15 Stories: Pascal and Daneen Lewis, Harlem Wine Gallery, New York, NY

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Pascal and Daneen Lewis had a problem—any time the couple wanted to grab a bottle of quality wine, they had to travel all the way downtown from their home in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem to find a store that had what they wanted. While for those in the suburbs, a quick, post-work stop at a local wine shop might be a ten-minute affair, the average New Yorker knows that traveling anywhere in the city takes at least 30 minutes. And for a city that puts time at a premium, an hour to get a good bottle of wine is a tall order.

The couple figured that they weren’t the only ones running into this problem, and after a while, they decided to solve it themselves. In 2017, Harlem Wine Gallery was born, and since then it’s grown not only into a store that features top-shelf wine for customers north of Central Park, but also into a local space that hosts meetings, events, and more. 

Each year, the couple shows up for Small Business Saturday® with social media posts and signage that promotes shopping small, welcoming locals into the store, and, hopefully, converting them to customers. Exposure to the space also helps customers learn about the different events that Harlem Wine Gallery hosts, inspiring them to sign up to receive the store’s email newsletter. At the end of the day, the couple views themselves as hosts of their community, and Small Business Saturday is one way they help deliver on that vision. 

Want to learn more about how to encourage your customers to Shop Small on Small Business Saturday? Visit the Small Business Saturday Resource Hub for marketing materials and business insights that can help you engage with your customers and find new ones. You can also read stories from 15 small businesses that have seen success on Small Business Saturday and beyond.

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