's, where I do most of my grocery shopping. As soon as Schnuck's opens its gas station, I'm going to be able to complete the holy triumvirate of shopping - groceries, booze, and gas - all in the same strip mall. That's going to be sweet.

I should backreference this narrative by saying that I don't like to buy liquor (or even beer [or even cigarettes]) from some random corner store. This is generally due to the fact that although I'm 28, I could probably pass for 17. It's always awkward trying to buy liquor at a new place, or even smokes at a gas station. Do I show them my driver's license, with a photo taken when I was 21 and 25 pounds lighter with no facial hair, or do I show them my handgun carry permit, which at least looks like me but causes most cashiers' eyes to glaze over and ask for the driver's license instead? I like to develop a rapport with the people who sell me age-restricted substances, therefore I like to shop at the same places all the time, because it makes things easier for all involved.

Prior to ever setting foot in Stellar Cellar, I was a regular at Natalie's Liquor Warehouse for years. They've been seeing me since back when I actually resembled my driver's license photo, although they've gotten used to me as I've evolved heavier and hairier over the years. I still shop there occasionally when traffic diverts me off the interstate and down Germantown Road. Natalie's has been good to me and I've remained a loyal customer, but Stellar Cellar is stealing me away for several reasons:

1) Recognition and service. A couple of the folks at Stellar Cellar greet me by name, and more often than not, they intercept me on my way in the door and direct me towards the register while they go pick up my bottle. No one at Natalie's knows my name, at least not that I'm aware of, and they've certainly never made any effort to grab my bottle before I can. It's not that I expect that sort of thing at all, it's just that when it happens, it's so out of the ordinary as to be remarkable.

2) Price. The bottle I buy was, for a long time, $13.10 at both establishments. Natalie's has raised the price twice over the past couple of months, first to $14.28 and now to $15-something. Stellar Cellar still has it at $13.10. Granted, Natalie's keeps getting robbed, and I guess they have to pay for those new windows somehow, but I also imagine they have a much higher volume and turn a better margin than the Cellar. Yet the Cellar can afford to keep the prices low.

3) Online presence. Natalie's has a website which hasn't been quantitatively updated since 2005, where the "Online Specials" link says "Coming Soon," and the "Advertised Specials" link points to this JPG:

No joke, it's really that small and has "EXAMPLE" emblazoned across it.

Stellar Cellar, on the other hand, doesn't have a website that I can find, but they do have a mailing list and they're not shy about soliciting their regular customers to sign up for it. I get emails a couple of times a month "From the Cellar" highlighting the current booze and wine specials, as well as special events, like some sort of wine-tasting dinner that the Cellar is sponsoring this month. I've scored a couple of sale specials that I would not otherwise have known were going on (nor would I have bought, without knowing in advance that they were on sale).

4) Doing it right. Tonight, I stopped into the Cellar to pick up my usual bottle, and they were out. I grabbed an equivalent product at the equivalent price, but I was given a courtesy discount due to the fact that they were out of stock in what I'd really come for. My usual $13.10 purchase was discounted to $11.79. You're probably sitting there thinking hey, that's only $1.31, what the hell are you so happy about?

The fact is, that $1.31 compelled me to write this entire entry. The simple and cheap act of discounting me for something that nobody else would have bothered with made enough of an impression on me to sit down and recount all of the other good experiences that I've had at the Stellar Cellar. Y'all are good people. Just don't fuck up your prices to where I'm having to compare against you a year from now! :)