gastro & gusto LIBATIONS
BOOZING BUDDIES Family-owned business values relationships with customers by THOMAS J. MONIGAN
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huck, Mike and Pat Kelley learned lifelong lessons growing up in a familiar Emerald Coast family business. “Work ethic,” said Mike Kelley, addressing one of those lessons. “You’ve got to work hard to show results. Nothing comes easy.” Kelley’s IGA supermarkets were owned and operated by Roy Kelley and his brother Charles. The current generation, two brothers and a sister, started Kelley’s Beach Liquors in the year 2000 with a Panama City location. Since then, they have opened Crestview, Fort Walton Beach and Destin stores. “Back in the day, we used the phrase ‘hometown advantage,’ and that is truly what we think we are and what we want to be,” Mike Kelley said. Local ownership appeals not just to locals, but to military personnel and visitors who make their way to Northwest Florida from all over the world. Meanwhile, tastes in alcohol have become increasingly sophisticated and complex.
↑ The Kelleys have watched as a new generation of drinkers has embraced craft beers. Cans are cool these days, and visitors, too, like to sample locally brewed products.
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June–July 2021
EMERALDCOASTMAGA ZINE.COM
“You see the acceptance of craft beer in a younger generation,” Chuck Kelley said. “And a lot more women are drinking craft beer. Also, like wine, you’re seeing people matching the style of beer with whatever they’re eating for dinner. Whether it’s an IPA (India Pale Ale), a porter, a stout or a pale ale, it can match up like wine does with meals.” Local craft beer is sold primarily in cans. “For the beach, for boating, for pools, people don’t want a glass bottle around,” Chuck Kelley said. “Where they used to concern themselves with the acceptance of cans, today it’s just the opposite. Everybody’s going to cans, and it’s made it a lot easier.” The steady and impressive growth of local breweries has made for a steady flow of new products. “When people travel, they don’t necessarily want beer from the national breweries they’re accustomed to back in their own hometown,” Mike Kelley said. “They want to experience the local flavor.” Tastes have evolved, too, with regard to liquor. “Generation Z is buying more upscale products, and there’s more ‘premiumization’ in the categories,” Mike Kelley said. “Tequila has become the ‘new bourbon,’ and shelfaged tequilas are gaining in popularity.” Gen Z’ers also have surprisingly refined tastes in wine. “With their buying power, we’re seeing more entry-level people who are drinking sweeter wines,” Mike Kelley said. “All of the imports from Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Chile have declined in popularity,” he added, “and it really goes to people, their palates, their education level and the strength of the domestic American wines. The only categories that have held their own are France and Italy. That’s Northwest Florida for you.” photography by MIKE FENDER
