Courtesy East Village Wines

A little over a block away from where the neighborhood’s newest wine shop recently opened, East Village Wines, at 138 First Avenue, opened its doors after prohibition, in 1933. Bangladeshi owner Imran Ahmed was the shop’s manager for 12 years before he took over three years ago. He believes that what sets East Village Wines apart is its neighborly customer service (he gives discounts to locals and accepts packages for them, too) and his affinity for smaller production wines over the big-brand giants. We spoke to him about how the palate of the East Village has changed over the decades.

Were you interested in wine when you first started?

When I was managing the store, I was also the wine buyer and got really into wine and learning them and drinking more of them. I started really studying about the regions that wines come from. While I was managing the store we went from selling generic wines to me being very picky and selecting some really special high-end wines. I upgraded the inventory a lot. It was good that I was studying all of this as the clientele began changing. I have people who seriously drink wine so being more educated about wine is very important to my business. The customer today is more educated but at the same time they don’t want to spend a lot of money.

What kind of changes have you witnessed?

The 1990s were a big transition for the East Village. All of a sudden a lot of people with money were coming in. The people who had been there their whole life were dying and some were still passing on their apartments to family, but there were a lot of new people coming in with money and jobs. I remember even before 9/11 the East Village still wasn’t so great. We had a lot of old-school-looking liquor stores.

How do you stay knowledgeable about wines and discover new ones?

I was just in Portugal in April. A winery invited a bunch of wine shop owners to come and explore their wines. I learned about a lot of small regions while there, like the Alentejo region.

As the owner for roughly three years, that means you took over during a rough financial time for small businesses. How has it been for you?

Actually, I’ve been profitable. I took over in 2008 and in 2009 did five percent better. In 2010 I did five percent better than 2009 and same with 2011. Each year gets five percent better even with the economy. I have two partners who help make this a good business too. One is a great finance guy and the other is a lawyer.

How is your rent?

My situation with the family is one with a discounted rent. My rent is not cheap, but I am able to survive. I see a lot of my neighbors go out of business because of having too expensive rent. It’s gotten worse because people who had these buildings for a long time are selling them and the new owners are coming in and charging a lot more. The people who stay are the ones who have a long lease and a plan to stay a long time. We have a ten-year lease and it goes up every year a few percentages. It is still okay for me based on the business volume if the rent stays stable.

How is your overhead?

The overhead is the only key thing I have to watch very carefully. We adjust ourselves all the time. During Sandy, I lost an entire week of business so we had to adjust ourselves with buying and spending. We are managing. I didn’t lose any merchandise. We’re not like a restaurant where it would hurt like that, but that’s a week I can’t get back. I’ll see how it looks at the end of the year and what that week did to me. I’m not expecting now that we will do five percent better this year, but that we will do the same as last year. That will be OK for me. What made it so hard for us is that was Halloween weekend and that is always a really good week for the business because of all the house parties.

Did you have any Black Friday sales?

My old boss tried it and it didn’t work. People are busy buying other stuff first. We are a last-minute purchase. People buy clothes and shoes first, and worry about their wine last. Our big days are the two days before Thanksgiving, Christmas week and the day before New Year’s. The cooler season is our season. January and February are very good. As long as it’s cold, people drink. Summer is when business slows down.

It’s said that even in a recession wine and liquor sales stay steady, does that appear true from your end?

When people are out of a job, their first concern is rent and then food. I will run into my local customers who will apologize and say, “I’m sorry I haven’t come in a while. I lost my job.” I don’t think they drink more. I think wine is not a top priority if you have money issues. You might drink still, but not as much. The people who come from Jersey and other neighborhoods to buy wine in this trendy neighborhood still want the cheapest wines they can get. I can’t count on those people to survive, because they want a bottle for $7 or $8.

Are you worried about all the wine shops popping up?

In the old days liquor licenses were hard to get. Now New York State allows a lot more licenses. There is a trend happening where everyone wants to open a wine shop, like they are a grocery store on every corner. People do it for love of wine but stay open for five to seven years, like a restaurant, and sell it. If you are going to do it you have to put your love and thought into it so you can do it for a long, long time.