business

A broken foot gave Laurie Crow the opportunity she needed to uncork a new business: Sinful Wine & Spirits in Bloomington.

She used the rare downtime to hone plans for her vision of a "liquor store with class," different in looks and selection from a "seedy corner beer store."

For Crow, that meant a warmly decorated shop featuring wines from family owned wineries and vineyards, a walk-in cooler where customers could assemble six-packs from hundreds of kinds of beer and frequent in-store, private and community tastings and other events.

"Being a mother of four teenagers and very much an active person, I wanted to do something with my time," Crow, who had worked in hospitality after being laid off some years earlier from Northwest Airlines, said of her recovery time. "This was my only chance to take the bull by the horns and do something."

And she did so with help from the Minneapolis chapter of SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives. The nonprofit organization, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), provides free online and face-to-face business counseling to small-business owners.

Budding entrepreneurs can learn about starting and growing a business -- and what SCORE has to offer -- from Crow and other female entrepreneurs who will speak at the Minneapolis SCORE chapter's annual Women in Business luncheon. The event will take place Sept. 16 at the Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins.

(The $35 admission includes lunch. Advance registration is required. See the accompanying box for more information.)

In her case, Crow said, SCORE's help included making sure her business plan was in order; answering questions about financing, which she said helped her close on a lease, and telling her about the SBA, through which she got the loan she used to open up shop in November 2006 in the Southtown Shopping Center at Penn Avenue and Interstate 494.

Help from SCORE

"I found it to be harder, when you're looking for help, to find especially a free organization of such knowledgeable people with the passion they have," Crow said of SCORE. "They were a very integral part in helping me fill in the blanks of what I wasn't able to find out myself."

Crow said her SCORE counselor, Charlie Engh, was particularly helpful in providing direction regarding extensive licensing requirements she would face.

Engh, a former vice president at Nash Finch Co., was well-suited for the assignment: He had been in charge of corporate retail operations for the giant wholesale food distributor, including opening liquor stores in a number of states.

"She is trying to create a niche for herself and add a different element to that business," Engh said. "It's not easy, but she seems to be doing well based on her commitment to the project and the enthusiastic support she has from her husband. I've been impressed with what she's accomplished."

Crow is fortunate that the liquor business is more resistant than most to the economic downturn, Engh said. Wine sales generally are higher, while sales of more expensive spirits are down a bit.

"I hate to say it's a fail-safe because anything can go under," Crow said, noting that average prices have dropped from $10 to $15 a bottle when she opened to roughly $8 to $10 a bottle now. And yet, as she noted: "They're still buying."

Crow, who has a full-time manager and three part-time employees, projected revenue of $500,000 this year. Her sales have grown 20 to 25 percent a year since she opened.

Family-owned producers

Being a woman in a male-dominated business has been an advantage, allowing her to use a more creative touch in decorating and marketing the store, while posing challenges in dealing with some in the industry.

"You have to have a backbone," Crow said. "When things go wrong, you need to be able to effectively fight for what you want. You have to separate emotion from business."

She took inspiration for her shop from the family-owned wine producers in her native northern California.

"They have a love and a passion for what they do," Crow said. "They want to make good-quality wine, over quantity, and that is a big focus for them. I love being in that atmosphere; however, I didn't want to make wine myself. So this enables me to showcase what these wonderful people are doing."

Crow hosts two monthly events at her store, one typically a wine-tasting focused on an individual wine-producing region, the other a beer, liquor and wine sampler.

The in-store events occasionally double as fundraisers for charitable organizations, Crow said. She also has provided wine for community fundraising events and does in-home, bridal and corporate wine-tasting parties.

Engh said he and Crow had discussed having him set up an advisory team for her, something SCORE does to provide continuing advice and guidance to clients who are considering expanding their business.

One talking point may be growth. Crow said a number of commercial real estate agents have asked her about opening another Sinful Wines location, though she wants to be careful not to try to grow too quickly too soon.

"I told them, 'That's fine, just find me some money and I'd be happy to open another one,'" Crow said with a laugh. "I've been able to create something very different. It's a classy store where people don't feel like they have to hide their faces. It's raised the bar as far as liquor stores go."

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Woodbury. His e-mail address is todd_nelson@mac.com.