Scaling Wine Storage w/ Jeff Anthony and Jeff Smith, Vino Vault

The wine storage landscape has never been as dynamic as it is today. Primarily due to Vino Vault and its goal of “making wine collecting more enjoyable.” With six facilities today and the goal of getting to 40-50, Jeff Anthony, President & CEO, and Jeff Smith, Chief Wine Officer, describe how scale allows them to offer more products and services to customers. From a soon-to-be-launched marketplace to auction advisory, Vino Vault is taking wine storage to another level.  Detailed Show Notes: Jeff Anthony (President & CEO) - wine enthusiast for 30 years, storage expert for 35 years (Iron Mountain)Jeff Smith (Chief Wine Officer) - helped father catalog his wine collection and turned it into a business - Carte du Vin Wine Cellar Management and wine storage business that sold to Vino VaultVino Vault offerings1st and foremost, a storage companyConsulting for in-home cellarsLogistics for wine movingSoon to launch a marketplace for storage customers to buy and sell wineAuction advisory (Jeff Smith’s role)7 locations - 3 in LA, Dallas, Houston, NYC, DenverStorage best practices - temp control, humidity control, security, rackingWine Owners - proprietary software for full-service customers, can manage collection and schedule delivery2 types of customers - private locker (~50%) and full service (~50%)NYC is all full service, trying to get more people on full serviceSupply chain and inflation have not impacted business as higher-end customers feel it lessVino Vault differentiation - national reach, in 6 markets today, will be in 10 by early 2023Scale benefits - can offer more products & services, can spread expertise and technology across a bigger businessM&A - goal is 40-50 locations, 80% North America, 20% Western Europe (UK), ~8-10 acquisitions / yearStorage market size - ~215-230 FacilitiesNA (US + Canada) - ~135-140 independent storage facilitiesW Europe - ~30-40Rest of the World - ~50Auction services - 20 years dealing with all auction housesHandle all the logisticsAdvisory services are free to customers with no obligationGet paid a finder’s fee from auction housesMarketplaceFocused on the ~80% of wine to sell that is up to ~$100-125/bottle (vs. ~20% that is rare and collectible and should go to auction)The benefit is speed to market, and transactions can happen immediately vs. ~4 months for auctionsCommissions are dramatically lower than auctionsData insights - anecdotally seeing a move away from high-end Napa Cabs and Sine Qua NonWine tastings and events - host some at some facilities, building event space in the flagship LA store (The Wine Hotel)Storage is a sticky business vs. online wine retail which is transient Get access to library episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.