Business of the Week: Granite View Market

Wausau Pilot & Review

Editor’s note: This sponsored weekly feature shares the stories of locally-owned and operated businesses and organizations in the Wausau area, highlighting the products and services they offer and the ways they contribute to the metro area’s unique flavor. Learn how to feature your business by emailing [email protected].

Today’s featured Wausau business is Granite View Market, a one-stop shopping destination in Rib Mountain that carries a wide range of wine, beer and spirits, along with locally-produced meats, bakery items, coffee and cheeses from throughout the region. Make no mistake: This is no ordinary liquor store.

What began as an investment in parking space for the couple’s exceptionally popular bar, The Garage, soon blossomed into a new venture for Bob and Megan Lamovec, whose creativity and business acumen have significantly bolstered the entertainment scene in the Rib Mountain area. From the onset, the couple was very much aware that opening a liquor store at 225611 Rib Mountain Drive, so close to many other purchasing options, would be a challenge.

“We have gas stations, large box retailers, and grocery stores all nearby, so we had to create a destination to shop,” Megan said. “We can’t always beat everyone, every day on price…but we are striving to be that higher-end, quick in and out, locally owned option for people to find some unique products and have fun doing so in a cool environment.”

Granite View Market feels more like a lounge than a liquor or convenience store, with a tasting bar that allows patrons to try many options before they buy. Popup tastings and other events are in the works as well, so be sure to follow the market on Facebook for details.

For Bob and Megan Lamovec, keeping it local is key to their business model.

“In the greater Wausau there are so many talented makers of different products that people love, but the products aren’t always easily accessible to consumers,” Megan said. “Rib Mountain is a high traffic area and tends to get a lot of tourism from all over, so we figured – why not bring in local partners and offer their products to more people that are stopping in that may not have seen or heard of the company or product before.”

If the success of The Garage, which is adjacent to Granite View Market, is any indication, the latest venture for the Lamovecs will be yet another success story in the Wausau area. Here, they discuss how Granite View Market was born, how they creatively found a way to mold their business model into something truly unique and their plans for the future as the market gains popularity.

What gave you the idea to open Granite View Market?

We officially opened Granite View Market on May 26th. The whole idea to take on the property came about because of the need for more parking at The Garage. The previous owners of the land didn’t like that our bar patrons were using their parking later at night, even though they weren’t open for business most of the time it was happening. To keep good neighborly relations, we agreed to lease the parking from them, and within that lease we reserved first-rights to purchase the building and land should they decide to sell. One day the previous owner called and said he’d be interested in selling the property and building. However, it came with a catch; we had to buy the inventory too. To preserve the parking for The Garage, we really had no choice. We needed to find a way to sell the inventory that we had to purchase with the building, and, after chatting about it, we felt that reopening it as a higher-end liquor store would be a good use of the building.  So, we put the wheels into motion to do a full remodel and reopened as Granite View Market. 

You carry more than just beer and spirits. What’s on the shelves?

We struggled a little bit on the name as we wanted to offer more than just liquor and beer, so we brought in “market” to really open up what we can offer. In addition to wine, beer, and spirits, we offer a large variety of meat products from Geiss Meats in Merrill, coffee from Redwood Roasters out of Edgar, bakery items from Kreger Bakery/Cup & Cake, and a large variety of cheeses and meats from around the region. Non alcoholic spirits and beer have become extremely popular, and we are continuing to expand that offering and just recently added an N/A beers and seltzers section to our mix & match area. We also wanted to bring in other unique items like a larger variety of items to make bloody marys, bitters and other drink accompaniments.

Your website says “We are reinventing the way to buy beer, spirits and grocery essentials.” Tell us what that means. 

