BevMo!
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (alcoholic beverages) |
| Founded | January 1994 |
| Founder | Steve Boone, Steve McLaren |
| Headquarters | Concord, California , United States |
Area served | California, Arizona, Washington (previously Nevada and Florida) |
Key people | Wilfred Wong (cellar master), Bannus Hudson (former CEO), Jim Simpson (former CEO), Alan Johnson (former CEO) |
| Products | Alcoholic beverages (wines, spirits, beer) |
Number of employees | 1600 (2009) |
| Parent | Gopuff |
Overview
Beverages & More Inc., operating under the trade name BevMo!, is a U.S.-based retail chain specializing in alcoholic beverages. It functions as a fully owned subsidiary of Gopuff, following the announcement of BevMo!'s acquisition by Gopuff on November 5, 2020.
Originally, BevMo! was a privately owned company headquartered in Concord, California. The business was launched in January 1994 under the name Beverages & More! within the San Francisco Bay Area and underwent rebranding to "BevMo!" in January 2001. By October 2009, the chain had expanded to 100 locations across California and Arizona. This number increased to 148 stores by September 2013, including nine outlets in Washington state.
Expansion and Challenges
The company's growth trajectory has faced some hurdles. In the late 1990s, BevMo! ventured into Nevada and Florida markets but eventually withdrew from these areas due to financial difficulties. Additionally, certain communities such as Santa Barbara have opposed the opening of BevMo! stores, expressing concerns about potential negative impacts like harm to local small businesses and increased traffic congestion.
Wine Expertise
In 1995, BevMo! appointed Wilfred Wong as their cellar master. A San Francisco native with extensive experience as a wine competition judge and author, Wong evaluates wines for the retailer using a 100-point rating scale. He also maintains a blog hosted on BevMo!'s website and played a key role in launching "Vineyard Partners," an exclusive label featuring custom-blended wines crafted specifically for the company.
Overview
BevMo! features an extensive selection, including over 3,000 varieties of wines, 1,500 different spirits, and 1,200 beer options. Most BevMo! locations engage their communities by hosting weekly wine and beer tasting events for a small fee, compliant with state regulations, available to customers of legal drinking age. Since alcoholic beverages dominate the inventory, entry is restricted to individuals aged 21 and older or those accompanied by an adult aged 25 or above. In Arizona, the stores accept valid identification from all U.S. states, as well as military IDs, passports, and IDs issued by Mexico and Canada.
History
Beverages & More!, the company that would become BevMo!, was established in January 1994 by Steve Boone and Steve McLaren in Concord, California. Within its inaugural year, six stores were launched throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
In 1997, seasoned executive Bannus Hudson joined as CEO after a tenure at Procter & Gamble. The firm ventured into Nevada and Florida markets but withdrew from these states in 1998 following closures led by Hudson and Executive Vice President David Richards. Reflecting on this phase, a company official remarked that rapid expansion nearly caused bankruptcy despite initial success. Subsequent restructuring led Hudson and Richards to focus growth solely within Arizona and California, targeting stores approximately 7,000 square feet in size—a scale more manageable than their largest 12,000-square-foot locations. By the year 2000, annual revenues had reached $130 million, positioning the company as the second-largest alcohol retailer nationwide.
In January 1999, Glenn Sobel Management registered the domain www.beveragesandmore.com; however, a year later Beverages & More! filed a trademark infringement lawsuit under ICANN jurisdiction against Sobel. The company argued that their trademark "Beverages & More!"—including its ampersand and exclamation point—could not be directly used in domain names, making www.beveragesandmore.com the closest available alternative. Sobel acknowledged his business involved domain name sales but denied any affiliation with beverage retail. In March 2000, an ICANN panel led by Richard D. Faulkner ruled that the domain must be transferred immediately to Beverages & More! without penalty. This ruling established a precedent cited in subsequent cybersquatting disputes where unauthorized domain registration matching trademarks was deemed evidence of bad faith.
As customers had informally shortened the brand name to "BevMo," the company secured www.bevmo.com in August 2000. The official website launched in January 2001 alongside the formal adoption of "BevMo" as the corporate brand.
In February 2007, private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners acquired BevMo!. Following this acquisition, Bannus Hudson retired as CEO and was succeeded by Jim Simpson appointed by TowerBrook. By February 2009, Alan Johnson took over as CEO and appointed Dan Carter of Charlotte Russe as CFO and Maria Devries from Bare Escentuals to lead operations. Johnson—originally engaged as a consultant during TowerBrook’s acquisition evaluation—became an enthusiastic leader of the company. By late 2009, BevMo! employed approximately 1,600 people and reported annual sales surpassing $500 million. Johnson highlighted the significant contribution of BevMo!’s private-label wine brand "Vineyard Partners" to overall revenue. He also outlined plans for further geographic expansion with ideal store footprints around 10,000 square feet located on prominent corners featuring ample parking and affluent customer bases. Typically, each store employed about 17 staff members.
