Downtown Nanaimo Secrets for Success

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For Bruce Samson, Proprietor of the Urban Wine Cellar, which has recently relocated to 165 Fraser Street (next door to Mrs. Riches restaurant) downtown Nanaimo is the only place to be. While his business has moved four times over the years, he is adamant that the best place to work, live, shop and play is in downtown Nanaimo.

DNBIA: How long have you been in business?
Bruce: It will be 23 years this October. We are the oldest “ferment on premises” business in Nanaimo.

DNBIA: Have you always been downtown?
Bruce: Yes, but not in the same location. In 1990 we opened at 45 Commercial Street and then three years later we moved across the street to 50 Commercial because it was a substantially bigger store. We were there twelve years but we had to move when the Conference Centre was built. We successfully relocated to City Centre Plaza for eight years and then we out grew that space. When we moved to our current location six months ago, we tripled the amount of square footage from 1,100 to 3,000 square feet.  I was adamant we were going to stay downtown. We live, work and shop downtown. Downtown has always been good to me so why would I move?

DNBIA: How many employees do you have?
Bruce: Two.

DNBIA: What motivated you to start this business?
Bruce: I made my own beer and wine at home; I started when I was in the military. When I retired from the military and moved to Nanaimo in 1989 there were no stores to buy supplies, so that’s what prompted me to start my own business. When we started we were only a supply shop, but quickly turned into a “brew on premise”.

DNBIA: How did that affect your business?
Bruce: At the time, no one in the industry saw the “brew on premise” coming. Now a day, 95% of the industry is done on premise. Originally our business was called Brewers Wort, but since eighty percent of our business is wine making, we  rebranded so people could more easily identify what we do here, which was ironic, because the very first client who came in after we rebranded asked if they could make beer here – to which I replied, of course you could.  We are the only store on the central island that produces beer on site and all the beer products are exclusive to us.

DNBIA: Can you give a short description of your business?
Bruce: We sell products for making beer, wine, ciders and coolers, etc., however, our main market is we provide the facilities and equipment and our expertise to allow you to make your product here on site. You can’t buy a finished production for consumption here.

DNBIA: What are your hours of operation?
Bruce: We are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and 9am to 4pm on Saturday.

DNBIA: I see other products here besides beer and wine kits, tell us about them.
Bruce: We also sell BBQs. We are the local dealer for Traegar Wood Pellet BBQs. We believe they are the best BBQ on the market and they can also act as a smoker. Two years ago for my birthday I bought one and I liked it so much I took out a dealership, because what goes better with good wine than good food! We have sold dozens of these BBQs and we are expanding our lineup of BBQ sauces and hot sauces. Sometimes we have a barbeque while people are bottling wine.

DNBIA: What are you best known for and why?
Bruce: I believe we are best known for customer service and quality product. Over the years we kept growing and investing in better and better equipment. Everything here is state of the art. We try to make life easy for people; make the equipment easy to use and get the job done fast and effectively. No other Ubrew on the Island has a bottle washer or bottle fillers superior to ours and we are constantly upgrading.

DNBIA: What sets your business aside from others in the field?
Bruce: Again, it is the quality of the product. We have an exclusive on our beer, not on our wine though. We are not as big as some other stores around the province, but I see that as a positive thing, because more care is taken to ensure the quality; you get too big and things fall through the cracks. At this size we can offer more personal hands-on service.

DNBIA: Who are your customers?
Bruce: Our customer base is everyone. Our main customers are people 50, 60 and upwards. It is a challenge to get younger people in, they don’t want to wait for a quality product when they can just go to a store quickly and buy a bottle of wine. However, we believe it is the same as the saying do you want good food or fast food? Good things take time. Recently though we are seeing a trend with younger couples coming in as more of them move to the downtown core.

DNBIA: What geographic region do you serve?
Bruce: They come from everywhere. I have people from Saltspring Island I have been dealing with for 20 years. We have customers who come here from Bowser and Port Alberni who bypass other shops who come here because they like the quality.

DNBIA: Why should customers choose you?
Bruce: Definitely for a quality brewing experience. If you want cheap alcohol you can brew it at home. If you want to make a hobby of it, then do it at home. If you want to take the work out of it and enjoy a quality product, come to us. What you are paying for is our expertise and you can produce quality product here at one-third of the the price of the liquor store.

DNBIA: Can you give us an anecdote that sums up what your business is all about?
Bruce: We want people to come in and have fun. At one time we even put a tanning booth in our store, it wasn’t the right mix, but some of our best customers originally came in for tanning. We have had brewers forming conga lines and wine makers coming in with meat and cheese plates to nibble on while they sample and bottle their wine. Brewing your own beverages is about the experience. I believe that life is too short not to be happy.

DNBIA: What do you like most about having a business in downtown Nanaimo?
Bruce: My customers. We have been blessed for 20 years with having the best customers from all over the city. As I said earlier, I believe in downtown, it is a wonderful place to live and I’ve been here since 1989. I would never leave here.

DNBIA: What about your business makes you the most proud?
Bruce: Just the other day I got a card in the mail from a regular customer thanking me for going above and beyond. Feedback like that is very nice to get. We recently went to a military wedding, and the new bride posted on Facebook following the wedding that she would like to give an additional thank you to the Urban Wine Cellar for advising them to brew their wine as early as they did, she said the wine was the best she had ever tasted. You want people to come back because they are happy with what they got and they have been treated fairly and with respect. You have to treat people how you want to be treated yourself.

DNBIA: What advice would you give to a new business starting out in downtown Nanaimo?
Bruce: Best thing I would say is stay calm, don’t expect success over night, give good customer service, keep fair pricing and smile.