Business Spotlight: Ray's takes its music, and its wine, seriously

What started as a corner beer depot nearly 55 years ago has grown into a specialty wine and beer shop with a killer sound system.

"I'm a 59-year-old codger. I love music. Music is the magic," said Rick Laev, who bought Ray's Wine & Spirits in 2002 after more than 25 years as a wine wholesaler.

"I never thought it would be a fantasy to buy the store," explained Laev, who took over from Ron Dietz, son of the store's namesake, Ray Dietz. "But one night we were at dinner and he said, 'Why don't you buy me out?' And 15 months later I owned the business."

Back then, customers weren't strutting the aisles to Stevie Ray Vaughn or the assortment of jukebox heroes highlighted at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame's 50th anniversary special, both in rotation recently on the shop's two 60-inch television screens.

Which is why Laev is as likely to chat up his personally curated collection of more than 300 concert DVDs as he is to talk about the 75 to 150 wines he and his staff taste every week.

"Everything we put on our shelves we've tried," Laev said.

That includes the growing assortment of craft beers available in the upstairs Growler Gallery, which opened last year.

It's an idea Laev can't believe he didn't embrace sooner. Fortunately, his nephew and fellow co-owner, Orey Laev, is the resilient sort.

Over the last dozen years, Orey has helped his uncle see the light on everything from starting a website and putting out a newsletter on "this thing called the Internet" to dropping prices to 6 percent over cost – the lowest allowed by law – on the store's top 50 wines and spirts and implementing a rewards program.

"All his ideas have worked out dreamy," Rick admitted.

Which is why after opening a wine tasting room and education center, Rick gave Orey the go-ahead for Ray's Growler Gallery, where customers can grab a growler to go or sidle up to the concrete bar for 32 ounces of their favorite craft brew.

"It's been really cool to see people embrace it," said Orey, who gave up a job as a market analyst in California to join the family business, along with his cousin, Rick's daughter, Sarah, who is the store's marketing director.

"It wasn't about having a bar; we wanted people to be able to enjoy beers at home that weren't available on the floor. But now we let people sit up there and enjoy a beverage."

That includes wine, which the Laevs hope to serve outside as part of a new outdoor patio.

"It will add seating for about 25 to people," Orey explained; the Growler Gallery has space for about 50 customers. "It's also trying to beautify the neighborhood because, let's face it, the building is absolutely hideous; we're the first to admit that, with the crumbling concrete and broken planters. We're trying to bring a little romance back into the picture, and this will be a clean slate."

In the meantime, Rick said, there's always the music.

"We've got a luxurious sound system," he laughed. "That's mandatory."

JUST THE FACTS

BUSINESS: Ray's Wine & Spirits, 8930 W. North Ave.

WEB:www.rayswine.com

PHONE: (414) 258-9821

OWNER:Rick Laev and Orey Laev

INCORPORATED: 1961

TYPE OF BUSINESS: wine and liquor store

PEARLS OF WISDOM: "We call ourselves the thriving dinosaurs because we are the last of the few independent wine and spirit shops left in Milwaukee." — Rick Laev