I was driving to church this morning with my family when I looked at my watch. October 2nd. Ten years ago today I opened Tim’s Wine Market with no idea what the future would hold. I was 28 years old, had a one year old son and knew that I could not keep going down the path that I was traveling. At the time I was working for Dexter’s, where I was happy enough, but wine was becoming a numbers game to me and that is not why I started in this business. The summer of 1995 was spent forming my business plan, securing a partner and finding a space. I walked out of Dexter’s on August 29th, half thrilled, half terrified.
Within a month the new store was ready and we opened a couple of days later. It could have been earlier but I wanted to celebrate with a grand opening party on Saturday night, September 30th, without pressuring my friends to buy something. I opened the following Monday, with only half of the inventory in the computer and no idea if the system even worked. Jack Trifts was my first customer, I could see the pride in his smile when he poked his head in the door two minutes after opening and he said, “I’m first, right?” My heart was beating so hard during that first sale that I could barely swipe the credit card. After he left I stopped for a second, looked around the store and realized it would never be the same again.
That was ten years ago. Since then I estimate we have sold more than three quarters of a million bottles of wine and drank a few too. This year alone we will ring the register over fifteen thousand times and sell almost one hundred and thirty-thousand bottles. I have written one hundred and twenty-one newsletters, forty wine of the month papers and countless emails promoting the wines that I love. Every morning I wake up ready to go to work and I every evening my wife calls me to say it is time to leave. The thrill of finding new wines is the same as it was in 1995 and my heart still races when I get to share them with you. I hope that all of you enjoy shopping at my stores as much as I live to provide you with great wine.
Tim