While traveling down South Park Avenue yesterday I discovered two things. Bully Hill Vineyards makes a bottle of wine dedicated to the Sabres, and there's a brand new business on South Park that sells it. I had heard that a wine and spirits store had opened in the Cobblestone District, and I figured that it was only a matter of time until I came across it. Sam Savarino, a developer with interests in the district, had sent out an email with a photo of the store, and at first I wasn't quite sure what to think. The place looked like a barn... maybe something that you'd see while driving along some winding road in Upper Canada.
When I saw it with my own eyes yesterday I pulled over immediately. The business is located directly across the street from where the Seneca Casino is operating, and when I asked the owner, Tom Reimondo, about the location he answered, "There's not another place within two miles in any dirction." Tom and I chatted for a while about the Old First Ward and what led him to open up the business. He told me that he worked for a long time in the trucking industry and finally decided that he wanted to open up a business along these lines. When he scouted out locations he realized that there were no other wine and spirit stores within two miles of his location on South Park. "I figured if I opened a place with an attractive exterior that people would notice it," he told me. "The storefront is about 1200sq.' and we have a wide range of customers who come from all over. People who live in the Old First Ward have been most appreciative, and we are starting to get people who live down at the Waterfront Towers as customers. It's a lot closer than having to drive to Allentown or Elmwood. My goal was to open a clean, friendly business and listen to the customers to learn about what they want."
Cobblestone Wine and Spirits opened up the day before Thanksgiving, and due to the unusual location the business has been growing gradually. Delivery is offered to residents of the area.
Cobblestone Wine and Spirits is located at 223 South Park Avenue. 716-848-2951