Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dr. Ebony Amato. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Dr. Ebony, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
When Troy and I first acquired 10th Avenue Liquor, we brought 2 employees from the previous owners. An immediate staff shortage, our first struggle was dealing with the challenges of taking over operations of a fully staffed store that averaged 8 to 10 employees… with now only 3 – myself, Troy, Grant and Jenna. We were severely behind the 8 ball in covering all facets of the store. So Troy and I got to work in filling all of the gaps of daily operations. We needed individuals for cashiering, inventory, security, administration and relationship management to expand our footprint in licensee sales.
Starting the store the store with 2 previous team members, in addition to ourselves initially put us at 50% capacity. We slowly built our team by word of mouth and personal relationships. A definite unconventional approach, many people came in over the past year wanting to work with us and although all of those individuals were not the right fit for the store, we have learned, and honed in over the past year the types of individuals that will be successful at 10th Avenue Liquor. Those individuals would embody a high level of enthusiasm, and somewhat of a spirit of entrepreneurship as well. Because we took over an existing store, we inherited all of the previous owner management of the store negatives and public perceptions that were formally attached to 10th Avenue Liquor. So not only were we behind the eight ball in staff, we were also behind the 8 ball with various other factors. As mentioned before, shortage of knowledgeable staff, and public perceptions… but in conjunction with that was the socio-economic challenges of the area… homeless bombarding the store, and the more affluent in fear of the store. Restaurants were just opening up, so we did very little in bar business. In addition, the office buildings were still operating remotely, so our counter sales were very lackluster.
Without a presence of large foot traffic, we had to get creative in how to drive business and increase revenues for the store. IF I were to do this all over again, I can not pin point a definitive on what could be done differently. It’s easy to say you can hire before hand and have staff ready prior to the doors opening (acquisition), but it was really a matter of operating for a small amount of time, gathering data on what works, and what does not work and seeing where the gaps were, and work to fill those voids as they arose. Anything else, would have been forcing us to create a paradigm that may or may not have worked – we will never know.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Well we are owners of 10th Avenue Liquor store in downtown Portland proper. We got into this business initally as it was dream of Troy’s to own a liquor store here in the state of Oregon. When we first started dating, I asked Troy if he had any dreams of owning his own business. I come from a family of business owners… my parents owned a grocery store in Arkansas, auto repair shop and paint company. My brother Tiger owned his own autobody repair, and is now a consultant in a related industry. My brother Vincent has owned a myriad of businesses including the old ‘Playground’ that was on the corner of 82nd and Foster for many years. Back then, that was a really, really, really big deal! Since then, he has owned restaurants, bars including the Silver Spur in Salem. Now, he has a car rental company with 3 locations in Hawaii. My sister Yolanda and myself are also business consultants and I owned a pretty successful clothing company as well. Let’s just say, entrepreneurship is simply in our blood! When Troy shared his thoughts on a liquor store, he asked me what I thought and the rest is his and herstory. Immediately, I was intrigued. Troy actually submitted an application in2014 but never heard back from the OLCC. Me being me, my thought was immediately, “say less, I got you! Let’s do this!” So I personally began the mission of reading and understanding everything that I could about the OLCC, the public processes and what it takes to be a liquor store operator here in the State of Oregon. My extensive training in research led me to unveil LOTS of information that positioned us in a good spot to get a store. We completed the application, interviewed, presented before the commission and here we are.
Troy is very well known in the local community as a legendary sports coach! Troy’s resume is extensive and he has coached many individuals that have gone on to the NBA and or, overseas to play professional sports. Troy hosted extensive camps in Anguila and Hawaii prospecting new talent and developinig players at a high levels. Most recently, Troy retired from Portland Public Schools.
What we are most proud of is the work that has gone into 0th Avenue Liquor. The transformation of the store has been jaw dropping. We have another company, XOPDX Commercial Cleaning that facilitated 100% of the stores remodel. I think there are two things that set us apart from many business owners, first is our tenacity and second is our determination not to fail. It is not uncommon for us to work 20 hour days, or leave one company at 10:00 p.m. and start cleaning, finishing up at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. Then doing it all over again!
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
We are starting to get into branded items. Right now we sell 10th Avenue Liquor branded t-shirts… but now looking for the right vendor relationship to unveil liquor related items and accessories. We definitely understand the manufacturing process and just hoping to find the right vendor that aligns with our vision and can be an ongoing great business partner.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been adopting the Nordstrom customer service model. Simply put, we prioritize the customer experience and the customer service at our store. Period.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tenthavenueliquor.com
- Instagram: 10thavenueliquor
- Yelp: 10th Avenue Liquor
- Other: TikTok: 10th Avenue Liquor
Image Credits
Dr. Ebony Amato