Erin and Aaron Gurney opened Hometown Liquor and Wine in Esterhazy on Friday, September 29th.
The couple opened their store at 412 Maple Street. Customers will recognize the familiar spot as it is located in the building where the former Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) store formerly operated.
Erin said, “I have a local business [Erin’s Pharmacy] as well and we’re both born and raised here. We raise our family here and our community is very important to us. We give back whenever we can and we will continue to do that. We know that it’s important to stay involved, support the community and events that happen here and show that you give back”.
Customers will see familiar faces as many of the previous staff members have come back. Gurney said, “They all worked in the industry before, and in that building, and I think that is huge having our staff. Aaron and I don’t want to go through life and pass up these opportunities, and we’re fortunate to have them”.
Erin explained, “We purchased the building and then we approached the staff and asked them if they would be interested in helping us out. I personally thought the liquor store was great before and wanted to put it back where it was, and with the same people back in there. I know there were a lot of relationships in that place with the staff, there were lots of tears when they closed”.
There were many learning curves for the new ownership group which were helped with the experienced staff returning to a familiar work environment.
Erin admitted, “The first day, I stood in front of the computer with the catalogue for ordering. I was so overwhelmed and thankfully I had Karen and Melissa there. I was in the background and they would ask me questions; but, I would always ask, ‘What do you guys think?’. They knew exactly what we should have to start and we wanted to have a good amount of inventory to begin”.
The locally owned business wants to provide the products that customers are requesting. “We thought it would be great to have a product suggestion list. We knew we weren’t going to be able to have everything right off the bat. We will do our best to bring those items in and [the suggestion list] was a huge hit, I think when I left [on opening night] we were filling page number five”.
The logo and name for Hometown Liquor and Wine were highlighted by Gurney. “We’re local and the wheat sheaf in the logo speaks volumes to us. We are grain and cattle farmers, operating on a century farm. Aaron chose the name Hometown because that is exactly what it is for us, our hometown. We want to be that hometown liquor store”.
The local family-owned business did not win the liquor permit during the first Saskatchewan government auction.
Gurney explained, “The permit here actually went up for auction the first time and then it ended up going back up for auction a second time. That was the beginning of June. We had already bought the building and we were a little unsure. We had talked about a lot and an opportunity like that is not going to come up again anytime soon”.
After winning the permit auction, Erin said they “were very excited and, at that moment, we knew we were on an adventure. You have to jump on those opportunities. It’s never too far away in our minds though, that we would not be where we are without amazing support from our community in everything we’ve done!”.
Hometown Liquor and Wine in Esterhazy can be reached at (306) 745-2626 or hometownliquorandwine@gmail.com.
The company has a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.