Binny's Beverage Depot - Lincoln Park

Fred Rosen, the Sharp-Shooting Visionary Behind Sam’s Wine & Liquor, Has Died | Eater Chicago

"Founded in 1942 by his father Sam, the liquor store was remade by Fred Rosen into a civic institution that stocked rare spirits and gourmet foods and became a destination where out-of-towners would visit and "fill up their trunks with booze they couldn’t find anywhere else." A Franklin-era basketball lifer who starred on Roosevelt High School’s 1952 city-championship team and once beat former Chicago Bulls All-Star B.J. Armstrong in a three-point shooting contest, Rosen even set up a hoop at the Lincoln Park shop and would shoot baskets with customers on the premises. He had a knack for hiring passionate workers and trusting them to share their knowledge: "Often, workers would open up bottles and offer samples to customers," a practice described as customer service rather than a gimmick and one that helped build the store's reputation as one of the best liquor retailers in the country. His children said in a news release, "His vision, passion, and kindness touched the lives of so many." Rich Melman recalled, "It was an iconic store, and the icon was always there," and remembered Rosen’s competitive ferocity, likening it to the Roosevelt Rough Riders; Rosen played into his 60s as a scrappy guard who could shoot and even kept a pair of reserve center Will Perdue’s size-21 sneakers at the shop as a souvenir. Employees and colleagues offer vivid anecdotes about Rosen’s leadership and generosity: Todd Hess said, "He was pretty tenacious but extremely fair," and added, "If he asked you to do something it was because he was busy and couldn’t get to it himself. As long as the job got done, he didn’t care how you did it." Charles Stanfield recalled Rosen spotting a frustrated worker $100, kissing him on the cheek and urging him back to work with the rallying line that "guys like him didn’t play golf, they played football," and deriding "namby-pamby stuff." Adam Vavrick credits his career to the place: "I had just left the music industry and had long hair and lip ring and tattoos, and no one gave a shit because I could talk to customers about beer. [The store] believed in professionalism because Fred instilled an idea that if you were qualified, you were qualified, period. Nothing else mattered." Master Sommelier Alpana Singh recalled, "I had actually heard about [the store] prior to moving here. This was pre-Costco establishing their wine game but I believe [the store] was one of the most powerful wine-buying accounts in the U.S." At its peak the business did about $60 million a year in sales; Rosen sold the chain to Beverages & More Inc. in 1998, the larger warehouse-era location at 1720 N. Marcey Street later became inhabited by Binny’s in 2009, and family and ownership shifts continued (son Brian Rosen bought out his brother Darryl, sold a majority stake in 2007 and later founded InvestBev). Fred Rosen, 88, died on Tuesday, February 4; he is survived by three children and seven grandchildren, and the family will announce plans for a celebration of his life at a future date." - Ashok Selvam