Oct. 3, 2023

This paid piece is sponsored by JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars.

Tom Slattery was bartending at the former Theo’s restaurant in Sioux Falls one night when a customer interaction changed his life.

On the other side of the bar was another Tom – Tom Howes, owner of the chain of The Gas Stop fuel stations and convenience stores – who introduced himself and his new business concept.

“It became obvious quite quickly we knew a lot of the same people,” said Slattery, who was managing Theo’s at the time. “One of our mutual friends also knew I had a young family and wanted to get into a situation with some growth potential that would be a better fit for our life at the time. At the same time, Tom had reached out looking for input on who he could find to run a new business.”

At the time, Sioux Falls lacked options for high-end wine, so Howes saw a natural fit of adding an adult-beverage store-within-a-store to his new location at 57th Street and Western Avenue.

“It fit the neighborhood well, plus it was in the middle of the cigar craze, and we’d acquired Eastwold Smoke Shop to support that line of business,” Howes said. “So adding JJ’s seemed like a natural fit and a way to offer two fun businesses.”

Slattery “came recommended from multiple people,” Howes said. “So we sat down and put a deal together.”

Howes’ family was growing too. The name JJ’s is a nod to the first names of his daughter Jessica and his nephew Jack. Fittingly, Slattery’s great-great grandfather was “JJ” Slattery, so as JJ’s grew over the years, the narrative was tweaked a little to pay homage to Slattery’s roots in the hospitality industry.

JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars opened Sept. 18, 1998.

“For me, it was a transition in some ways to a new industry,” Slattery said. “One of the things Tom helped me understand is that in retail, you can’t watch the front door. That stuck in my head – the idea that it would take time to build because it was still a relatively new part of town, and it was going to take investment from a marketing perspective. But having the right people in the right place was the most crucial part of building it.”

They scouted high-end stores in other markets and realized what a niche Sioux Falls was missing.

“By the first holiday season, we knew we weren’t big enough,” Slattery said. “We had built a store that was going to be way too small for what we were likely going to be growing into.”

A new, larger store opened in 2006 behind the original.

“We were able to retool the aesthetics to make it more contemporary, and it just gave us more room to grow into a premium adult-beverage shop and a high-volume retailer,” Slattery said.

Four years later, staring at his 40th birthday, Slattery began talking with Howes about the future.

“The timing was right, so I approached him about buying the business,” Howes said. “He’d earned it.”

Tom and Jean Slattery bought JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars from Tom and Melissa Howes in April 2011.

“We still didn’t know what to expect, and the market began to change around that time too,” Slattery said.

Becoming JJ’s 3.0, adding The Boozy Bakery^TM

The early 2010s marked a sharp increase in the number of retailers in Sioux Falls selling adult beverages. What had started as a unique niche in the market suddenly wasn’t such a competitive advantage.

“So we knew our model wasn’t going to be defined by volume retail as a traditional liquor store,” Slattery said. “We knew we needed to evolve into a more experience-oriented, service-driven business, and we started developing our event business on the side.”

By the end of 2016, the Starbucks next to JJ’s had renewed its lease, eliminating potential expansion there, and the Slatterys knew they needed to make another investment for the future.

JJ’s 3.0, as they informally called it, opened in 2018 at 3000 W. 57th St. with a significantly enlarged store that allowed for an event room, destination bar and patio.

The Boozy Bakery^TM at JJ’s was added as a separate business-within-a-business, offering a wide array of desserts — some with and some without alcohol — along with other to-go foods, artfully crafted charcuterie, dips and a multitude of other items.

The new addition established the business as a premier dessert shop and bakery, not just another “boozy bakery” making desserts with alcohol, although getting there required overcoming legal hurdles.

“Jean and I actually drafted a bill in early 2018 for the South Dakota Legislature enabling business with food licenses to cook with trace amounts of alcohol,” Slattery said.

Until then, it was largely unknown that making desserts with alcohol had been illegal since 1939 because of a little-known law called “The Adulterated Confectioner” law, which essentially prohibited the use of alcohol in desserts, regardless of licensing.

“We were able to rewrite the rules to open some doors for other businesses to use trace amounts of alcohol in their desserts,” Slattery said. “At the same time, businesses also licensed to serve and sell alcohol could use as much alcohol as they wanted within the scope of their license.”

That said, the purpose was not to intoxicate customers from eating a dessert, he added.

“Instead, it offers us broader flexibility in enhancing the flavor of some desserts with the addition of alcohol,” Slattery said. “Having that flexibility because of our licensing was a game-changer for Jean and her team of bakers.”

Service, experience make the difference

JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars, JJ’s Axes & Ales and The Boozy Bakery^TM have grown to around 50 employees, including about a dozen full time. Many of those workers support its event business, which has emerged as a key differentiator – serving adult beverages at everything from private parties to corporate events, Augustana football and other sporting events, and the entire season for Levitt at the Falls.

“Service, service, service is the one thing we purport the most to our team,” Slattery said.

“If it’s in the store, you need to be present on the floor and engaging with customers because most people want to be helped or are open to suggestions. And those relationships lead to long-term growth and stability. It’s the same with events. If the organizer has a seamless experience and the guests are shown outstanding experience, we’ll be invited back to serve them again.”

Slattery also doesn’t ignore the pricing pressures inherent in a growing, competitive industry.

“But, again, we approach that from a relationship-first standpoint,” he said. “Our VIP program provides value for people who are consistent shoppers, and through that we’re offering the most aggressive pricing, and our loyal customers know that. It can be costly to offer, but our biggest asset is customer loyalty, and we show it in a big way through our pricing.”

The overall approach the Slatterys have taken with JJ’s has earned national industry recognition, even landing the business on the cover of trade magazine Beverage Dynamics, where JJ’s made its top 100 businesses the past three years, including multiple rankings in the top 20.

Closer to home, the Slatterys are honored to be voted No. 1 for adult-beverage retail in The Local Best.

“It’s been exciting to see how Tom has made it his own by adding other profit centers,” Howes said. “I also appreciate how charitable he is with his business and his time. He’s been a good steward in the community, and we’re very proud of him.”

Looking to the future

As JJ’s marks its silver anniversary this fall, Slattery is focused on the next milestones for the business.

“The puck drops at the new Midco Arena at Augustana on Jan. 26, and JJ’s will be there selling adult beverages throughout the arena,” he said. “We’ll have a full bar in the club area and packaged beverages at kiosk stations around the concourse. We really appreciate their progressive approach to the student and guest experience at sporting events and what they’ve allowed us to cultivate.”

Retail itself is constantly evolving, and JJ’s will along with it, he said.

“There are continually new products coming into the market, and we’re constantly evaluating to make sure we offer what we think can have longevity,” he said. “It’s not about literally carrying every flavor of the day hoping people are interested. We’re looking at what we think is a quality product and what we think could have a more lasting impact on the market.”

Within JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars, look for more product sampling around launches — everything from wine to whiskey — enhanced special events and a continued focus on culinary talent.

“The majority of people come into our bar looking for a social atmosphere, maybe live music, beverages, snacks and occasionally for a full meal,” he said. “I’d like to keep honing our menu there and allow our team to focus on things like wine and whiskey dinners where they can really showcase their talent.”

Plus, keep an eye on JJ’s social media for more events to celebrate the 25-year anniversary as well as Birthday Month throughout the month of October.

“It’s almost half my life, which is hard to believe, but the most important thing to know about our story is it takes a team,” Slattery said. “My No. 1 teammate, Jean, has been essential to this, and the team we’ve built along the way is what delivers the service that sets us apart. The community has been incredibly good to us, and we’re excited to continue serving them for years to come.”