October 2009 marked the opening of BevMo!’s 100th location—a 10,000-square-foot store in Torrance, California—its second outlet in that city. Torrance’s mayor expressed satisfaction with the chain’s presence citing job creation and increased sales tax revenue. At that point, most of BevMo!’s stores (90) were situated in California with ten others operating in Arizona. Johnson projected it would take five to six years to open an additional hundred stores after spending fifteen years reaching the first hundred. He also expressed confidence that their existing business model could be replicated successfully across at least sixteen other states.
By September 2013, BevMo! had extended into Washington state with eight stores serving the Seattle-Tacoma region plus locations in Vancouver and Bellingham—bringing total store count to 148.
Expansion efforts have not always been met with unanimous approval. In March 2010, opposition arose during a Santa Barbara city board meeting regarding a proposed BevMo! store. Concerns included plans to remove a tree from the parking area and loading dock arrangements expected to worsen traffic congestion in a narrow alleyway. A member of the Architectural Board of Review criticized plans requiring pedestrians to cross parking lots before entering the store, emphasizing Santa Barbara’s preference for street-facing storefronts conducive to window shopping. Local retailers worried that introducing a large liquor chain near nine smaller liquor outlets and multiple supermarkets would harm established businesses financially. A nearby liquor store owner questioned politicians’ support for small businesses when large chains were allowed entry with relatively few employees potentially displacing numerous small shops. Longtime residents expressed apprehension about losing Santa Barbara’s small-town character to corporate expansion reminiscent of larger cities like Los Angeles. Despite these objections, BevMo!’s 105th store opened successfully with strong customer traffic shortly thereafter.
In-house scoring
BevMo! relies on Wilfred Wong, a seasoned wine taster and competition judge, who evaluates bottles using his personalized adaptation of Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s 50–100-point scale. Wong, an experienced industry commentator and wine columnist for publications like Vineyard & Winery Management and Beverage Industry News, samples approximately 8,000 wines annually on behalf of BevMo!, sometimes tasting up to 40 wines in a single day. A native and current resident of San Francisco, Wong’s early exposure to upscale groceries came from working in his family’s store located in the Haight-Ashbury district. He joined BevMo! in 1995 when the company operated just six locations. In a 2006 interview with the New York Times, Wong acknowledged the challenges of serving as an in-house wine critic for a major retailer, noting potential conflicts between objective scoring and corporate sales strategies. He revealed that management has occasionally urged him to assign higher ratings to certain wines, especially those undervalued by other critics or acquired at favorable prices by BevMo!. Wong remarked, "we have fights all the time" over such matters. Despite this pressure, he maintains that he does not inflate scores based on the preferences of company founders. Executive Vice President David Richards concurs, emphasizing that compromising Wong’s credibility would damage the brand's reputation. To preserve impartiality, Wong reports exclusively to Richards, shielding him from influence by wine vendors or BevMo! buyers. Richards stated, "we have to give him independence within the organization." Wine blogger Alder Yarrow of Vinography.com affirms Wong’s integrity, describing him as knowledgeable and not a promotional mouthpiece. Additionally, Robert Smiley, Professor Emeritus and Director of Wine Studies at UC Davis’s Graduate School of Management, views Wong’s scoring system as a beneficial innovation that aids consumers and draws them to BevMo!, often encouraging purchases of higher-priced wines which tend to receive better scores. Smiley also believes customers are discerning enough to recognize any manipulation: "If Wilfred and BevMo fix the ratings, people will catch on and go elsewhere."
Wong utilizes a 100-point scale he created prior to joining BevMo!. Unlike Parker’s more intellectual approach, Wong’s system is designed with the consumer’s palate in mind. For instance, where Parker might award an 88 for a "fruitful" wine, Wong might give it a 92 if it is well-crafted for its varietal. To date, he has awarded only two perfect scores of 100: one to a 1990 Montrachet from Domaine Ramonet-Prudhon and another to a late 1990s Opus One vintage. His preferred wines include French selections such as second- and third-growth Bordeaux reds and California Pinot noir from the Russian River Valley. He also enjoys Loire Valley Chenin blanc, Alsace Pinot gris, premium Australian Chardonnay, and various biodynamic wines. Wong regularly shares his wine insights on "Wilfred's Blog," hosted on BevMo!’s website, where he highlights current favorites and suggests food pairings.
Awards
- In 2008, The Tasting Panel honored the company with its prestigious "Lifetime Achievement Award"
- Recognized as "Retailer of the Year" by Wine Enthusiast in 2006