We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Keene. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.

Erin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Once I finally decided to pursue the idea of opening a wine shop, I became a bit of a mad scientist. I was living in a tiny studio in Brooklyn and the pandemic was in full swing, so I was able to put all of my time and energy into the plans. There were endless handwritten lists and open bottles of wine everywhere. At that time, I was trying to secure funding, read the laws around buying and selling alcohol in the state of Virginia and teach myself how to build a website. It was a juggling act of massive tasks, but creating the list of wines to stock at opening felt like the most crucial, and my own local wine shop was benefiting greatly from my research.

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.

I’ve worked in the food and beverage industry since I was old enough to wait tables. After various restaurant jobs in New York City, I discovered my place within hospitality was in private events. I love to throw a party. When the pandemic hit and eliminated people’s freedom and desire to gather, I was left jobless and wondering how long it would be until my position, and industry as a whole, was back again. I began putting the plans together for a place of my own. A retail wine shop felt like a pandemic-safe, manageable way for me to fuse my knowledge of food and wine with my passion for hospitality.

Visiting my own local wine shop was a part of daily life I held dear, and it seemed like an environment that I could create and offer to neighbors of my own. My hope was to establish a place that felt like a neighborhood bar. A place where you knew the bartender, but had to take your drink home with you. Second Bottle has been open for 2.5 years now, and I think we are achieving that. I take a lot of pride in the selection of wines and conservas that we offer and the relationships we’ve built with our guests thus far.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Offering a quality product and making our customers feel cared for during the shopping experience. This has not only helped us grow our clientele, but maintain it.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Well it seems to be a constant work in progress, but our strategy thus far has been investing in the quality of the photos. I was fortunate to find a teammate who not only has an understanding of wine, but also a passion for photography. We work together on content plans each week and he captures them in a series of images. We aim to keep things fresh and authentic with copy that makes sense, informs and entertains. Seeing and reading about new inventory gets people excited to buy it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.secondbottlewine.com
• Instagram: @secondbottlewine
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secondbottlewine

Image Credits
All photos can be credited to Garrett Eagleton.