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Two wine specialists celebrate landmark anniversaries

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Frank Pagliaro

Frank Pagliaro of FranksWine carved a market niche by offering tastings and special events//Photos by Fred Bourdon.

By Pam George
Special to Delaware Business Times

Linda Collier of Collier's of Centreville

Linda Collier of Collier’s of Centreville

In 1981, after six years of living in Europe, Linda Collier and her husband, a DuPont Co. employee, moved back to the United States. While living abroad, they’d developed an appreciation for wine – so much so that they brought 600 bottles of wine back in a furniture container.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that most Delawareans lacked the same passion.

When she told a liquor store employee that she was making veal with herbs and a cream sauce and asked for his recommendation, he said: “Lady, the reds are over there. The whites are over there. Take your pick.”

“I thought: “˜Welcome back to America,'” she recalls. That was on a Saturday. By Thursday, she’d signed the lease for a beer store in Wilmington’s Little Italy, which she transformed into a wine store with a focus on education. “People really did not know they needed a shop like mine, but they embraced it from the beginning,” she said. Indeed, Collier’s, now based in Centreville, is a go-to place for distinctive wines, friendly recommendations and wine education.

In the past 35 years, Collier has witnessed Americans’ growing fascination with wine. In 1981, when she opened her store, U.S. consumers purchased 506 million gallons of wine. By 2015, that number had soared to 913 million, according to the Wine Institute. Today, Americans lead the world in the consumption of wine.

Frank Pagliaro

Frank Pagliaro of FranksWine

Frank Pagliaro has also witnessed the remarkable changes over the last three decades. In 1986, his father, Earl Pagliaro, bought a building near Trolley Square that housed a nightclub, a pizza place and a liquor store. It was just one of the many real estate purchases the Italian immigrant made every five or seven years. Usually, he moved on to the next project. But the liquor store stuck. Credit Pagliaro, who at age 19 decided to take a year off from St. Joseph’s University to increase his wine knowledge and work at the store.

“We started out with a lot of bag-in-box wines and 1.5 liters of magnum wines,” he said. “Our “˜fine wine’ selection consisted of about 300 SKUs.” (SKU, short for stock-keeping unit, is an ID used for inventory purposes. It’s usually associated with an item.)

Today, FranksWine offers more than 3,000 wine SKUs, compared to 1,000 craft spirits, 500 craft brews and 50 SKUs of cheese and charcuterie items. “FranksWine went from being a local neighborhood store to a destination drawing customers from the tri-state area,” he said.

These entrepreneurs blazed a path paved with grape leaves, but it hasn’t always been easy. The public’s adventurous palate has prompted other shops to enter the marketplace, from small boutiques such as Swigg in Independence Mall to large stores, including the undisputed giant, Total Wine.

What’s more, owning a wine store is a demanding business that frequently involves activities in the community, from wine dinners to special events. There are also in-store events to organize, including regular tastings-an accepted and expected part of the business.

When Collier started, however, tastings weren’t allowed in the stores. She went to her large competitors and asked them to help her change the law. They shrugged and told her it was impossible.

A stubborn Collier, who was in the minority when it came to female wine and spirits retailers, decided to prove them wrong. She wrote a bill and spoke to the Legislature. Her request was approved and forwarded to the governor, who had 10 days to sign it. Collier called his office every day. “Patience is not my strong point,” she acknowledges. He signed it on day four.

Collier wrote so many bills regarding her industry that she was asked to join a committee of five senators and five representatives to rewrite rules for wine retailers. She has also served as the head of the retail liquor commission.

Her wine classes, which helped hundreds of local oenophiles develop a palate for wine, remain the backbone of her business. “They learn more about the grapes and the style – they don’t get into a rut of drinking a glass of Chardonnay every night.”

Such customer relations help smaller stores such as Collier’s and FranksWine differentiate themselves from the compe-tition that’s moved in since they opened. When Total Wine debuted, FranksWine enhanced customer service and reduced the number of easy-to-find, large-volume wines instead of slashing prices.

That’s not to say there aren’t special offers. With FranksWine Xselections, customers mix and match more than 100 wines to receive a 50 percent discount. Pagliaro developed the promotion with Jonathan Newman, formerly of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which controls liquor sales in that state.

His current site benefits from being accessible to The Highlands, 40 Acres and Trolley Square, all communities with affluent residents. He thinks of his website, FranksWine.com, as a second store.

As chairman of the PLCB, Newman created the Chairman’s Selection program, Sunday sales and the creation of wine festivals in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The forward-thinking activities for what was a staid organization had an impact on wine sales in Delaware, Pagliaro said.

If Pennsylvania privatized wine-and-spirit sales, Pagliaro might consider a second location across the state border.

Collier has had two shops at the same time. In 1990, she received a call from an owner of Buckley’s Tavern, who asked her to manage the Buckley’s package store. “My answer was: “˜I do not manage. I own,'” she said. Still, she agreed to discuss it. Two days later, she had a second location. She kept the Little Italy shop
for another four years before selling it. She wanted to be hands-on in just one location.

Collier works in the store during operating hours unless she is traveling. She handles the wine school, the wine dinners and the tastings. Pagliaro is in the store during the week; but for the most part, he leaves the weekends to the employees. Even so, his day often starts at 6 a.m. He answers e-mails, updates his website and handles the social media. He is frequently the face of the shop at charity events, off-premise tastings and wine dinners.

For 13 years, Pagliaro hosted “Frank’s Golden Wine Event,” where more than 30 vendors poured wine paired with food. The last event was in 2013. Pagliaro is resurrecting the celebration with a pop-up at Harry’s Savoy Grill on Feb. 11 to benefit Kids Runway for Research, which raises awareness and support for The Nemours Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. The popup will feature more than 80 wines, Champagne and craft brews.

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