Wednesday November 18, 2009

A message of gratitude and excitement:


October 18, 2009 marked the end of another iconic Chicago brand, at least in its current form, when ownership of Sam’s Wine & Spirits passes to Binny’s Beverage Depot, an icon in its own right.

Sam’s had a unique place in the Chicago pantheon of retailers as the store where you could find the most obscure brand from the most remote winemaking region alongside the most highly recognized wines from the most famous regions and everything in between. It’s not easy to maintain the kind of inventory they had during the “hey day” or to keep track of what was there. More to the point there was always someone available who could tell you about the wines.

There would have been no Imports Inc. if it hadn’t been for Greg Smolik Manager of the Italian Department when I started. Greg was the first person to try my samples long before I had even made the decision to import wines no one could pronounce from a region no one knew much about. I didn’t even know that so few people knew where Friuli was when I started out. Greg knew.

Every single person who worked at Sam’s afterwards – and there are too many to mention - contributed to my growth in the field. They fearlessly directed their best and most sophisticated customers, as well as all the folks looking for something a little different, to Piculit Neri, Schioppettino, Refosco, Ribolla Gialla and a growing number of obscure indigenous varietals.

Sam’s was not my only supporter – thank goodness there were many. But Sam’s as a company, as a group, as the individuals who worked there over the years, was uniquely positioned and enthusiastic about carrying many wines from Friuli in the beginning and many wines from the same producer as time went on. We developed a market together. No one else was able to or wanted to show the range of what a region, or a winery could do, and not just my suppliers of course or just the regions I represent.

So I want to thank all the people who have worked at Sam’s for the last 8 years – your enthusiasm, your collaboration, your partnership and your friendship made it all possible. I wish you the best of everything in the future. More than anything, I hope our paths will cross again and hopefully as part of the Binny’s family.

I am looking forward to new challenges as Binny’s comes in with their own very successful vision of wine retailing. I hope to be a growing participant in the Binny’s vision throughout the chain as well as in the Lincoln Park and Downer’s Grove stores. We’re off to a good start I think for which I send a strong thank you to Barbara Herman.


Monday June 8th, 2009

All new website, designed and implemented by Mark Villalobos

March 11th, 2009

Imports Inc featured in Timeout Chicago's Silent Partners.

Unsung hero: Beverly Malen, owner of Imports Inc.
Superpowers: Brings little-known wines to Chicago restaurants. Malen has been in the importing business only since 2000, but in that time she has established herself as a champion of the little guy—small wineries in often-ignored regions that would never have representation in Chicago without her. She started with Northern Italy but soon expanded to other underrepresented areas such as New York, Virginia and Arizona. “Some people fall in love with boys or girls,” Malen says about her passion for her work. “I fell in love with a stupid wine.”

Read full article here.