Village Wine Shop Changes Hands

You probably didn’t notice that the in Grosse Pointe Park changed ownership recently, and that’s precisely how Zack Assaf wants it. Assaf, who has taken the reins from longtime owner Bill Solomon, wants the shop’s loyal customers to enjoy the same atmosphere, quality service and selection they always have at the corner of Jefferson and Beaconsfield.

Assaf, 32, says he has plenty of ideas for his new enterprise, but wants to go slowly so that customers understand the fundamentals will stay the same. The store’s name, small and knowledgeable staff, rapport with regular customers, and dedication to service—including carrying purchases out to patrons’ automobiles—will stay, he said.

“People don’t like change,” Assaf observed. “They get used to something, they know what they like and don’t like, and giving them that is important. It makes a difference in business.”

Assaf’s father is the cousin of Solomon, 81, who owned the store for more than 30 years and was eager to retire. But Solomon wanted to hand the business over to someone he trusted. More precisely, said Assaf, “he wanted to keep it in the family.”

Assaf worked for more than 15 years for his parent’s St. Clair Shores business, Chapoton Woods Market, which is a liquor, beer and wine store that also sells homemade Mediterranean food. Solomon felt Assaf was the right man to replace him and had him work at the store for a time to see how he liked it. It was a good fit, and Assaf agreed to take over.

“Uncle Bill,” as Assaf calls Solomon, “knew he’d be leaving the place in good hands,” said Assaf, noting that Solomon still “pops in” the store frequently. “I have a lot of energy and ideas and a vision, and he knows what I’m trying to do with the place.”

Specifically, Assaf plans to expand the inventory with new lines of beer and wine, to acquire a walk-in cooler to accommodate more merchandise, “match or beat” prices offered by wholesalers and other liquor stores around town, and run regular promotions. He has begun offering free tastings every other Friday; the next one, on July 15 from 4-7 p.m., will feature beers from Short’s Brewing Company in Elk Rapids, MI.

Assaf also has long-term plans. In a few years, he’d like to turn the shop’s basement into a venue for a private membership club for wine aficionados, who could order their favorite varieties through the store and keep them in a special holding cellar down there. Assaf envisions a lounge area and humidors for cigar connoisseurs.

Assaf loves the abundance of wood in the store, from the floors to the shelves to the crates that display wine, and anticipates making few changes to the décor other than touching up a few things with paint. He even plans to keep the life-size cardboard cutout of police officer “R. Culp” that has been stationed near the door for years. The cutout of Marilyn Monroe, also a fixture for years, was given to a customer by Solomon before he retired.

The Village Wine Shop has been around for more than 60 years; Solomon took it over from the founder, who’d opened it nearly 30 years earlier. Assaf, who lives in Macomb Township but plans to move to Grosse Pointe, revels in the challenge of maintaining one of the few businesses on that strip of Jefferson to survive the changing times and economy.

“I hope to be here for a long time,” he said.