A wine shop is celebrating its first year in business with a party featuring food, drinks, and a special discount.
Everton’s Wine Merchants opened in Reindeer Court on May 2 last year after the fourth generation of the Everton family, Jack Everton and Tiger Lily Gray, took over the Bottles shop, which had initially been opened by their father, Richard, in 2021, before he sold it a year later.
While around two-thirds of the company’s trade comes from wholesale, the remaining business is in the store, which general manager Giovanni Tolone said has had a very successful first year.
He said: “Most of our wine tastings are between 15 and 45 people and most have sold out.
“Every week we have something on.
“Christmastime was fantastic as well, we had very good sales and lots of people were coming in to buy ports.
“In terms of the whole year, it has been really successful.”
To celebrate a full year in business, Everton’s is hosting a party at the shop on Saturday (May 23) featuring food, drinks, and a discount on products.
Mr Tolone said: “We are going to have a big 1.5 metre paella outside and a free welcome drink of rose prosecco.
“We are also going to put the whole shop at 10 per cent off.
“Some other things will be 15 per cent or 20 per cent, but in general, the whole shop will be 10 per cent.
“We are expecting over 100 people to come.”
To help first-time visitors to the shop, the wines are organised by their origin, with shelves dedicated to wines from France, Italy, Australia, North and South America, and more, as well as plenty of local wines and spirits from Worcestershire and the West Midlands.
And if you are in need of some extra help while searching for the perfect wine, Mr Tolone is an expert sommelier with over two decades of experience.
He said: “I always ask customers what their preference is, how is their taste, and how much do you want to spend.
“For me, every single customer is the most important.
“I do not have VIP customers; all of them are VIP because I live because of them and I like to make the shop welcoming to them.”
