Today we’d like to introduce you to Armen Geronian.
Hi Armen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
After decades spent in the IT industry, I have decided to start something that was in my mind for years – winemaking and distilling. Somehow, I thought that because I made good wine in the basement and because I am Armenian, I have to be very good at making wine and liquors. After all, my ancestors have been making booze for centuries and you can always trust Google will fill the gaps, right? Ha.. It was not that easy but at least my wife Florena did not mind the new adventure because fruit flies from my wine would finally go away from our basement.
There are certain expenses that I do not like and rent is among them. So, I have acquired 12,000 square feet building. Realistically, only half was needed for the winery and distillery and there was a question of what to do with the other side of the building. This is when the idea of opening up a steakhouse was born. Pairing high quality dishes with our wines and wines from all over the world; using our vodka, gin, rum and other products to make unique cocktails – all this seemed to play nicely together.
As a result, we have a winery, distillery, bar and restaurant under the same roof.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The winery and distillery business was and is a relatively smooth operation. Likely because everything was carefully planned and executed step by step. We started with the wine; it took us couple of years to make products that would be welcomed by consumers – Blackberry Sangria and Pina Colada. With distillery products such as vodka, gin, rum and liqueurs everything is about cleanliness of alcohol, quality of ingredients, consistency and we achieved that quickly too.
Luckily, I already had a great crew of engineers to organize the right production process – we worked together in my previous businesses. Since I personally taste every batch that we produce, I would say that talent of my crew in combination with the taste buds of my tongue is the secret of success.
I did underestimate the number of investments because the planning was done before pandemic times and execution was done after. For example, the cost of one oak barrel went from $500 to over $1,500 during that gap. If someone ever decides to open up winery, distillery or brewery – assume an investment of a 7-digit number. I am not discouraging anyone, but without previous experience in the alcohol industry, I guarantee that you are underestimating the amount of Government regulations and marketing expenses.
Within 3 to 4 years most of our products have been awarded medals in many national and international wine and spirits competitions, and the most popular of our products are sold in hundreds of stores in Pennsylvania and across the country from CWSpirits.com – they deliver our bottles to any household in the USA.
A steakhouse, on the other end, is anything but smoothness. I have never been in the restaurant industry, and now I understand that it is probably the toughest one in the world. Despite producing beautiful food, we were struggling to make money for a long time.
Making sure you pick the right vendors among dozens, allocating proper funds for marketing and advertisements, balancing guest flaw against limitations of your operations, maintaining right personnel, dealing with stealing and cheating – all that took me years to learn and become proficient at. Because in the restaurant industry you are dealing with the tiny profit margin and it is detail that will make you or break you. Up to these days most of my time has been spent managing restaurant operations and it is not necessarily a lot of fun.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are manufacturers of dry and semi-sweet wines, vodka, gin, rum, brandy and various liquors. In Pennsylvania we are primarily known for making Blackberry Sangria – our flagship product. We send pallets and pallets of Blackberry Sangria to Pennsylvania LCB.
All our distillery products have a brand name Florena, which is my wife’s name. Some products contain the following statement on the back: “I knew from the beginning that my vodka should be of the highest possible quality in order to get consent from my wife Florena to put her name on the label.”
Right now, we are in the process of making vodka with a price tag of over $500 per bottle, and I am adventuristically excited about it. Preliminary brand name is “Florena Diamond Limited.”
There was no single national or international competition where we would send our vodka to and not get a medal. And most of our medals are gold. And I am very proud of this fact.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I was never able to find a mentor, probably because from consumption stand point, the alcohol industry consists mostly of big boys.
However, there are many ways of networking. Website and social media are the starting points.
Then there are local events – the bigger the event the better it is. For example, we always are a vendor in Picklesburgh, an event that attracts hundreds of thousands of people. Other ones are Little Italy, Greek Food festivals, Octoberfest.
Going outside of your city for marketing is good option too, but expensive. I believe you have to be ready to compete with national manufacturers. There are shows all over the country when it comes to alcohol industry – primarily in big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and of course, Las Vegas.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://armensbarrels.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/armensbarrels/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArmensBarrels/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@armensbarrels6287
- Other: https://thelabatarmensbarrels.com/
