Voyages Wine Shop owner aims to open this month, offering wine, craft beer delivery
LANSING — When Voyages Wine Shop opens its doors later this month on the city's east side it will carry about 400 different wines, many of them from small producers all over the world, craft beers and an assortment of groceries.
The concept behind "Greater Lansing's first boutique wine and beer delivery shop" — a wine and beer shop that delivers orders to people's doorsteps — was born during the pandemic, owner Justin King said.
"I remember that feeling back at the start of the pandemic of, lots of things are changing now," he said.
King, 42, and an advanced sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers who's been in the wine industry for more than 20 years, watched as massive lines formed in fast food restaurant drive-thru lanes, and the popularity of online delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats surged.
King resigned from Bottleneck Hospitality, the company that owns Bridge Street Social in DeWitt, in 2020 because he wanted to make the jump to retail wine sales.
His new wine shop will be positioned for the future, King said: able to accommodate customers who shop on-site and those who are buying from their smartphones or laptops.
"It's really exciting to be able to compete with the big guys, like Uber Eats and Gopuff, and actually have really fun, high-quality wine products and be able to show that off to a local audience," King said.
Small production wines, craft beer
The store will occupy 1,500 square feet at 2024 E. Michigan Ave. which was previously home to Wild Strawberry & More, a flower shop.
The space inside the century-old building has been vacant since last year. King has spent the last few months getting it ready for inventory and customers. The walls were given a fresh coat of paint and new flooring has been laid down.
King is waiting on approval of his retail liquor license to fill the shelves with wine, beer and groceries. He hopes to open by late June.
The wines he'll stock will vary, and the selection will grow. King hopes to eventually carry as many as 1,500 different wines, but expect to see a number of small production wines from different regions he has visited.
Among them will be Ameztoi, a winery in Spain, and G.D. Vajra, in Piemonte, Italy.
Small production wineries don't have big marketing budgets, but they offer unique products, he said. His shop will largely carry bottles priced at $30 or less.
"'I've really tried to find, collectively, food and wine regions that excel in both and really highlight them," King said. "It's really fun to be able to like tell a customer that, by the way, the owner of this winery actually pulled these grapes off the vine or made this wine himself."
In addition to beers and wines, the shop will carry such things as bread, meats, cheeses and other groceries, including necessities like toilet paper and diapers.
Customer orders and demand will help him determine what to stock, King said.
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Online shopping, home delivery
Voyages Wine Shop's inventory will be available to shop in-person or online, through its website at voyageswine.com.
King intends to start with six employees, and will deliver same-day orders starting in ZIP codes closest to the store and expanding outward over time.
"The first initial phase of delivery will start relatively as soon as we open," King said. "We're planning on delivering to all the ZIP codes in Lansing. We will be delivering to East Lansing, Okemos, Haslett and DeWitt to start as well."
Within the first month after opening, King hopes to add delivery to other communities, including Mason, Williamston and Holt.
"I've had people asking me, 'Can you deliver to Birmingham? Can you deliver to Ann Arbor?'" King said. "I don't know yet. It's exciting to think that people are that interested in getting good wine delivered to their doorstep. It's an exciting problem to have."
King said he also plans to offer travel packages to wine regions primarily in Europe to small groups of customers, starting with Greece and Spain in summer 2023.
For updates on the business follow its Facebook page at "Voyages Wine Shop" or its website at voyageswine.com.
Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Voyages Wine Shop aims to deliver wine, beer to Lansing area doorsteps