Liquor stores and liquor departments at stores usually tend to have a similar look and feel. There’s nothing wrong with them, but at times it can be hard to find what you’re looking for. Spirits maybe end up on an end-cap instead of next to their peer products, or there is so much clutter you just can’t find what you’re looking for. We wanted to be different by creating a very neat, clean, organized, and concise store that makes the shopping experience an easy and enjoyable one. All our beer and seltzers are in our massive walk-in cooler so there’s no need to worry about cooling them down before enjoying. But, if you do need to cool them down later, any purchase from Granite View Market over $15 gets you a free 8 lb. bag of ice! Another thing we strive for is a wide array of products, including harder to find more unique items.  We work hard to find and bring in a bunch of the products that people have fallen in love with while on vacation or they’ve seen out of the area, but haven’t been able to find locally. Another very popular thing has been our Mix & Match wall where you can build your own 4 or 6 pack, or grab even just one of anything there. Each item is priced individually giving you the opportunity to try a bunch of things without having to buy a full six or twelve pack of something you may find out later you don’t love.

Tell us about the local area providers you’ve teamed up with for products like coffee, eggs and more. How did you choose them?  

As local small business owners, we’ve always tried to support other local businesses as much as possible. We’ve become familiar with a lot of the local places from the Farmer’s Market, small business markets, etc. and reached out to them to let them know what we were doing and ask if they’d be interested in having their products in the market.  We also took recommendations from friends, family, and patrons on local goods they loved and thought would be an asset to the Rib Mountain area. 

Tell us about the tasting bar – what’s that all about?

After coming up with the idea to re-open the building as a liquor store, we wondered if we could use the license from The Garage to operate it as it is the same entity. After researching with the Town of Rib Mountain and the State of Wisconsin, we found out it is possible because the properties touch. We worked with the Town of Rib Mountain for final approvals, and this allowed us the full use of our Class B liquor license. This means we can have open intoxicants present; we can do tastings without a manufacturer rep, one inventory can be used for both The Garage and Granite View Market and lastly, we can sell later than other stores allowing us to sell intoxicating liquor for off-premise consumption up until midnight. We decided, why not put a bar in it to allow patrons to try different things before buying them! We have a bunch of our products available for purchase at the tasting bar including bourbon, scotch, whiskey, rum, tequila and many more. The offerings at the tasting bar will continue to evolve into more unique cocktails and mocktails, craft drinks and specialty drinks as time goes on. In addition, we put in a draft system so you can try a couple beers, or even grab something from the mix & match wall and we can open it for you to enjoy at the tasting bar. We want it to feel like a chill lounge. 

In addition to enjoying spirits, wine, and beer at the tasting bar, we also offer some of the tasting bar products “to go”! From the draft system, you can get nitro coffee from Redwood Roasters, hard kombucha or a variety of beers to go in crowlers (32 oz.) or growlers (64 oz.) and enjoy them at home or elsewhere.

In the past, you’ve done free tastings. Do you have any plans for future events or tastings like this?

Yes! We will continue to do pop-up tastings (watch FB for these), but will also do more structured events for different spirit tastings and events. We are currently working on getting several tasting events scheduled, and plan to have a regular rotation of wineries and distilleries coming in for special events. One that we’re really excited about is a Tito’s craft cocktail making class, and they’ve agreed to come in a few times per year with new and exciting cocktails!

What has customer reaction been like so far?

The customer reactions thus far have been great;everyone has commented that they love the look and feel of the shopping experience. They love that it’s a no pressure, walk-around and look type feel versus an atmosphere where you feel like you should just run in grab your product and get out. Everyone has been excited to further see what’s in store at the tasting bar as it’s so unique. 

Are there any plans to expand offerings in the future?  

We are currently working on some design concepts that we will take to the Town of Rib Mountain regarding a four-season patio where we will allow cigar smoking. This is just in the early stages, but we’d love to bring that concept to the Wausau area where you can get your favorite spirit, wine or whatever and chill in a heated patio and enjoy conversation with your friends while also enjoying a cigar.

Connect with Granite View Market

• Visit in store: 225611 Rib Mountain Drive, Wausau
• Online at: www.graniteviewmarket.com
• By phone: (715) 393-4041
• Follow Granite View Market on Facebook here