South Lyndale Liquors owner Dan Campo prides himself on having one of the largest selections of wine, bourbon, scotch, vodka, rum, agave spirits, craft beer and cordials in the Twin Cities. But that achievement sometimes comes at a price.
“I’m working from my home office today, because I can’t sit at my desk,” he said one day in September. “I’ve got boxes of bourbon packed underneath.”
The journey to a business that is now literally bursting at the seams started in the 1970s when Campo’s father, tired of his job as an on-the-road salesman and looking for a change, stumbled upon a newspaper article about changes in the laws governing where liquor stores could locate in the Twin Cities area. As someone passionate about wine, he saw the potential of opening a store that focused on bringing an incredible selection to southwest Minneapolis.
South Lyndale Liquors opened in 1975 and established itself as part of the neighborhood. Fast forward to 2007. The store was showing the wear and tear that comes with an aging owner who couldn’t quite keep up with the maintenance as he did 40 years earlier. It still had an unbeatable wine selection, and Campo saw the potential for more. He bought the business, financed his father’s retirement, and got to work.
As Campo worked in the business, he realized his passion for wine was not just about the beverage itself but about the way it could transport people to different parts of the world.
“On any regular Wednesday during the work week, you should be able to come into South Lyndale and buy an intriguing bottle of wine, be it from Italy, France or Spain, pair it with cheese and charcuterie and be able to taste and experience these wonderful flavors of the place you would like to be in,” he said. “It sort of transports you there without you actually having to jump on an airplane, fly there and then be back the next morning for work.”
Expanding to a new home
South Lyndale Liquors customers can now broaden their global culinary experience. The store recently moved from its almost-12,000-square-foot store on Lyndale Avenue South to a new building about two blocks away. The new store boasts over 34,000 square feet of retail space, complete with a 62- door beer cooler, a 20,000-bottle winder cellar, and a 1,000-bottle tasting wall, in addition to a warehouse basement for additional storage. The building’s architecture fits with the surrounding neighborhood, which was largely constructed in the 1920s, and the interior contains nods to the Prohibition era.
Dan Campo, Kate Campo and Magnus the dog at the new location of South Lyndale Liquors.
South Lyndale Liquors’ new home also has Brooklyn-style sandwiches, a finely curated deli, cheese, and charcuterie shop to complement its wine, beer and spirits offerings, fulfilling a dream of Campo’s parents. During the day, customers will be able to enjoy sandwiches and other delicious fare along with 24 different wines by the glass. In the evenings, the event space will host wine tastings and seminars about selections from lesser-known regions around the world.
“My parents, Italians from Brooklyn, had always talked about doing a cheese shop and a deli, but we could never fit it into the old building we had at the time,” Campo said. “Now, we’ll have this ability to do all of these travel and taste experiences within our own four walls.”
Campo spent nearly 10 years looking for the right location for the expansion. When he found it and started planning the new building, he realized the project was too big to tackle alone. He reached out to a longtime friend for advice, MidCountry Bank Chief Commercial Banking Officer Todd Streed. “Todd and I met years ago downhill skiing in Colorado. I’ve always liked his perspective on things, so I ran the project by him to get his thoughts.” Streed guided him through the financing process.
“It was an opportunity to partner with a well-established local business and help guide someone who is not in the bank financing space very frequently,” Streed said. “We work with sophisticated commercial real estate developers who know what’s possible and the financing process. Dan is thinking about his Italian wine and bourbon selections. Dan’s not thinking about what an SBA execution could look like versus a conventional structure.”
Dan Campo, owner of South Lyndale Liquors, and MidCountry Bank’s Todd Streed, Chief Commercial Banking Officer
Streed worked with Campo to determine what type of project and financing the business could support. Being connected to the community was key, Streed said.
“Our decision-makers are in this marketplace,” he said. “They are familiar with the intersection of 55th and Lyndale Avenue South, and they are familiar with Dan’s business and his position in the marketplace. That’s the most granular that financing gets.”
Thanks to that partnership, Campo said, he gets to build his dream. “I took this neighborhood business and built it into my own store with a huge selection that highlights my passion for great libations and food. And now we’re becoming a destination.”
Source: Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal and Lauren Lawley Head – Contributor